A true story.
A five-year old girl grabbed her Dad’s whiskey and tried to gulp it down like the cowboys do in the westerns.
Furious, her Dad yelled, “Don’t spit it out! Swallow it!”
With tears in her eyes, she choked it down, gagging and crying.
Not a nice Dad in my opinion.
The little girl is now a grown woman with grown sons of her own.
She is a great mother.
Her Dad was always tough with his three children.
He was still alive when she told me this story. More than once I witnessed him being mean to his children and grandchildren.
I was not intimidated by him and found the presence of mind not to respond when he tried to bait me.
But when he was mean to my children, I put on my boxing gloves.
I stood up and went over to my children. I took them each by the hand.
I ignored the old man.
I spoke loudly and firmly to my little boys. I told them that he was a bully and that they should ignore him.
Having said that, I glared at the old man. He said nothing.
Even to this day my grown sons will laugh about the time Mom “took on this old man”.
It was a departure from everything I had been taught about treating my elders with respect.
Years later, thinking about his behavior still makes me angry.
My friend never had a good relationship with her father.
She is a wonderful artist and a really kind person.
Lori Greer in Portland 
Then thankfully she didn’t take on his demeanor…and made her own instead 😀 ❤️ 🙏🏽 🦋
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It’s good that she stood up for herself and her children. Maybe that was part of the lesson her dad (inadvertently) taught her.
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This “tough” love approach is so common in a specific generation. We’re so lucky when were able to break the behaviors that no longer serve a purpose.
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Some people are just bullies
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Tough Love not bullying was and still is a lesson that should still be learned. My Dad was a rough Australian bushman but would never put alcohol in a place a child could reach. This applied to everything potentially dangerous. Even mugs of hot tea and soup. He could never abide disrespect to women, children, the frail, widowed elderly etc but firmly applied a smart smack to the rear end of disobedient or willful children. He is remembered fondly by all who knew him yet he himself must have suffered much by tragedies in his life and violence of war service. His language was often fruity but he taught his children the language of LOVE,
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A lovely tribute Faye. What a great guy you had for a Father. I still miss my Dad who died when I was ten. Wishing you a happy day, Lori
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