Sorry for posting this, but my e-mail keeps bouncing.  Maybe it will
help others here, anyway, and therefore I pray others will read this.  It is
actually a response from my Aunt, who has 5 kids, since I have none yet.

     I'm posting this for a good Christian relative who does not have e-mail
access.  Since this aunt and uncle have 5 kids I felt they would be more
relevant than I, who have none (yet).

     13-year-old (13YO) twins, 10YO boy, 6.5YO boy, 2YO girl

     I don't call it spanking, but they do, so yes, very rarely.

     I don't call it spanking because it's more of a reaction to something
very dangerous, such as trying to stick their finger in a fan or running
into the road.  Maybe 3-4 times for each except for the 2YO girl, who has
not been spanked yet.
     They call it that because it *does* hurt their feelings, and of course
I give all the hugs and stuff to ensure they know they're still loved.

     No, that would be too painful.  If it's too traumatic they never recall
why they were punished.  Besides, it must be immediate, and taking the time
to go get a toolmeans you're not doing it right away, and that lessens the
impact.  It's very emotional for a child as it is - which is evidenced by the
fact that a little slap on the rear - which hurts for perhaps 5 seconds -
is called a spanking.
     Lots of logical consequences - for instance, when 4YO Matthew dared
a good friend to jump out of his treehouse or he would push him out, I made
sure they didn't play together for 5 days so he'd know that would make him
lose friends very quickly.  He's never done anything like that since.
     We also use time-out in their rooms - I use a timer so they don't keep
arguing with me over leaving, since it's hard to argue with a macine.
I will go to the closed door and tell them timeout won't be over until they
calm down if they're too tantrumy.  I use the top of the stairs when they're
really young.

     40

     Bath, Ohio.  It's right outside of Akron, in the northeast part of Ohio.

     No, and none of my kids would dream of it.  I hope you can use this to
teach all parents that physical punishment isn't always required - parents use
that as an excuse to hit too hard.

     Lots of timeouts, same as I use.  Our family and my husband's have never
used spankings.  In fact, my grandmother in law was one of 11 kids, and they
were almost never spanked.  This was around the turn of the century.  And,
none of us has ever been afoul of the law - man-made or God's law.
     Jesus says, referring to a small child whom he is holding, that "what
ye do to the least of these, ye do also to me."  The Bible also says in all
things to be kind, and merciful, and especially loving. (Colossians 3:12-15.)
There is no room for selfish anger, which I'll admit I've been tempted with
at times.  When I've felt like spanking hard in anger, maybe the kid deserved
a little slap on the rear, but what I would have given would have been the
devil's work.  I could feel the temptation, and just angrily ordered the kid
to his/her room and went to my room myself.  After praying and asking God's
forgiveness, I was much calmer, and did not feel like spanking, but felt that
what I had done was enough punishment.