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Kids' Punishments and Mike and Carol's disciplinary methods

posted 8 years ago by jack-bunny-bandit
32 replies | jump to latest

I think Mike and Carol were pretty good parents for the most part. However, some of their discipline was stupid and annoying. One instance that comes to mind is the one with Peter breaking the vase. I thought it was so stupid that they devise this scheme to get Peter to confess. They have him decide the punishments for all the other kids. Totally crazy. Then, when that doesn't work, they buy him a new lantern to make him feel even more guilty. If they knew Peter did it, then why not just confront him? If they had asked him point blank, he would have admitted it.

And, why take a whole camping trip away from a kid just for some stupid vase? I understand they had a rule about not playing ball in the house, but good grief. That seems harsh. Further, Greg should have been punished too. In fact, Greg should have been punished even more. It was HIS idea to play ball in the house in the first place. It just by chance was Peter's shot that broke the vase. It could have just as easily been Greg's shot that slipped and went downstairs. Greg started the whole thing and then acted like it was all Peter's fault.

Another time is when Greg gets grounded for driving a friend's car to get concert tickets. Greg was right. Mike said that Greg couldn't drive THEIR car. He said that specifically. Mike did NOT say that Greg couldn't drive ANY car. I can see why Greg was upset about that. Then there is the one where Marcia is grounded. Why would Mike plan a family ski trip when Marcia is grounded? And, this is early on when Marcia was still getting used to Mike as her father. He was way too hard on her. You don't plan a family ski trip and then not allow one kid to go. And, even if they're grounded in general, they should still be able to go places with their own family.

Greg, Marcia, and Peter are the only ones that I remember being punished. Granted, it has been a long time since I have seen all the episodes, but I never remember the others being punished for anything. I remember Mike warning Cindy that if she tattled again she would be punished, but she didn't do it again so it ended there. Then Bobby got his parents upset when he was doing the Jesse James thing and also when he was the school monitor, but he is not punished. And, Mike is going to punish Jan via grounding when she rides her bicycle without her glasses until she tells him that she sold her bike to pay for the new picture. He decides that is punishment enough. I'm sure I'm forgetting about episodes though.

Finally, do you think Mike and Carol ever spanked the children? Spanking is never mentioned. Granted, even in the first season, the kids are a little too old for spanking. Greg and Marcia were certainly too old. The other four might have still been young enough. I suspect that Mike and Carol might have used spanking on occasion, but very sparingly.

[–] freebird1987 8 years ago

I agree. Those punishments were stupid.

[–] crypticanomaly73 8 years ago

Mike and Carol were just really lucky that their kids were so square that they never got into any real trouble or came back at them with actual attitude.

Sometimes a movie or tv show plot is so stupid that only the stupid can understand it.

[–] Tristan_Booth (405) 8 years ago

"Another time is when Greg gets grounded for driving a friend's car to get concert tickets. Greg was right. Mike said that Greg couldn't drive THEIR car. He said that specifically. Mike did NOT say that Greg couldn't drive ANY car. I can see why Greg was upset about that."

I came to this page specifically to see if anyone had mentioned this. Every time I see this episode I get angry. (Yes, I know it's fiction.) The initial disciplinary action was fair (he had been looking at a record album cover while driving on the freeway), and when they told him not to drive "the car" for a week, he did as they said. Then, when they found out that he had driven a friend's car, they got angry at him for not reading their minds and figuring out that they actually meant "any car." They ask him something like, "Are you telling us that you didn't understand what we meant?" He replies, "I only know what you said." Once Greg leaves the room, Carol says to Mike, "I'm not sure we should have let him get away with that," implying that she thinks Greg is lying about what he understood. However, it is clear that Greg was not lying. When he's on the phone with his friend and says that he can't drive the family car for a week, the suggestion that he borrow his friend's car seems like a good idea to him. There is no angst about going against his parents' wishes, or acting as though he would be getting away with something. He clearly believes that the discipline was restricted to the family car.

[–] CTReviews (11) 8 years ago

Aside from all that, teenagers generally don't lend their cars out to their friends. It would have been more realistic that his friend drove him to get the tickets. Of course for the sake of the plot, Greg had to drive himself.

[–] [email protected] (2017) 4 years ago

That's why I prefer spanking, it's over and done with quickly but you remember it. But grounding, not allowing to go on a family trip, or not go to a school trip or outing can be traumatic imo. And lasts sooooo long.