It happened some years ago. In fact more than 20 years ago. But it could easily have happened yesterday.

A young mother had taken her 4 year old son to one of the big department stores. Of course they ended up in the toy department to have a look. As a sort of reward to her son for having been so well-behaved, while they chose some clothes for him earlier.

In the toy department various toys were on display. The boy had a quick look and then ran up to a plinth, where a big and beautiful wooden horse was on show. He managed to crawl onto the plinth and then on to the horse. A bit difficult, but he managed it.

"Hi Mum", he shouted, looking very proud of himself. But his Mum was not impressed. A sign on the plinth asked the customers and their children not to touch the display horse.

"Come down, darling", she said to her son, "you are not allowed up there". "No, I won't" was the short reply. The Mum tried in vain to talk her son down from the horse. She promised him sweets if he would come down. His answer was still a firm no. Her other promises were also refused.

A sales assistant arrived on the scene. He tried to do his best to get the boy down from the display horse, where he was not allowed to be. He spoke about a nice present he was going to give him, if only he would come down. "No!".

The manageress of the department was called to sort out the problem. "No problem", she said, "I'll have him down in a few seconds". She went up to the boy and in her sweetest voice she promised him the best chocolate he had ever had, if he came down to her now. "No, I am not coming down", was the answer again.

By this time a small crowd of people had gathered to see what was going on.

A gentleman passing by asked one in the crowd what was going on. When he was told, he went straight up to the boy, whispered something in his ear - and you would never see a four year old boy move faster! He was down by his Mum's side in a few seconds and asked her to be taken home.

Before the gentleman left, the manageress asked him what he had said to the boy. "I just told him", said the gentleman," if he did not get down straight away, I would give him such a smack, he had never had before".

This article is not advice for smacking children!

It should only be done when necessary. This means that only if there is a chance that the child will otherwise suffer, either immediately or later, should it be done.

When a parent sees a 2 year old about to touch a hot oven in the kitchen or elsewhere, you immediately use the "NO" command. If this does not work, a smack on the hand would be fine to emphasize the importance of your instruction. I don't think that any parent would rather take the child to hospital with burns. Would you?

When a 4 year old child stops on the pavement before he/she crosses the road/street, this is what all parents teach their children. What happens when the child disobeys this order of stopping and looking for traffic before crossing? You will give the child a very serious reprimand, possibly with a smack to emphasize the importance of your instruction.

It is too late if you have to follow an ambulance with your seriously hurt child because your child disobeyed what you had instructed!

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Credits: Carl Schyberg