Alright, I got pissed off, and I thought this might be a good debate. My dad is engaged to a woman named Wendy, she's 36, and has 3 kids. Nikki, 19, Jeffrey, 15, and Blake, 8. Nikki lives at home with her momma, she dropped out of highschool at 16, and she doesn't pay any rent or food bills to her mother. That pisses me off alone. Jeffrey, is a jocky, I love him to death, but he's a complete asshole. Blake, he's the one I'm going to be writing about.
Blake is 8 years old, he has ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). He uses this to his advantage. When my father and his fiancee' are together, they don't can if you set the house on fire, they're to wrapped up in each other to see anybody or anything else.
Scenario - We (me, my father, Wendy, and Blake) were all on the miliary base and were at the Commisary (that's where you can buy food and drinks, like a Super Walmart or Food Lion). Blake saw a hotwheel he wanted, and my dad and Wendy were "ignoring" him. He's 8 years old, he dropped on the floor, screamed bloody murder, and spun around in circles. The kind of shit you see on tv. He kicked shit off the shelves and everything. I looked at our parents, who were talking and not noticing anything. I walked away from where I was, walked over to him. I grabbed his arm, he kicked me, I kicked him back and he quickly stopped kicking at me. I jerked him up and he stood in front of me screaming. I gave him 4 warnings to shut up and quit screaming or he'd pay the price. Finally I looked at him and said, 4 balls, you ain't walking to first base. I slapped him hard across the face and everyone was looking at us. He stopped screaming and just looked at me. Now, are parents noticed us and they walked over and started screaming at me for laying a hand on him. I said, "Well if you learn to control your child better, I wouldn't have to do your dirty work." My dad proceeded to scream at me, and I looked at him and gave him 4 warnings to shut up, I lost my temper. I stared him in the eyes and spoke so angerily at him, "And you call yourself a parent. And you wonder why I turned out the way I am. The reason you get so mad at me, is because you're looking at a spitting image of yourself. I've grown up just like you, and it scares you. Because you're trying so desperately to hide that side of you from Wendy. But it'll show one day, you can't keep hiding forever, I assure you." He had tears in his eyes and he turned and Wendy and him continued to shop. Blake was still standing their looking at me. I looked at him and he spoke, "Jeffrey always said you were a bitch!" I smiled, "Oh really?"...I slapped him across the face again. "You watch your mouth. I used to let you talk like that around me, because I thought you were a little more mature, but I was entirely wrong. Don't ever use that language until you can prove to me that you aren't what I and everyone else just saw."
Now, did I do the right thing? Should parents control their kids instead of ignore them or use some disorder as an excuse? What's your view on this?