At my grandmother's funeral I had a friend of hers and others saying to me "I used to tell your grandma to take it easy on you that you were just a boy". My response was "she made me what I am today".
Grandma never abused me, she loved me dearly and had so many friends that loved her. But she was as hard as a coffin nail. She wanted me to be smart, learn manners, tough, independent, honest, dependable and strong. She put me in my place, man handled me or spanked me when I needed it but she loved me like I was her child. She was a hard woman but incredibly generous and sweet.
My uncle was a ex marine recon and us marshall. He was as stern, strict, tough and mean as they came but he treated me like I was son. He helped temper me to be a man as a boy.
Every kid now a days needs someone in their life like her and my uncle. They are the reason I was 12 years and had my own car, id spend days miles away in the woods alone as a kid, and a lot of other shit no kids today would even dream of doing.
I'm thankful as a kid I had tough people to raise me that also loved me.
If you want kids to be independent, strong, smart, responsible, capable and self reliant you have to teach them to be that way. Which means the parents have to be that way also.
90% of the time soft and weak parents will raise soft and weak children.
.. beating is cruelty
