I really don't want to belabor the point, but in the post that I quoted, you sorta did. While you may end up never spanking your child (if you end up having kids), it actually IS okay if other parents choose to spank their children.
While some parents may choose this route it is their choice. That is a point. To say is it ok or not ok is subjective. It is ok to choose whatever you wish. What I think about somebody's choice probably isn't going to change their choice. The point is every parent chooses what they choose regardless of ok, not ok, right/wrong, whatever another may feel, think, believe.
I still go on what I said on pg 2 of this post...I saw so many meltdowns
mainly based on unrealistic expectations of the adults in charge, not always, but mostly. At 10pm, is a 3 year old really supposed to be in a good mood? After 4 days of commando park hopping, are you kids going to be fresh as a daisy? At 2:30pm is a 5 year old supposed to behave when he hasn't had lunch yet? These were the types of meltdowns I witnessed the most and they were all avoidable.
I loved the "I don't do tantrums." I don't buy into a tantrum. I look her square in the face and say "is that the best you can do?" When they don't have an audience, the tantrum is no longer effective. Don't give them an audience.
That said, I also don't reward our DD for expected behaviors for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which we don't get rewarded as adults for them, so it isn't a good precedent. Secondly, I learned that as much as I thought I knew about kids, it was nothing until I actually had them. What works for one, doesn't work for another. My DD is very right brained, she's a big picture thinker...a thinker period. She doesn't necessarily care what my reasons are for something, she just wants me to have one, which is reasonable. I'm not a "because I said so" parent. I hated that, too, when I was a kid. I think discipline is a far cry from punishment and not, even by definition, the same thing. I don't punish. I teach. I don't presume because they have done something that I need to do something TO them to get them to behave. That is MY choice. It may not be others and that's fine. That's the great thing about being a free thinking human being.
However, I did step in the last time at WDW and say to a mother who just wanted to shake her toddler to pieces and who were BOTH melting down, "I know how tiring it can be to have so much fun" "Looks like you need some mommy time." That's all it took...a moment of clarity and she pushed the stroller under a tree and said, "thank you." I gave her a bottle of cold water and went on my way. I think the thank you was for not judging her because LORD knows we've all been there. When I see kids misbehave, I don't judge, I empathize. Been there, sister,...know your pain, glad it isn't me right now! It is so easy to judge. I teach DD that you NEVER know anybody else's story.
Behaviors have to be taught just like math facts. Practice, practice, practice. You plan this whole vacation down to the dollar amount, arrival time, place to stay, places to eat, itinerary. You can't forget to plan for tired, hungry, ouchy, overstimulated kids, I don't care how old they are. I also don't think kids inherently plan to misbehave and make a plan of attack for willful disobedience. They aren't that complicated. That's too much work on their part. However, they shouldn't get a free pass for it, either.
Don't let them see you sweat. Don't be a hypocrite...follow through with enforceable statements. I told DD who wanted to go on Splash for the 3rd time, but was giving me a little 'tude...that I only let children who are being mindful of their manners and attitude ride Splash as many times as they want. She turned her little self around, presto. You need to find their currency. Best advice I've ever been given.
