The fact that I was smoking a cigarette three blocks away from home in a district in Montreal about 50 years ago (I was 10 at the time) is a fact that got home before I did. My reception was quite warm, first from my grandmother than my mother. It seems that back then people tended to look out for all kids, not just their own. I got involed with some hubcaps from a Chevy way back when and that information was passed onto my mom, too. Sometimes when we didn't have food a bag of groceries would just appear on the step. I know we did that on occasion for other families that had a hard time due to one thing or another. I got caught with the slingshot and my best friend's dad gave me a kick in the arse. My mom didn't sue him. He hired me the following week to mow his lawn. I earned a dime and some cake. Did the job for about three years every summer. I once ignored the admonition to get away from the TV. I was not allowed to watch the TV for about six months, no shit! Today, that cause for some asshole to say that the child is being punished cruelly. When I was reminded to take out the garbage, it was a one-time reminder. I got no remuneration for that or washing supper dishes or cleaning the room or making the bed or tidying up. I was a member of the family and they were my chores. Period.

We are raising a world of sissies. We have learned to give kids a few bucks to get them out of our hair into someone else's, and in the process, we don't know our kids at all. And, of course, we are surprised. Some little fu#ker whines and cries because he can't have the latest X-box. Kid, go earn some bucks and buy one. And if you get caught stealing one, after the neighbour has kicked your ass from one end of town to the other, I will NOT sue him on your behalf.

When the child swears at the mother, slap the father.