Quote Originally Posted by sunnydays View Post
I think it is definitely possible to discipline with or without spanking etc...but I think the problem is that parents are tired and busy. They rush home from work, rush to extra-curricular events, ahve no support from extended family and often bring work home with them on their blackberries etc. Life is all about rushing kids from one event to the next, whether it be eating dinner and getting to bed or hockey practice...there is very little down time for anyone and everyone is always stressed! I feel this sometimes myself and struggle to keep it at bay because I do not want my kids to feel stressed...but at the same tiem I have to get them to eat and to bath and to bed on time so they are ready for school the next day and so I have time to clean up and rest a bit myself before the next day begins. And I purposely avoid putting my kids in extra-curricular activities except for one at a time because this just adds to the chaos and the stress and is totally unnecessary! Too little time, too much stress, tired parents...nobody has teh energy to discipline...it easier to just give them the cookies they want and buy yourself a few minutes of silence. I also agree that we are judged a lot by others in society and it makes it harder to discipline because we have to endure the "looks" from others when we do.
I don't think this is really true. If you think about it, we have it so so so easy. We don't have to wash clothes by hand, hand carry water, chop wood, cook off a wood stove, work the fields, raise our own meats and vegetables, go by horse and carriage. We have stores that have everything we could possibly need all at one stop. We can purchase prepared food and just heat and serve. We can store the food easily our temp controlled house and our refrigerators.

We have instant access to each other. We have electricity, gas, entertainment at our finger TIPS. There couldn't be an easier time to raise children then now. We are NOT busier than our foremothers and fathers. We do NOT have it harder.