Don't ever let them out of your sight.

What kind of punishment did my parents dish out?

I'd love to say that my parents were really creative/sadistic and made me eat soap or scrub all the toilets on the block with a toothbrush or shape all the neighbors bushes into the words 'I apologize for...'.

That would be interesting.

No such luck.

My parents hardly ever had to dish out the punishment. All they had to do was give me that look. My mom was the best at it. It was that look that said "If you even think about doing what you are thinking about doing I will burn all of your Barbies and make you eat the ashes."

Actually that is nothing like what my mother would say. She doesn't have a sadistic bone in her body. I think I'm being influenced by the episode of Criminal Minds I'm watching. The unsub kills people and steals their eyes. Eww, right?

So, as I was saying, Mom never really had to take it to the next level once she gave the look. It was over. If we ever did get in trouble, we usually got grounded or got the silent treatment. That was brutal. They wanted to make sure we knew how disappointed they were in us. We were failures as children and had disgraced the family. They never said it but it was implied in the silence.

You might be thinking that I was a little angel if my parents never had to punish me.

Well, if I was, it was only by default. You see, my parents were always around.

Always.

Mom and Dad ran a little country store that was part of our house. So, they were always there. Mom branched out somewhat and opened up a day care in our home.

Always there.

On the weekends, we hit the beach as a family. If you think constant parental monitoring is bad in a 2 story house, try it in a camper.

Always there.

We never had a chance to get away with anything!

If my parents had any works of wisdom, I suppose they would be to never let the kids out of your sight. It's not so hot for the kids, but seems to work well for the parents. I'm not a felon or anything. I'm just a fatty with a no self control and a raging cupcake addiction who is living in sin with her betrothed and no wedding date on the calendar. That doesn't make me a bad person though.