CORPORAL PUNISHMENT...

The Jackson Public Schools debate over corporal punishment is one in which I see both sides of the argument. My late father was a firm believer in corporal punishment and my mischievous brothers recount many tales of his implementation of that punishment. My dad served in the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor (hence my name) and he did not spare the rod with my brothers. My sister and I never got spankings when we were children. I was the youngest of six and born to parents in their mid-40s and a firm command from my father was all it took to keep me in line. I was always afraid to disappoint my parents.

My husband, the school principal's son, also believes in corporal punishment and I think he had some personal experiences with that during his school years at Philadelphia High School. "I never got a paddling I didn't deserve and missed out on a few that I did," he's fond of saying.

I can see that in today's environment, parents are less and less comfortable with strangers enforcing that type of punishment. I used it sparingly with my own children. As a grandmother, I seldom spank my grandson…I try to reason with him. But even with grandchildren, there's a fine line between too much discipline and not enough.

What do you think?

NO MATTER HOW OLD YOU ARE...

When my kids were young I often wrote about them in my weekly newspaper column. They were sometimes embarrassed.

Brock, my oldest child, came home one day from school and said, “I can’t believe that you wrote about me playing in the mud in my underwear…IN THE NEWSPAPER! My teacher read it and now everybody knows.” Cole sometimes complained but not nearly as often. Daughter Jessi was either too young to care or everyone thought what she did was cute. I soon found other writing material to keep peace at home.

As all kids do, mine always wanted to be older, to the point of fudging their age a bit. Now that they are older, if a birthday is coming in a few months, I tend to round them up to the next year. They no longer want to be older. Brock is a 27-year-old country boy and Jessi is a stay-at-home mom and will be 23 in a few weeks. She and her husband Justin are parents to Rowan who is 3. Cole (who is 24 not 25) and his wife Amy (pictured here) live in Texas so I sent him an e-mail to tell him that I’ve been writing about them on this blog. Until today, I hadn’t called them by name…to eliminate any embarrassment.

He wrote back:

“I like the site! I’m only 24 not 25!

You actually brought a tear to my eye when you were talking about dropping me off at school. I can’t believe it’s been six years since I graduated. All through middle school I wanted to grow up, get my driver’s license and play high school football. I realized time had surpassed me when I finished my last football game and walked across the stage to receive my diploma.

I wished my life away when I was a kid, only to look back now and wish for just a moment I could be a teenager again. Some people know from the beginning where their lives will take them. I never knew where I was going to end up!

My dreams were always gigantic and my mind was made up that I would be somebody in life. But, I never thought for one second that I would be living in Texas, so far away from my family. LOVE YOU!”

I wrote him back:

“When I was young, if I ever said, ‘I wish’ or ‘I can’t wait until,’ Daddy would always say that I was wishing my life away. You didn’t wish your life away; you’re just now starting to live it. I bet you think that you’re the only one who’s ever felt that way. Everybody remembers teenage years as just a flash and wish that they could go back and do it again. That’s why they call them ‘Glory Days’ (Bruce Springsteen). The desire to go back and do it again is probably why parents sometime push their kids to excel in sports. You had great high school years. Not many guys get to play in a state championship football game...and win. Not many guys have their mom to take so many action football photos, either. That was a fun year for me too.

“You were very independent when you were young and I knew that you would have to ‘go, see and do’ all that life has to offer...and you have...and you should. You know what ‘they’ say...life is not a dress rehearsal.

“You paid your way through college, you’ve lived and worked in D.C., you’ve met the president (we had to go to war for you to meet him, but still...). You’re been to a G8 Summit, you live and work in Texas and you’re about to build a home. You don’t know it now but this is a great time in your life. Just live in the ‘now’ and enjoy it so that you don’t look back with regret because your 20s passed you by. And believe it or not...the 40s are a lot of fun and I plan on the 60s being a lot of fun.

“I knew that you had big dreams and I knew that you’d be ‘somebody’ too. Just remember...no matter how old you are, you’ll always be my baby.”

RIDGELAND SMOKING BAN

The recent Ridgeland smoking ban is a positive development for that city and it's a concept that's taking off across the state and nation. Starkville, Tupelo, Oxford, Hattiesburg, and now Ridgeland have all passed smoke-free workplace laws that include restaurants and bars.

I've never been a smoker, but I've had loved ones who smoked and the second-hand smoke is a real problem. Smokers have a right to practice the habit in their own homes and vehicles, but I have a right not to have to endure the smell, the fumes and breathe those toxins into my lungs.

It's also clear to me that smoking restrictions are good business. Less than 25 percent of the public smokes and the rest just don't like to be around it. This is one political debate in which Mississippi moms have tremendous influence and should use it to help create healthier communities.

HOMEMADE ICE CREAM AND BASEBALL...

Daughter Kate will be a senior this fall at Ole Miss. She and Sid are huge sports fans…every sport. There's a whole lot of ESPN at the Salter house.

Kate has mastered making homemade ice cream with an orange recipe. I've put her in charge of making strawberry ice cream for her dad Sunday. I’m sure we’ll eat it while we watch the College World Series.

If you have a good recipe, send it my way.

THE END OF THE SOPRANOS...

Did anyone watch The Sopranos finale? What did you think?

GIVE THE KID A CAMERA...

Our grandson loves to take pictures…and he takes pretty good photos for a 3-year-old. Sometimes we have to bend a little to get down to his level and sometimes he will clip the top of a head…but that just makes it better.

