Believe me, it was taken care of. But, it had been going on for years before
we moved to the street. The damage was done. The kids are 18-22 now, and in
therapy. The oldest has her own kids. Guess how she behaves toward them. The
exact same way.

Doug, when I was kid, there was a boy down the street whose dad was a
drunk. Every time he would put one on he would come home and beat that
kid bloody. I mean bad. He used belts, boards, whatever was handy.
This was in the late 50's and the police would do nothing. I wonder
what happened to him. That image has stuck with me all these years.
It was ugly.
That more then my parents example (it was good) influenced how I
disciplined my kids.I tried to always put their welfare first and
never let anger motivate my discipline.