My mom is one who believes in discipline. So much so that in my growing up years she gave any adult who saw me getting out of line had permission to do what was necessary to get me back in line. There were many adults at the Northside Church in Roanoke who were more than happy to take her up on it, too. Some of the methods she and my dad used to instill that discipline, which were common and accepted at the time, would, let’s just say, be frowned upon—or possibly prosecuted—today (of course, you’d have to lock up 90% of the parents of that era). I wonder how she would’ve adapted to parenting in 2015…. Probably like Kyesha Smith Wood did.
A few weeks ago Mrs. Wood dropped her son and daughters off at the local movie theater to see Cinderella (the girls are teens; I’m hoping the son is much younger, or went to Cinderella after being caught trying to get in to see American Sniper… just sayin’). During the movie the girls were loud and rude, and when a mother sitting near them asked them to be quiet, they were disrespectful. After the film the moviegoing mom told the girls that her husband had been laid off from his job and this would be the last movie she would be able to take her daughter to for a long time, and they had ruined it. At which, the girls got even more disrespectful.
Like any good younger sibling, the brother ratted them out. Kyesha was mortified, and took to the Internet to track down the woman her daughters had treated so badly. On her Facebook page she wrote an open letter to the woman, telling the story of what happened. She assured her that the girls were writing apology letters, and that she and her husband were making them pay for her and her daughter to go to another movie, snacks included. With the cost of movie tickets and popcorn & soda at theaters today the girls should be getting out of debt a week after their college graduation.
This unique approach to discipline did the trick. The girls were absolutely mortified and humiliated, given that the post went viral, garnering more than 50,000 shares on Facebook, and a quarter of a million “likes” on a local law enforcement page.
After Kyesha connected with the lady she said of her, “She’s the most gracious, kind and forgiving woman. I am so humbled by that and I’ve been telling people the real hero of the story is her. She took it upon herself to correct my girls and no one else around them did.”
I’m grateful to have a mom who believed in discipline. I’m also grateful Facebook didn’t exist when I was growing up—because given the skill with which she and my dad used the things they DID have at their disposal, I shudder to think about the possibilities if they had been parents in the Internet age… but then I remember I AM the parent in the Internet age…….. Hmmmmmm….
Happy Mother’s Day!