Plath,
I took them and wrote them on index cards, that way I can carry them around and run through them wherever I am.
And you can add all the smiley faces and flowers you want, I will even send you some pretty stickers from the $ store....
I am so glad you posted this thread, this has been such a difficult thing for me, I was trying to explain to my wife what it was like to grow up in a house where you never ever talked back, never rolled your eyes, always answered yes sir and no sir, you would get your report card and cry on the way home because you knew what getting a C meant for you, my dad still thinks anyone who refuses to employ severe corporal punishment is a liberal-communist-candya$$.
And I look at the difference with my kids, you try to talk to them, rationalize with them, make them understand, my dad never had that problem, it was my way or a severe whipping or worse kicking. You know the whippings were not so bad, at least they did not cause permanant damage, I think of the kickings often, since every time I sit down I have to adjust my memory foam pillow under my damaged tailbone. My mom was like a bomb in the movies, if you jostled it too much it went off, but chances were if you left it alone it would be ok until you got away.
My wife is so much better at talking to our kids than I am, she was a school nurse for 5 years so she just knows how to deal with them, when she goes to school for an event the kids swarm her, huggging her, asking her to come back, many still call and facebook her when they need help with a tough problem.
Anyway I have driven off the road through the ditch and hit a barn, I don't know how I got so off tpoic.
Thanks again for this thread, your stories make me so sad, and yet give me hope, if you can recover, I know I can do it to.