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| The Stove Is Hot Zadigski zadigskiz (at) yahoo (dot) com Category: Child
Author's Note: "What is this I hear from my son that you intend to spank him, just because he got a little red paint on your old red jeep?" demanded Arlene. "He is only ten and he does not need to be taught that violence accomplishes anything." "Listen to me, you are wrong about Gilbert not being spanked," replied Peter. "What you are teaching him is that there are no consequences of his actions. That he will be able to get out of anything. But sometimes the baby has to learn that the stove is hot by touching it. Sometimes that is the only way the kid can learn. "And it is not just a little red paint on my jeep. He broke into a neighbor's garage, he stole a particularly nasty paint that eats through the finish on cars. He then wrote 'FAT ASS' in big letters on all four sides of your BMW. It will be two weeks before the body shop will be able to work on your car, and it will cost a fortune. You will either have to drive it like that or take the bus, because we won't be able to afford a rental." Peter made his wife sit quietly for an hour. During that time, Gilbert told his mother, "I didn't know the paint would do that, Mommy. I thought it would just wash off. I thought you would think it was funny. I love you, Mommy!" Arlene didn't say anything for the whole hour, finally she said, "Peter, I am calm now and I am in control of myself." She was almost crying as she said, "But I know what I have to do. Come along, Gilbert, you and I are going upstairs." Peter waited grimly as he heard his son first protest, then plead with his mother, then finally the cries of "No, Mommy, please, Mommy! I promised to be good!" as a hairbrush hit his bare behind. Peter realized that not only had his son learned the stove was hot, but his wife also had. |
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Comments: |
| CK:
CrimsnKid6 (at) aol (dot) com Regarding the author's note, I think that it's quite easy (and natural) for parents to second-guess their child-rearing approaches (whether dealing with corporal punishment or other issues) after their children are grown, but it's hard to be all that certain whether an alternate approach would've truly worked out better or not. As far as the story itself, I liked the fact that the hard, direct lesson was learned by not only the spankee (the boy) but also by the eventual spanker (the wife). The author's misdirection, making the reader believe that the father woulf be carrying out the chastisement while his wife, the boy's mother, would either be grudgingly acquiesing or silently protesting, was quite effective in my case. It did make sense in retrospect, however, since the mother's car was the one severely disfigured by the son's vandalizing painting and the inconvenience, embarrassment and insult ("FATASS") would have to be borne by her–and once she'd fully internalized that situation, she was ready to soundly spank her son. (Without getting into the child-spanking disciplinary issue, in RL a boy who does something so damaging and offensive needs to be dealt with in a serious manner, it's not simply a childish prank.) It's intriguing to speculate on the thoughts going on in the mother's head for the hour that she was required to contemplate what was going to happen. I'd figure that her son Gilbert's slick, facile excuses and rationalizations had the opposite effect from what he'd intended, making Arlene realize that her child lacked the moral honesty to accept the responsibility for, and consequences of, his actions–which he had to experience directly and intensely. Sometimes the stove is, and in fact has to be, hot... |
| Domino:
domino at Domin-o (dot) org (dot) uk This is the old story of one parent versus the other over the issue of child discipline. Whilst I appreciate this is fiction for entertainment, and not real life, I cannot but question a parent who waits until his child is ten years old before making an issue of the method of discipline employed. I will also admit to being puzzled as to the mother's attitude - why is she not more angry at her son, when it is her car that has been targetted and despoiled? I understand what the author was trying to convey, and also that a 500-word limit is very constraining, but I think this story would be improved with lengthier development. |
| Zoey:
zprymantis (at) smilingwithteeth (dot) com This story didn't progress smoothly for me. I felt confused while reading it and had to read it twice. I am not sure how the title relates to any lesson that the mother learned. A stove being hot, and a child learning that to touch it burns, is a quick lesson. We learn a lot of things this way, but spanking in the manner described here doesn't fit with the stove/hot analogy to my way of thinking. Perhaps this is why the story didn't make sense to me. |
| Steven:
js (at) smilingwithteeth (dot) com
The story to me seems too forced. One moment the mother is totally against corporal punishment and the next, she is spanking her child with a hairbrush? Makes no sense to me. And this kid sounds like a real felon in the making. He broke into the neighbors garage? Did he pick the lock? Perhaps instead of spanking, that kid needs to watch a few episodes of Cops. |