Absolutely. God forbid anyone ever makes a mistake. I wouldn't fret too much. The detractors obviously have no clue what reality is like.

I'm definitely not a perfect parent.  I also want to apologize for leaving such a harsh comment on your other post.  I honestly did not mean to sound judgmental.  Not to make excuses, i was in a bad mood and that post hit a nerve so i lashed out.

But i also want to say that it wasn't the pinching that bothered me.  It was the fact you took a tired 2 year old to a restaurant expecting her to behave.  I think it was asking too much, that's all.  Again, i'm sorry for saying some really vicious things.

"The SuperMom Club all strapped on their Bottles of Breast milk and
jumped in their minivans. They are vicious when they're in attack mode"

Not to fan any flames, but making jabs like this doesn't help your argument. I'm sure you didn't mean anything by it and it's a really funny visual. I just find that reducing the opposing side to a caricature (TM Obama) doesn't solve anything. I did see the baby-pinching post. And I'll admit, it made me angry. But I didn't think for a second that "this lady is a terrible mother". I thought "she must have been having a rough day". It happens. I understand that some parents think it's necessary to spank. What I don't like is the, "Yeah I hit her/him! So what?!" chest-pounding attitude. It honestly worries me that someone could hit a child and feel absolutely no remorse. That my opinion and I'm sticking to it. You're entitled to yours. Why is it that anyone who has a differing opinion should be silenced? As long as I'm not plotting to kidnap your kids while you sleep, my views are just as valid.

Pro-spankers jumped my shit for the anti-corporal punishment post I wrote recently. Most of them were completely rude, disrespectful, and a few other words I'd rather not type out. It seems that the only opinion that's welcome in the Momaroo community is one that's in favor of spanking or one that attacks mothers who aren't. What frustrates me most are posts like yours (no offense, just giving an example) that poke at an opposing view while asking for consideration and compassion on account of "we're not perfect". It's not consistent and it reminds me of something mean girls used to do in middle school. They write crazy stuff about you on the walls, gossip about you, etc and the one day you decide to call them out for having thick ankles, an extremely bad hairline or a terrible weave job, they're telling a teacher that you're harassing them. Can dish, but cannot take.*shrugs*

@viarah@xanga - Anyhow in response to this one, I think you should have thought through the comments you would get making a post like that, if you didn't want the negative response for whatever reason.

That is exactly what I was thinking!

And to add to what viarah@xanga said, you can't expect to post something on a public website and only get positive feedback. It sounds to me like you wanted praise for how you handled it and don't care what other opinions are unless they are the same as yours.

Regardless of how I felt about your last post (pinching isn't how I handle things, but I don't think you're a bad mother for doing so), I find it extemely annoying that you are upset about the negative feedback.

I am thankful I don't know any of those perfect moms in real life.  They seem to only exist on-line.  I think a few of the comments were a tad judgemental, but I always take the attitude that those people are most likely trolls.  Other of the posts had valid points, like trying to get a  2 year old to sit still after 8 hours of shopping is asking too much.

I agree on the whole being afraid of the government thing. It has gotten way out of control. Kids need a swat on the butt sometimes. I believe that when the situation needs it, a little physical adjustment is okay. Not all kiddos can be talked into correction. Some need a little more. My three year old is one of those. Does that mean I beat her? NO!! Spare the rod, spoil the child!!! 

I spank my daughters. I send them to time out. I tell them "no", "stop it NOW", and "you're being a total jerk. Quit it." I swear in front of them and sometimes, when she's frustrated, my three year old will say "What the hell!" I take toys away if they won't share nice. There have been days when even after being spanked and sent to time out for fighting, they still end up with literally no toys in their room. I let them eat dirt and I don't always catch them putting their mouths on things like the grocery store cart. I've been known to let them have cookies for breakfast and spoons full of ketchup at dinner time. I let them watch cartoons and Grey's Anatomy, History Channel, and the news with me. I let them run around naked, inside and outside of my house and don't even worry about some dirty pervert eyeballing them.

