Toddlers and Spanking

Manther is quickly approaching two years old and she is cutting teeth, specifically her two year molars. This combination of things is causing some terrible obstinance and tantrums. The answer to everything (even a choice) is no, there is constant whining, and frequent throwing of objects. Last night she woke up and I brought her into our bed. She whined and cried and flipped around like a fish out of water. She asked for a bottle (yes, we still use one to put her to sleep) and I gladly gave her one. She sucked on it for a few minutes and apparently this hurt her teeth. She let out a blood curdling scream and hurled the bottle against the nearest wall. I swatted her on the butt. Hy husband (who had been pretending to sleep) jolted awake and said, "Don't hit her." I didn't say anything. We have discussed spanking and agreed that we're not completely against it, although it should be used infrequently. Our basis for this is living in a university town and watching many highly educated parents trying to reason with their two year old while the child is screaming and running in circles. You cannot reason with a child who is spinning out of control, however, spanking may not be the solution either. The one thing I know for sure is that we must present a united front or we will lose control of the situation. So, I called my husband on the way into work and explained that we have to find something that we agree on as a course of action when our little darling has metamorphosized into a screaming, thrashing demon. Obviously, we cannot stand there and decide if the situation mandates a spanking while Manther is in the middle of a tantrum. We came up with no good solution. Hopefully, Manther will decide to calm down until her parents can decide how to discipline her.
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family parenting mom kids parents