Like any other kid my age, playing outside with my friends was what life was all about. On that particular day, my best friend and I went to the local shopping center to hang out. Most of the storeowners were familiar with us since this was where the neighboring kids typically spent a lot of their time. The majority of them would hang out behind the shopping center riding bikes, skateboarding, or roller-skating. Nevertheless, it was the bookstore, believe it or not, that was actually our preferred point of interest. My friend and I would often sit inside browsing through the various books or chit-chat with the owner. After our usual day of goofing off, we decided to walk over to the nearby McDonalds and grab ourselves a cool, refreshing sundae. Noticing that it was almost time for me to get home, we stopped at a pay phone along the way to call my mom. When she answered the phone, I asked if it was okay for me to grab a sundae from McDonalds before I came home. At first, she said no but after pleading with her, she reluctantly agreed. To my delight, we gracefully set off to get our treats. The very moment that I stepped out the door with my strawberry sundae in hand, I was stopped dead in my tracks as the car suddenly pulled right up next to me. Inside the car and with scowling faces, were my parents. I was told to get in, and the car sped away from the scene, my sundae was snatched from my hands. "What's wrong," I asked them, "What did I do? You said that I could go."

Following the devastating ordeal, I remained inside my bedroom thinking about the unreasonable actions of my parents. How would I be able to forgive them for such an unjust cause? Somehow realizing their faults, they both came into my room and apologized. However, this did not take away the burning sensation which continued to throb across my backside. Making matters worse, my father had eaten my sundae!

Now as I sympathetically stared into those tear-filled eyes of my son, that tortuous experience made me question the very action with which I was about to partake. Overwhelmed by the possible outcome which would forever affect him, I quickly withdrew my grip from the belt and hugged my child tightly. "Does this mean I'm not in trouble anymore, Mama?" I gave my son a tender smile and being aware of my parental duties with respect to discipline, I simply replied, "You're grounded."

Times were different when I was growing up, and spankings seemed to be the norm; nonetheless, Dad, you still owe me a strawberry sundae.