Wow, a lot of stuff have been happening in my life lately but I'm sure it is no different than most of you. Work has been fun (read as busy) and we are settling in to our new home. I've been getting use to the 3 story townhome going from being out of breath by the time I've reached the 3rd floor to being able to take the stairs 2 at a time at a dead run. It has probably come from carrying all those boxes up and down the stairs just to get moved in.

I'm beginning to wonder why I'm keeping all those years worth of comic books when they just take up closet space and have to be schlepped from place to place. In our past moves we've been able to get rid of a number of different items with questionable long-term sentimental or monetary value. Hell, Sue has been trying to sell a number of our role-playing books on ebay or half.com. That should tell you how serious we are about trying to unclutter our lives. What with having to add NEW clutter in the name of thousands of kid's toys.

Speaking of kids, this flu thing has really gotten me concerned. I think I've only ever once bothered with getting a flu shot but this year I'm very serious about getting myself and the kids covered. Problem is that there is now a deadly strain in which no shot can truly protect you. I guess our only saving grace is that our kids aren't in daycare and we don't live on the west coast (the region currently being hardest hit). And while I'm sure the liberal media will soon attempt to blame the expected pandemic on the Bush administration, I'll take the conservative road of taking personally responsibility to ensure hands get washed regularly, people take their vitamins, and our family gets the vaccine. I think I read somewhere that it takes 6 months to come up with a vaccine for a new strain so we'll just be smart. The lady that works next to me asked this morning if I thought this deadly strain was created/brought in by terrorists. I somehow doubt it as the world traditionally has one of these occur once every 30 years or so and we are late in getting one.

Oh, here is a question for the masses. Last night, Sue and I were talking a bit about corporal punishment and I was pondering the value of planting a "switch bush" in our relatively small back yard. You know, one of those bushes in which particularly cruel parents set the child out to get that which will be used to spank them. Now as to my question's.

1) Do you believe in corporal punishment by parent and/or by school principals?

2) What tools for corporal punishment are you most familiar with either as a giver or a receiver (i.e.. belts, open palms, switches, fly swatters, paint stir sticks, small boat oars, etc.)?

3) What other forms of punishment (other than "time out") have you found to be effective in disciplining children (or yourself if going from memory) and how does it change age group?

Personally, I'm not willing to completely ignore the immediate attention grabbing ability of a quick smack on the bottom of an unruly 4 year old but as a sole tool for behavior modification, I find it unlikely to be the only solution.

Thoughts?

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