cindylevesque

Just wanted to apologize to Deb and others. I was getting frustrated
because I couldn't seem to get across what the lady actually said to
me and what was being interpreted here.

Your responses did really help my son and myself. Maybe this lady was
just trying to defend her beliefs that spankings are acceptable and
when I asked her if she literally uses a rod or stick to strike her
children, she replied that she beats them with a stick if the crime
they commit warrants it. Maybe she was just spouting off to try to
defend her position and wasn't going to back down. I don't know any
more than what she said to me--I have never seen her beat her
children. I am super sensitive to child abuse because of my past, so
I'm sure this is why this issue has been so cloudy for me.

We have decided that we will get together with the family on various
outings and see what we shall see. Ethan and I have decided that
after a period of time if there doesn't appear to be any abuse that
Ethan will go over to this child's house without us, but with the
precautions that some of you mentioned (hopefully a cell phone or at
least some way to get in touch and a plan if something goes awry).
However, if either one of us sees abuse I will immediately get in
touch with the proper authorities and try to get help for this
family. We sincerely hope that the former not the latter will be the
case.

Also, FYI, I have never told Ethan he couldn't go to this child's
house. The child's family has been gone on vacation and just returned
so we were trying to figure out what to do in advance because he had
received an invitation for next week. We discussed it and why I was
feeling concerned. He, also, had concerns about going over and we
had really great discussions on parenting and whether children should
have the same rights as adults. Ethan and I always have discussed
everything and some times don't see eye to eye but figure out a
solution. This time we reached out to others because we both were
very confused on a good solution to this. Thanks for all of your
input and helping us come to a workable solution.

Cindy