Getting Smacked

 


I grew up in a really big Catholic family...

We were always looking for ways to have fun... 

We dared each other to do crazy things... 

Like, who was going first to ring and run...


Yes, the typical dares started really simple... 

As kids, we would just laugh and laugh... 

For us, it was all just fun and games...

Until our parents took out the polygraph...


We learned early on never to tell on each other...

It was one of the golden rules we all lived by... Because the older kids taught us early on...

Tattling could get you the proverbial stick in the eye...


It was better to just take the punishment...

Yes, take the punishment like a man...

No one ever threw the other kids under the bus... 

It was just always part of our family plan...


Later on, I hung out with the risk takers...

If you never got punished, we probably weren’t friends... 

While we never did anything to get in too much trouble... 

We were always getting smacked on our bitter ends...


It’s not that we went looking for trouble...

It seemed like trouble always found me...

Who wanted to sit inside with mommy...

When you can go outside and climb a neighbor’s tree...


Almost everyone survived their childhood...

Getting smacked never did any real harm... 

It’s a shame the kids today don’t appreciate... 

A good old fashion twist of the arm...


I look forward to hearing all the comments... 

Today’s helicopter parents have to share...

As you sit and judge others so piously... 

Please know that I don’t really care...


© 2022 Jeffrey Pipes Guice

My Wonder Years: A Book

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