Domestic Discipline Works For Me

The long weekend is nearly over. Mrs. Lion will return to her office tomorrow. She will be working from home on Tuesday. I miss her when she is away. I’ve had no trouble remembering to set up the coffeepot for the next day. Apparently, being spanked for missing a day helped my memory. Even though we have been doing this for years, I’m still surprised that it works so well.

I don’t know the reason, but Mrs. Lion doesn’t have much to say about the value of domestic discipline in our lives. I’m not sure she believes it is effective in changing my behavior. I’ve always had the feeling that she does it because I want it, not because it has any serious value in our marriage. It’s true that I want it. I believe that over the years it’s proven effective in helping me change. Admittedly, the changes aren’t momentous, but they are real nonetheless.

For example, when we began, I managed to spill food on my shirt at least several times a week. I was a messy eater. When it became a spankable offense to do this, getting food on my shirt became a very rare event. Yes, I must have received dozens of spankings before the change, but the evidence is irrefutable. The same thing is true of me eating before Mrs. Lion. After it became a rule that she was to always begin eating first, before long I almost never slipped.

Just because DD helped me make these rather trivial behavioral changes doesn’t mean I think more serious issues can be cured with a spanking paddle. Fortunately, most disciplined husbands don’t need addictions cured. There are less serious issues that, if uncorrected, can hurt a marriage. I know that when I interrupt Mrs. Lion, it upsets her. She also hates it when I act like a know-it-all.

Obviously, I don’t try to do those things. They are negative habits; behaviors that should be extinguished. Punishment, like spanking, can facilitate this. It isn’t that the spanking is so horrible that I fear offending again so much I watch every word. The spanking forces me to recognize what I did. It’s unpleasant enough to help condition me to avoid what prompted it. DD is solid behavioral psychology.

At its most basic level, DD is Pavlovian; interrupt, get a sore bottom. The conditioning stimulus is spanking. As we discovered, it works. I didn’t set out to keep food off my shirt. I was conditioned to do it. It turns out that DD is an effective behavioral tool for non-addictive behaviors. I wonder if Mrs. Lion realizes this.