I was in even more pain

There are three kinds of cries for a child. One is a cry for sadness. S/he cannot help tear up when feeling something painful no matter if it'sphysical or mental. Parents are usually empathic toward this kind of cry. Another is a cry for wishes. S/he uses tears as a weapon to make his/her wishes come true. Sometimes it works. However, its effectiveness decreases rapidly over time. The other is a cry for punishment. This is the harshest one to parents’ ears and the one that parents can hardly tolerate.

Mark went through the three kinds of cries at lunch. As he tasted something peppery, he bursted out into crying. In the beginning, I understood his uncomfortable feeling, and everybody around the table tried to please him. Unfortunately, our efforts were in vain. He cried even louder and I considered it is his artifice to get the opportunity to watch animated cartoons. I told him I would never allow him to watch TV in this kind of situation and warned him if he kept crying, I would leave him alone right away. He responded in a very rude way, so I was totally irritated. I hit his bottom heavily. I thought it was the most effective way to shut his mouth up.

It did work. He bit his lips tightly after a scream. Seconds later, my fingers felt dramatically painful. Then I was worried about that I might have hit him too heavily and hurt him. All at once, I fell into deep frustration and regret.