The other day as my family were sitting in a restaurant eating lunch. A little baby started screaming for ice cream. She looked to be the same age as little sister, about eight months old. My husband looked at me and mouthed, “Would somebody please shut the kid up.” Big sister commented none to quietly, ” Baby screamin. Spank Her. She naughty.”  Her parents giggled at her and egged her on thinking she was being oh so cute. I have news for them in 3-5 months, when the baby is bigger they will not find the behavior nearly as cute. When they do finally decide that the savior is unacceptable they will have a much harder time breaking her of it. I’m not saying children should sit completely quiet but little sister sat there eating with out creating a scene. She knows that if she wants a bite she can vocalize to ask for it without screaming.

I understand that not everyone would spank a child so little, I can handle that. Rewarding a child with icecream to me was however completely unacceptable.  Babies are not as dumb as everyone thinks.  They can comprehend more then we give them credit for. They are very selfish and constantly looking out for number one.  It is all about what they want and what makes them feel good.

I think God in his wisdom gave parents a sense of humor and babies a cuteness factor. If we saw there first acts of sin for what they are big black sin. We as parents would be devastated. This however is not an excuse to let your children get away with there first act and experiments with sin. If we wait to correct the behavior when it is intentional and the child can reason. They will have perfected the art and it will be ten times harder correcting there bad behavior. If you stop it with a spanking the first time you will be able to correct the behavior mush sooner.