That woman is ill, and we all seem to agree with it, BUT at least she did reach out for help. I am glad that she contacted someone, in this case, Dr. Phil before she caused any more damage to those children. They will also need a lot of counseling because of all the emotional and physical abuse, and of course, this is going to take a very long time; years.
I wouldn't let her husband off the hook. He knew what was going on! I doubt that she reserved the beatings for the times when he wasn't home, and they manifested themselves only when no other adult was around. How could anyone do this to another human being and not feel any remorse whatsoever? The Psychologists will be able to find out what in this woman's past life, maybe as a child that causes her such rage. She seemed to be able to turn that rage on and off like a light-switch.
I cried while watching this show not only because of what I saw on the tape, but it brought back memories of my own childhood. My mother had a stick that she used on me. She seemed to come after ME with it - not after my big sister, or my little sister. I was the middle child, caught in between the older sister, and the baby. My mother's rage towards my father, and all the pain of their divorce was taken out on me. She told me she hated me because I looked like my father, etc. etc. I was not a bad kid. I did things most other kids did. I did not break things, bust out windows, throw rocks, or damage property. I did not embarrass my parents, or do anything that involved the law. I would come home with mud from head to toe after playing flag football in the mud, and got yelled at. Smacked hard on the side of the head for doing something petty. I was beaten with the stick because I looked like someone that cause my mother pain.
I did not turn out to be like my mother. I did not beat my children, my husband and I disciplined them, and they turned out to be great kids. In most cases, you just need to tell children what they did wrong, make them realize the consequenses of their actions, teach them to have respect and consideration for others, etc. I don't believe in "time out," or making children go to bed without dinner as punishment. There are bad kids - I have seen them on shows like the Dr. Phil show, some kids are just bad. I don't think you are born bad, no, I think that it's a mental thing, or it may be a taught behavior. For example, discrimination is taught. We aren't born hating people because of their color or nationality. I was raised "color-blind." In other words, I was taught that there is no difference between people of different races - that we all have our own customs, our own beliefs. We are all human.
Some kids "act out" what they have seen. Some kids carry a lot of rage because of something that may have happened to them, that they have kept bottled up inside, and they act on that rage.
I have always been close to my children. They will talk to me about anything and everything. They don't open up to their father, but they open up to me. One of my kids even called me his "Bubba" as what Bubba was to Forrest Gump. I cried because my son told me that I am his best friend.
Please, if you see yourself in that situation as in the family, there is time to do the right thing and change your behavior. You don't want your children to end up hating you, do you?
