TheTantrum
佚名 / Anonymous
Mymotherwasavocalsupporterofcorporalpunishment， butforallhertalkingshehadneverspankedmysiblings， .
Intheearly70s’， “Momma， arewegoingtoMcDonaldsfordinner？” Themotherreplied， “Honey， .” “ButIwanttogo.” “Susie， ， ifyouareagoodgirlwecangotomorrow.” Susieimmediatelydroppedtothefloor， kickingandscreaming， “IwanttogotoMcDonalds.”
NoamountofpleadingorscoldinghermothertriedstoppedSusie’， “Okay， Susie， let’sgotoMcDonalds.” Susiestoppedyellingandsmiling， shegrabbedhermother’； IwasdelightedthatanythingIwantedcouldbehadbythrowingatantrum.
ThatdaymymotherpickedmeupearlyfromdaycarebecauseweweregoingtoSears & ， andaswewalkedthroughthetoysectiononthewaytotheLayawayDepartment， ， “Mama， canIhavethattelephone？”
Shereplied， “Baby， notnow， butifyouareagoodgirlmaybeSantawillbringittoyou.” “ButMama， Iwantthattelephonerightnow.” Hereyesnarrowedandherhandtightenedonmine.“Becky， youcan’thavethattelephonetoday， butifyoumisbehaveyoucanhaveaspanking.”
BynowwewerestandinginthelongholidaylineintheLayawayDepartment， ， “Iwantthattelephone，” ， “Becky， ...Two...Three.”
， andbegankickingandscreaming， “Iwantanewcar， Iwantanewhouse， Iwantsomejewelry， Iwant...” Shocked， Istoodup.
“Mama， ，” Itearfullypleaded.
Shestood， ， theotherswaitinginlinebegantosporadicallyclap， ， shakedtheirheadsatmeandsaidwithasmile， “’llnevertrythatagain.”
AndIdidn’t， becauseitleftalastingmentalpicturemoreeffectivethananyphysicalmark.