I also read to them all the time, snuggle with them constantly, tell them I love them several times a day. I take care of them, talk to them, and let them play and be kids.

I don't know how we all got this notion that a perfect parent requires being a hug it out/all organic food all the time/germaphobic/Susie Homemaker. Nobody is perfect. Nobody can be "on" all the time and create this ideal family life where everything is perfect all the time. My house is a mess, we're broke ninety per cent of the time, and sometimes my kids act up. But my husband and I do the very best we can with what we have and we love our daughters. We parent them with what we have gleaned to be the best of our own childhoods mixed with the things we have found that work well for our daughters. I'm not a perfect parent but I do the best I can. I don't really know what more can be asked of anyone.

IF PEOPLE DON'T CARE HOW PEOPLE JUDGE YOU AS A PARENT, DO YOU FEEL THE NEED TO CONTINUE ON WITH THE SAME SUBJECT AND NOT DO SOMETHING TO "BETTER" YOURSELF?

I had DD1 when I was 16 years old.  Of course I had to deal with all of the drama then.. but I decided to do something to better myself and ignore it.  People don't agree with teenage parents no matter who it is.  People don't agree with people because people just don't fucking agree to begin with...

I honestly don't see the point, right now.. to bring back personal attacks between people who don't know each other.. I don't agree with the whole bring a kid out to dinner after a long day, I could care less about a pinch because I personally DO spank my children and put them into time out.. people have different opinions about crap and everyone is going to create a lot of drama and fuss just because most woman do that.. shit, I do.. I'm a woman and I like to bitch and create drama because to me, it's funny..

but like seriously.. the same crap is being brought up all over xanga right now and I'd personally like to read nice stories about kids and people and their kids and whatever crazy thing your kid did yesterday or this morning..

and this whole rant about why people bring the same thing up because they have their panties up their ass too far is not based on the person who MADE this post or the people who didn't like the original post.. just about everyone who feels the need to drag out the same sob story.. if you don't have kids, dont bitch.. if you do, post a story about them and move on.  sheesh.

the end of my damn rant.
i woke up on the WRONG side of the bed this morning.

I didn't post on the early comment because pinching your daughter is not that bad. My mother would beat my ass with a homemade leather belt in the bathroom if I didn't behave. Times change, I very rarely spank my daughters when she is misbehaving but I will threaten her in public with it. My husband does too when our daughters act out in the store we first ask them to stop, second we threaten to "spank your butt" and that usually works if it doesn't, well then one of us takes the misbehaving little one out of the store to the car and usually when they realized their are going a spanking at the car they apologize and a good stern talking too always works. I never saw my mother as child abuser but now everyone would. I think it is funny many mothers that often think their perfect and wonderful parents never discipline their childeren and they have little monsters because of it.  

I didn't post on the last thing because I didn't, at the time, want to get caught up in the fray.  For the record, I do use corporal punishment according to what the situation calls for.

The argument has been made that using corporal punishment is the adult losing control or trying to get "their" way.  You know what, for most, corporal punishment is the result of months and years of testing to find out what works for a particular child in specific situations.  As far as it being about the adult getting their way...  That's how the world works.  I had to completely adjust the class I teach last year.  Not because what I was doing was wrong but because a particular person wanted their way.  Did I resist?  Nope, I did it because that person was one of my bosses.  How do I know that I wasn't totally wrong?  Because one of my other bosses had a totally different opinion and in the end, I got to go back to my old class structure because he had a higher position.  I could have fought tooth and nail over the original changes and risked losing my job or at least risked having this assistant principal at my back all the time.  But you know what, while I didn't like the changes and the kids didn't like the changes, it didn't hurt anyone to do it.  Personally, I chose my job over the fight.  I have learned over the years when to give in and let others have their way and when to resist.  This is what we need to let our children know. 

