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Those are the lessons I teach my child- manners and consideration- and I don't teach them through beating.

Obviously you are among those that don't understand the difference between spanking and beating.

You had one child and defered taking her to a restaurant due to her behavior.

I had four kids and took them to restaurants and taught them proper behavior. When you have four small children at one table, silliness can get out of hand quickly. A quick swat on the back of the hand with a chop stick gets their attention quickly, lets them know that they are out of line, and does no harm to the child.

However, since you stayed out of restaurants due to the poor behavior of your single child and I didn't have to with my four kids, I should listen to you? BTW, after a short while, my kids got so used to adults coming over to the table and complimenting their behavior that they began to behave themselves and not need the hand swats.

I'm pleased to say that I've had the same experience with my now age 4 1/2 year old son. We took him to restaurants from the beginning (and have also been doing so with our 6 month old daughter). I figured the only way he was going to learn how to behave in a restaurant was to be exposed to one early on. Now, that isn't to say we didn't have to leave the dining room on occasion to get back into proper behavior. However, since he was always exposed to the setting he knows how to behave in the place. We have had several older gentlemen on occasion drop by and compliment our "young man" on how well behaved he is. Makes him as proud of himself as it does us!

I had four kids and took them to restaurants and taught them proper behavior. When you have four small children at one table, silliness can get out of hand quickly. A quick swat on the back of the hand with a chop stick gets their attention quickly, lets them know that they are out of line, and does no harm to the child.

I only had one child, but when she started screaming because she wanted to leave, the very last thing I was going to do was let her have her way. A trip to the ladies room solved that rather quickly. After that, I only had to ask if she needed to visit the ladies room when she started to act up and she'd quit immediately.

As soon as she was old enough to realize that she was getting to go a lot of places that her friends weren't, she quit even thinking about behaving badly.

Obviously you are among those that don't understand the difference between spanking and beating.

You can't even begin to presume to know what I understand, so don't pretend you can...'k? I do not believe in inflicting pain (or shock, or whatever semantic spin you want to employ) on my son to make my point. I have had success without resorting to force. But to follow your logic, I will lack any parenting experience until I have an arbitrary number of children of an arbitrary age. I assure you, my philosophy will not change, and I shall still have a diciplined and polite child.