Hoping to find a link...

Discipline is one of the worst parts of parenting. Ack. Blah. Humph. Sigh. Urg. I'm trying to think of all the word sounds to express the dark cloud it can be in a parent's day. Do animals discipline? I think about this. If I'm not mistaken, I've seen gorillas at the zoo give each other a "loaded" pat, that seems to say, "keep moving" or "knock it off, that's mine!" But I could be reading into that. I also know that some animals eat their young. Yikes. From what I've read, it's not in anger, but that certainly would cut down on some of the stress later on. I kid. But, it's pretty remarkable, this enormous difference between animals and humans. We need discipline to grow and learn and make it in this world. Where a seal teaches it's baby to swim, by letting the babe ride on her back, a human parent may have to institute the 5th time out of the day to teach her babe that potty needs to be aimed into the BASIN of the toilet, no where else. Discipline is horrible, but it's so necessary, it's got to be valued and the act of it has to be loved by a parent just as much as getting to hug and hold your baby, at any age. Teach your children well...