Question
Our 29 month old son loves to climb on the furniture. He has full reign to do so except for the cocktail table. It has a glass top and we fear that his climbing on it could cause it to break and injure him, us, or his five-year-old sister. My approach, when I have caught him in the act, is to firmly say NO! and if he doesn't remove himself immediately, I remove him, tell him no again. This past weekend my husband caught him and proceeded to spank him three times on the bottom which led our son to come crying to me and in the process wet his pants. When I went to change him into new underwear and shorts, I saw the result of the spanking: a very red bottom and my son saying "ouch, ouch" as I was helping him into dry clothes. I disagree with spanking as to me it's punishment not discipline. I expressed my disagreement to my husband that night after the kids were in bed; not that it was news to him as I've expressed my thoughts on the subject many times previously. His response was that he's tired of the kids not listening to him and that if our son continues to disobey him, he will spank him. Our daughter is generally obedient, but when she's not we use tickets. I don't think our son is old enough for tickets but I don't think spanking is the answer either. Help!