Sunday is Father’s Day.

Give your kids the camera and tell them to take some pictures of a great dad…their dad, stepfather, grandfather, uncle, etc. We want to see great dads through the eyes of kids.

Send me the photos and we’ll make a special Father’s Day gallery. Remember…we just want photos taken by kids.

Send them to me at lsalter@jackson.gannett.com.

It’ll be fun and it’ll make some special memories…AND it'll register you to win tickets to a Mississippi Braves game.

CRUNCHY GRASS…

I was out of town for a couple of days. When I got home some of my plants were fried. Our grass is crunchy. Brandon is already under a “no lawn-watering” notice. What’s it like at your house?

A HOME RUN...

We took our daughters, son-in-law and grandson to lunch last week and then to a Braves game. It was the grandson’s first baseball game and he had been talking of nothing else for days. During lunch he reluctantly ate chicken and muttered under his breath that he just wanted to go to the baseball game.

Once there, we stopped by the store for souvenirs. He picked out a Chipper Jones jersey and a miniature baseball bat.

On the way to our seats everyone stopped to get ice cream but the grandson in his new baseball jersey stomped ahead as if he knew where he was going. This is a kid who sometimes is too shy to talk to family but he stopped to shake hands with the big blue mascot thing. A Kodak moment…

His mother and I left several seats empty between us to give him plenty of room to play, thinking that he’d be bored after one inning.

Wrong.

He watched the batter. If the batter swung, he did too. If the batter didn’t swing he huffed with disgust. He batted every inning with both teams. His mom and I sat with a hand up in case he swung a wild one. Thank goodness the row in front of us was empty.

The day was a home run.

PROBLEMS WITH CROCS?

I bought my grandson his first pair of Crocs. I’ve heard some talk about the shoes getting caught on escalators and causing injuries. Has anyone had a problem with this? If so, let me know.

I'LL BE BACK...

I'm sorry that I've haven't blogged in a week. I've been out of town and came home with a horrible sinus infection. I'll be back tomorrow.

KIDS DESERVE A LITTLE ‘R-E-X-P-A-C-T...’

It’s fun to hear what kids think they hear.

When my 25-year-old son was young he’d sing along to the radio. He knew nothing about the “name of love” so he thought The Supremes were singing, Stop in the Neighborhood. And then there’s Garth Brooks’ I’m Shameless…but he heard “I’m shaving.” He turned Aretha Franklin’s Respect into “R-E-X-P-A-C-T.” This kid kept me laughing.

For more funny misheard lyrics, visit this site…
http://www.kissthisguy.com

Our grandson’s selective hearing started with his paternal grandfather’s name. His name is Leo but it was planned that he’d be called Pop. The grandson decided that it’d be Weelow.

My husband and I took the grandson to see Shrek the Third. He’s seen all the Shrek movies and knows all the characters…including Cousin Boots.

I asked, “Which one is Cousin Boots?” He informed me that it was the cat.

I said, “Oh, you mean Puss in Boots.” “No, he’s Cousin Boots,” he said.

I like that name better anyway.

WHAT'S YOUR NAME?

When my daughter Jessi announced that she was pregnant, people soon began asking me what I’d want the grandchild to call me. I said, “I don’t know but don’t call me Granny.”

Many offered stories about grandparents who chose their names and then the toddlers turned it into something quite different.

There’s a flamboyant lady in our town and she wanted to be called Grand MaMa … say it fast with a French accent. Anyway…her first grandchild couldn’t handle the French accent and called her Maw … and now everyone does.

Sometimes grandchildren can pick the best names. My sister and brother-in-law were going to be Mamaw and Papaw. But her first granddaughter decided that her name was Honey because that’s what Papaw called her.

Some grandmothers take greatness into their own hands. Our other sister- and brother-in-law decided on Goddess and G-Daddy … not to be confused with P Diddy or Puff Daddy.

I still had not chosen a name when Jessi went into labor. I was careful not to pick a name already taken so I waited until everyone else had picked one. It was time to sign the baby book, so I chose Meme.

A week later my son’s wife asked what name I chose. I told her I would be Meme. She said, “That’s a good name. That’s my mom’s name too.” I realized at that moment that when they have children, both grandmothers would be named Meme.

Her mother is very petite and I am tall. I can hear it now…she will be Little Meme and I will be Big Meme. I think I’d rather be Maw.

SEND YOUR GREAT IDEAS

I’m looking for story ideas. Does your supper club hold progressive dinner parties? Or maybe you know someone who holds holiday cookie swaps. If you do, e-mail me at lsalter@jackson.gannett.com.

THE $100 HAIRCUT

My three-year-old grandson was long overdue for a haircut. Everybody in the family had tried to talk him into getting one. There was a crying fit at the beauty salon and there were various bribery schemes – all ignored until last week.

I decided that it was time. With permission from his mother, the plan began.

My husband has a pair of seersucker pants and my grandson really wanted a pair. We finally found a pair for $50 and then had to have them hemmed for $7. We then located three new toy cars from the Cars movie and a pair of SpongeBob work gloves…$18. We had to buy new hair clippers for about $20 and a Happy Meal for $5.

Our grandson came to spend the night and I told him that he was going to get a big boy haircut to go with his big boy seersucker pants. The cars were awarded along the way and about ten pounds of hair was cut off. His first haircut cost $100.

The next day in church with new seersucker pants and a fresh haircut was priceless.

Behold, the power of seersucker…