Sometimes other people are in charge and no matter how much you resist, you won't win - and in fact, you just might lose quite a bit by resisting.  Our kids need to learn how to adapt in these situations and assess when the fight is worthwhile.  I know this sounds awful - as if I'm teaching my kids to be pliable in all situations - but they do need to learn to determine what is at risk by resisting or not resisting and how to choose the path that works best for them.  It has little to do with my inconvenience much of the time - I'm not that attached to when I buy groceries to worry about the inconvenience.  Let me assure you that if I always left situations my 4 year old thinks are not so much fun when he started whining, he would only learn that if you whine enough you get your way.  If that's what I need to do to prove that I am a pillar of self-control then I'll get right on that and send him your way when he's a spoiled rotten teenager!  I have had classrooms full of early teens who learned this very lesson and trust me, you wouldn't want to spend much time with him if I took this road.

There is one other argument I wanted to address as well.  The comment was made that we risk teaching our kids that pinching is an acceptable control method.  I can buy that but you have the exact same problem with time outs, other forms of corporal punishment, taking toys or other belongings, etc.  I can't count how many times my kids have tried to put me, each other, other kids, other adults, etc into "time-out" because they didn't like what the other person was doing.  They have tried to take my phone from me when they felt the need to "punish" me for being rude - you know, for telling them to clean their rooms ro go to bed.  While it's not physical and people tend to laugh and think it's "cute" it is nothing of the sort.  It still amounts down to the child trying to exert their will on another in an inappropriate manner or to an innapropriate person (the authority figure).  I also could easily argue that leaving a situation when a child is misbehaving amounts down to when I, as a child, would cross my arms and say "fine, then I won't play" or "I didn't want to play anyway" all while pointing my nose in the air and making a huffing noise.  Can we say temper tantrum?  In fact, they tell us as teachers that the minute you send a child out of your room (that is put them in a timeout of sorts in the office), you have lost control of the situation.  Sorry, but there isn't a single perfect method for discipline - our kids are smart and will nearly always figure out how to use them against us!

@RaisingEinstein -I couldnt have said it better myself.

I commented on the last post and didnt agree with the course of action that was taken.
Perhaps I couldve worded things better because Oh my God I know Im nowhere near a perfect parent and I never mean to imply that I know best.
The fact that I disagree and wouldve done things different doesnt mean I always do things right.
It most certainly doesnt mean I think youre a bad parent, because Ive read other blogs of yours and I actually like you and you can tell that you love your children VERY much.
Just, regarding that post, I wouldnt have pinched my daughter myself, because I wouldve known going into the resturant was a bad idea for the time being and I wouldnt have expected anything different out of the daughters reaction.

but how about the time I put my 2 month old baby in a computer chair while I moved her bouncy seat to the other side of me really quickly, thinking she couldnt move, and she somehow fell through the arm rails onto the floor.. and the time I didnt realize her hand was in the car when I shut the door at 2 years old?.. or yesterday when at 4 years old she KEPT taking her socks and shoes off and making excuse after excuse as to why she didnt want to wear shoes and after the 4th time of the shoes and socks coming off I basically threw the shoes across the room and laid on the floor like a 4 year old myself and questioning why, WHY must she do this, did she eat a crazy person pill!?

No, Im not the perfect parent. not at all.

I am not a parent, but some of the women here are absolutely vicious and ridiculous. One in particular, who has been featured, is borderline psychotic. She even told me that since I don't have kids (I am 17...not quite time yet) that I don't even belong here and then she made jokes about my mom's death. Apparently only parents belong here, even though Momaroo has featured posts by non-parents.

As far as their judgments on you, so what? Parents can punish their kids as they see fit as long as they do not abuse them. My parents have spanked me plenty in the past and still will if they think it is necessary but there are a million parents who will scream at them. My dad's response: I have never been in trouble with the law, I am going to Notre Dame starting next month, and I have received all A's since 8th grade. Deal with it...is your kid who never gets spanked the same? It's silly, different parents do different things. If anyone thinks their way is the right way, they need to get over themselves.