Of course, that was in the old days, when parents didn't spare the rod or spoil the child. Anyone who doled out that kind of discipline in this day would be charged with child abuse. But back to the parent who dreads the spanking as much as his offspring does. He's suggesting the experience is painful for both parties.
Nobody really believes that except parents who have been in the same situation.
Punishments can be brutal for all concerned. Without getting into the details, let's just say that Diana needed a reminder of household rules. And let's just say that Diana's mother was reminded by the punished child on a daily no, almost hourly basis of how unfair the sentence was. I guess I've always known that teen-agers are master players of head games, but never is their strategizing more apparent than when their wings have been clipped. Like a lot of people her age, Diana likes to remind me of every parental restriction ever put in place on her, on her older brother, on the kid down the street, on the dog and on anyone else who has any relevance to her case.