So the "Hot Sauce Mom" was convicted of child abuse for using, well, hot sauce to punish her son. She was tried and convicted because she agreed to appear on the Dr. Phil show to share her favorite form of discipline with millions of people. Brilliant. Personally, I'd like to know who in their right mind agrees to be filmed for a national television program with hair like this in the first place.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/hot-sauce-mom-jessica-beagley-charged-child-abuse/story?id=12796871
Interestingly, my own parents used the same device on my brother, as well as soap and a belt. That was in the 80s, when such tactics were considered acceptable... I think.
Fortunately for me, I was the well-behaved child in the family - and never got "hot sauced" - though my mouth was washed out with soap at some point or another for swearing. A hell of a lot of good that did. I now swear like a fucking truck driver.
In any case, I have less-than-fond memories of seeing my brother punished severely, but at the same time, I almost couldn't blame my parents. Hayes was born in trouble. I mean this kid literally got into trouble every 10 seconds. From the time he was about 4 or 5 until he was about 34 or so, he looked for ways to create trouble. He ate, slept and breathed trouble. Just to paint a more vivid picture - his trouble culminated in a series of stints where he either wound up in jail, went through the windshield of his car, or hit "rock bottom" so-to-speak, which wasn't pretty. I am somewhat amazed that my parents survived all of this.
Nevertheless, it was torturous to see Hayes being semi-tortured - and I do not support the tactics my parents used to try to get him 'in line.' First of all, they never worked. Hayes was always well-aware of what the punishment would be and yet continued to find trouble to get into. Maybe he liked it. Who knows?
Either way, I don't support this methodology of child rearing/discipline. At the same time, I'm not sure what I would do if I had a child that behaved the way my brother did. I really have no clue. What if your child is just unresponsive to ANY form of punishment? What do you do? I'm kind-of afraid to find out - which is one of the 50 billion reasons that if we kid, I'd like to have a girl. I just think they're less-inclined to get into such serious trouble on a regular basis. Sure, there's the chance that they'll get knocked up, but that's a hell of a lot better than getting a call while you're vacationing in Mexico informing you that your son is in jail.
That said, I still vividly recall the first time I got into what can be called real trouble. I was with a group of girlfriends at the Mann Valley theater in Tarzana, CA for my birthday. We went to go see The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. One of my friends, (I believe Lindsay or Ali P., both of whom I admired a great deal and whose approval I was desperate for), decided to lick and throw gummi bears at the movie screen, so they'd stick. I joined them, as did the rest of my clan. Within a few minutes of the lot of us doing this, some theater manager type came and escorted us out of the movie theater... and called our parents.
I was positively petrified. I had never done anything this bad before. I was in tears - and so scared that I would get the hot sauce, soap, or belt.
Fortunately, they spared me. I don't quite recall what my punishment was, but perhaps they were lenient because I was a first timer. That incident put the fear of God in me though. I think I only got into trouble once more after that, (at least trouble I got caught for).
If my parents only knew...
Anyway, not only does the "Hot Sauce Mom" have the worst hair I've ever seen in my life, but she's implementing disciplinary methods that remind me of the less-than-sunny days of my childhood. Again, perhaps semi-acceptable then - not so much now. Come on people. It's called evolution.
And, for the record, I don't think my parents would ever use those methods with children anymore. And, in their defense, they were pretty desperate. Hayes was kind-of a hellion. Me... not so much... at least not to their knowledge anyway.
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