I'm so upset. Tell me I did the right thing.

[moosmom]

Tanya,

I have to echo what everyone else has said. You definitely did the right thing. I was also beaten by my father. Not alot but enough to cause bad memories.

No child should fear their parents. Edward James Almos put it perfectly..."Abuse is learned, it is not something you are born with."

I feel terrible for those two kids. And that mother needs to be slapped around herself. You have nothing to feel bad about. And I'm sure your husband was just worried about your safety. I hope they nail the dumb #$%@#*. She probably abused animals as a kid.

BTW, I can bet you that yours was not the only call the police got either.

[Karen]

You did the right thing.
You did the right thing.
You did the right thing.
You did the right thing.
You did the right thing.

I might have confronted her myself, but I think I am much bigger than I actually am. I do not expect anyone else to do that, but I would have gotten between her and the children. Yeah, I bruise easily, but I'm not gonna have emotional scars like those kids are.

You did the right thing.
You did the right thing.
You did the right thing.
You did the right thing.
You did the right thing.

Now, that said ...

I know many of you want the mother to be beaten like she was doing to the kids, but guess what. She was probably beaten as a child, and taught that behavior. I hope she is caught, given extensive counceling, and that her children are given help to understand this is NOT normal, nor is it right.

You did the right thing.
You did the right thing.
You did the right thing.
You did the right thing.
You did the right thing.

What you did was smarter and safer than what I might have done!

You did the right thing. From any perspective, You did the right thing.

[moosmom]

Karen,

Very well said.

[All Creatures Great And Small]

The fact that she (the mother) was shopping at PetSmart scares me, because that would mean there are animals in her house - imagine how they must be treated too

[Miss Meow]

If what you saw alarmed you enough to call 911, then it was definitely the right thing for you to do. I hope the authorities are able to provide assistance to this family so the children have a chance of growing up into well-balanced adults. Good on you for taking a stand.

[Pam]

Tanya I totally agree with everyone else. Your call may have been the one that could change the future for those children. She has probably been doing this all through their short little lives and now maybe, as a result of your call, she will get the professional help she needs. This would be the best possible outcome and of course we will never know how it turns out but you can be proud that you acted responsibly to try and be of help. I agree with Lizbud - what must go on in the privacy of their home **shuddering here** I will say a little prayer for those children. I know there is a great debate about spanking children, but I never spanked my children. It seemed hypocritical to me to teach a child not to hit another child and then hit them yourself! The world has enough violence without having it at home from those who are supposed to love you.

[Tanya&Fritz]

Thank you so much everyone! I feel much better about it all now.

[Cincy'sMom]

As eeryone else has said, you did the right thing. you got involved, and in the right way...by calling the police once you were away fromt he situation. you probally helped those kids out tremendously, and the parent does not know who you are. As tempting as it is to sy something to her yourself, letting the authorities handle it is the safest way for you.

[shais_mom]

definatley did the right thing!!!!
You could have saved those kids from alot worse!

[kohala]

As much as I believe children should be spanked (not hard, and only on their padded little bottoms) when they are inappropriately physically agressive (better to learn that bad behavior can get you "hurt" from mom or dad, than not know it until you get nearly beaten to death in fights when older), I do not belive for one minute that seeing blatant child abuse should go unreported and untreated!

Now if we could only itercede for the young victims of emotional abuse - ah, what a world!!!

[HoRsELUvR]

of course you did the right thing,and its good that you did,because you prevented something from happening to those kids.

[Kfamr]

You did the right thing. My parents get pissed at me alot.... But never once have the touched me. I think they're afraid i might hit them back. I mean, if i've done somthing bad, i'll take the punishment... but hitting is not a punishment. Ok so it might hurt, but what does that teach the child? Violence, and is that right? No. There's no doubt in my mind if my parents where to ever come at me, and beat me, that i'd fight back and do everything in my strength to make them stop, no matter how disrespecting or whatever that sounded, it's how it is. once again, you did the right thing.

[COCatMama]

floppsy : use a payphone and make an anonymous call, say something like a friend told me his/her neighbours are abusing their cat by hitting it, throwing things at it, etc etc'

[shais_mom]

Originally posted by FloppsyLadySally89
PS-my mom never hits me because if she does I threaten to call the police. Aren't I a wonderful daughter .

Britt,
this isn't even funny to joke about. I can't believe this. If I ever said that to my parents I definately would still have gotten spanked. The times I did get spanked I deserved it. As I think you do too....

[kohala]

Originally posted by FloppsyLadySally89

PS-my mom never hits me because if she does I threaten to call the police. Aren't I a wonderful daughter .

Do you know the difference between "beat", "hit" and "spank"?
I heard three different perspectives from young people here:
I totally agree with Popcornbird, and I know because I was one of those kids who was never spanked. What I found later in life is that when you are an adult, if you never had heard "no", or been "spanked" when you were wrong as a kid, you would have a hard time learning that people have personal limitations, and your way isn't always the only way. You can't always have eveything your way, as you might think when you're a child. A hard lesson to learn, at the cost of friendships, all too often.
Threatening to call the cops when your parents are disciplining (not abusing) you is the most cowardly thing, because it abuses the true purpose of the law. It also makes it that much harder for the people who really need those laws to benefit from them, as they begin to lose their credibilty. Remember the boy who cried wolf story, and if you haven't heard it, ask someone.
As for fighting back, yes, if you are being beaten, fight back, but mostly get away. Fighting back when you are wrong will just put you in the same place later in life as the ones who never learned to respect other people's spaces and limitations.