The Golden Rule

I grew up in the era where parents ruled with an iron fist. You made your parents mad; you got spanked. You talked back; you got smacked. You did something bad; you got whipped. I didn't have it as bad as some of my Greek cousins though. You have never been beat until you have been beaten "Greek Style". I have often told our teens while they were growing up, that if they got out of line, I would beat them "Greek style". A Greek style beating, as I vividly remember it: You do something that makes your parent mad, usually your mother, you were then smacked one to three times across the face or head, once you started crying, then you were smacked on the face, butt, arms, legs, and back repeatedly until you stopped crying!All the while be screamed at in Greek; "Skase! Skase Vre!" Meaning- Shut up! You see, you got the second part of the beating just for crying, and it didn't matter if you were in a public place or not. Nobody ever called the police either. I am sure the other parents were thinking "I am sure that kid deserved it".
How is it then that Generation Y, thinks everything their parents tell them is negotiable, chores are optional, being grounded means you don't get to hang out in your room playing video games but instead you hang out with you parents more and try to be as annoying as possible. What the hell! Where have the good ol' days gone. When I was grounded, I was too mad to hang out with mom and dad. Okay, so maybe my house hold is unique, as our teens aren't your normal teens, but seriously enough already. Now we have a toddler in the home and teenagers.
What you tried the first time around didn't work out so well, so...lets get back to the basics; The golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Hey, what a great way to teach your toddler! Lets teach him not to throw sand at people by throwing sand back at him....in his face! Ha! Fail! That just made it so much more fun. And yes, Apollo thought it was HILARIOUS! We had about a 45 minute sand fight, which consisted mostly of us running from the little monster as he screamed with delight at each hand full of sand he threw at us. I haven't looked, but I am sure Apollo has sand in his poop!