Ann never shyed away from physical discipline. She slapped the crap out of Julie for mouthing off. She paddled the crap out of Alex for skipping school, using a cutting board. Wow. She also slapped Alex for breaking the vase, and then told his father that he should have done that years ago. Ann spanked Barbara for stuffing apple cores in the clothes hamper. Barbara was just 5 at the time!! And then in Ann's own words she said she firmly supported Ed when he spanked them. Ann was not the kind of mother to talk dad out of spanking. Fact is, Ann probably did most of the spanking anyway.

How could she spank Barbara for putting apple cores in the clothes hamper? Barbara at only 5 could have thought the hamper was a trash can. But Ann spanks her anyway.

No way the court would grant Ann a guardianship over Alex with her using a cutting board on him. Wow Ann, lighten up. She had just had a heart-to-heart talk with him and said she understood his feelings, they hug and cry and everything, AND then she still paddles him!! Kind of like the time she told Barbara she understood about her running off with Bob to Chicago, and then proceeded to ground her for a month. Ann was a no-nonsense, hard-nosed, old-fashioned mom.

Someone needs to call Child Protective Services and report Ann.

Julie and Barbara may have gotten a dose of that paddle/cutting board for having beer at the party in total defiance of their mother. Nah, Ann probably just grounded them for a long time. But, I bet they got the lecture of their lives. Blatant disobedience of their mother, lying to and tricking David, and then Barbara getting drunk.

Ann was a great mother and not abusive in any way, shape, or form. Sure, she spanked her kids when they were younger, but everyone did back then. And as to Barbara getting spanked for the apple cores, has it ever crossed your mind that maybe she had been previously warned several times and told not to put apple cores in the clothes hamper?

I liked Ann. She kept it real. She was not this nicey nice mom like Donna Stone, June Cleaver nor Elyse Keaton but one with a temper and and was authorative when she laid it on the line.

I think it is important to bring up some of the details that led to each spank/slap. You are focusing on the physical act and not what led to it. Judge for yourself if they are warranted.

Ann slapped Julie in the 4 part episode: The Older Man from Season 3. Julie and Ann were fighting about the fact that Ann disapproved of her dating an older man. Julie yells at Ann, "Are you lonely Mom. Do you want him??" SLAP! One slap.

In Season 6's Wicked Ann, Alex was very jealous of Ann and Nick's relationship. He wanted his parents to get back together. Alex was out of control at one point, accusing her of breaking his parents marriage and he ran up to Ann and began pounding on her and smashed a vase on the floor. Ann slapped him after that act.

The apple core story was mentioned in Season 7's Vegas: Part 2. We don't know any details other than, Julie put apple cores in the clothes hamper and Barbara got blamed and spanked for it.

Season 8's Spare the Child made somewhat of a social commentary on how at that time and from what I could find, up until 2004, school paddling was practiced in Indianapolis. Alex had skipped school for 9 days in a row and had a school paddling coming. He bribed a boy to take his place. In the episode, Ann stated she believed in parents punishing their children and no one else. Alex really comes to terms with the death of his father and the essential abandonment from his mother. After talking everything out, Ann did indeed paddle Alex.

Child Protective Services .... I think not. This is hardly child abuse.


Ann never shyed away from physical discipline. She slapped the crap out of Julie for mouthing off. She paddled the crap out of Alex for skipping school, using a cutting board. Wow. She also slapped Alex for breaking the vase, and then told his father that he should have done that years ago. Ann spanked Barbara for stuffing apple cores in the clothes hamper. Barbara was just 5 at the time!! And then in Ann's own words she said she firmly supported Ed when he spanked them. Ann was not the kind of mother to talk dad out of spanking. Fact is, Ann probably did most of the spanking anyway.

How could she spank Barbara for putting apple cores in the clothes hamper? Barbara at only 5 could have thought the hamper was a trash can. But Ann spanks her anyway.

No way the court would grant Ann a guardianship over Alex with her using a cutting board on him. Wow Ann, lighten up. She had just had a heart-to-heart talk with him and said she understood his feelings, they hug and cry and everything, AND then she still paddles him!! Kind of like the time she told Barbara she understood about her running off with Bob to Chicago, and then proceeded to ground her for a month. Ann was a no-nonsense, hard-nosed, old-fashioned mom.

Someone needs to call Child Protective Services and report Ann.

Child Protective Services .... I think not. This is hardly child abuse.

Agreed...but I think the OP was being sarcastic.

Agreed...but I think the OP was being sarcastic.


I hope so. Those kids got what they deserved. Alex was such a little brat in that episode when he was hitting Ann and smashed the plant pot. He got what was coming to him.

I have only seen the first season of this show. I hope the other seasons aren't full of slaps and spankings.

I hate seeing kids slapped, spanked or beaten. There are other ways to discipline a child. All slapping and spanking does is teach kids that hitting is ok. Also, it makes kids afraid of their parents. I think kids should do the right thing becaues they know the difference between right and wrong. Not because they fear being hit. Paddling a child can break their spirt.

My friend Keisha has grown up in a family where they don't think twice about taking switches (branches) to "tear up the kids' behinds if a child acts up. They also don't think twice about getting a belt or pad and slapping it multiple times on kids' backsides. I don't agree with that type of discipline. It's wrong, imo.

All slapping and spanking does is teach kids that hitting is ok.

I was spanked and I've never been in so much as a fistfight.

Also, it makes kids afraid of their parents.

I never was.

I think kids should do the right thing becaues they know the difference between right and wrong. Not because they fear being hit.

That's the ultimate goal, but that doesn't mean parents shouldn't have an effective way of controlling their kids while they are learning the difference. Obeying out of fear is not as good as obeying out of conscience, but it's better than not obeying at all.

Ann was *not* abusive. She was just old school. What we see on ODAAT is old school parenting. The kids of Julie and Barbara's generation were raised this way, at least the majority were. If Child Protective Services had shown up, they would have told Ann to carry on.

What do we think of Ann having sex with many different boyfriends in her bedroom and having an affair with a married man?

Not such a good influence on her young teenage girls.:(