Aunt Kay,
Well, recently Mike had a little trouble with his attitude. You see, he hates having changes in his routine or schedule. He always likes plenty of advance notice of events and hates to have something he is planning to be changed. But, he doesn't always communicate what his plans are to those around him. (Believe me, this is one area we are DEFINITELY working on.)
Well, he had planned something for last week, he was getting off early and wanted to make preparations for the next day when we were going to spend the day at a nearby park, relaxing. I didn't know he would be getting off early, but I knew we were planning the Saturday trip. Our daughter called Friday afternoon and said she had a problem with her car and wanted us to come up and help her. It wouldn't take long, I knew, but I have always made it a practice to never volunteer my husband without talking to him first -- even for relatives. So, I told her I would call her later and let her know what the plans were.
Well, Mike really had a little temper tantrum. He got off early and wanted to spend the time getting ready for Saturday. I let him rant a bit as we had company. But as soon as they left, I marched him upstairs and gave him a good paddling. I told him he had no business acting like a spoiled brat. And since he had, he was going to get just what a spoiled brat deserved -- a good tanning on the bare bottom. Believe me, he was a bit surprised. But, he took it. When it was over, he thanked me (as usual) and then called our daughter and told her that he and her brother would be up soon to help her out.
While they were doing that I went to the store and finished up the preparations for Saturday. We had a good day and there were no more problems. I wish we had started our activities with the DWC a long time ago. What a lot of wasted energy went into keeping the peace when plans had to be changed, or delayed before ... now, just a few minutes in the privacy of our room with a nice paddle and the problem is solved.
Another benefit, we recently realized, happened where Mike works. There was a lot of complaining from a couple of the men about the way some of the female employees act. They felt the women were being bossy and acting like they had more responsibility for things than they should or did. Mike said he realized that the women weren't bossy -- they were just being assertive and business-like in their dealings with the men and the men didn't know how to respond.
The other men wanted the women to be deferring to them -- the mighty males' egos couldn't handle women who know how to be in charge. Mike said he realized how much smoother things went when the women were there and in charge. Things got done on time, and if there was problem, they would check into it and would come back quickly with the answer.
Of course, things run more smoothly when women are in charge. They know how to set priorities and aren't afraid of asserting themselves when it is needed - instead of posturing and blustering.
Another thought came to mind. In chess, the most powerful piece is the Queen who can move in all directions. the King just gets himself caught in a situation he can't get out of and the games ends because he is checkmated!
Good luck - hope to hear from you soon ... and will return with another update.
Terry