Crime and Punishment

I've been dealing with a deep internal struggle lately...

Last week, my sweet one year old went to bed for the last time as a baby, and as the clock struck twelve, my little love bug transformed into a tiny two year old terrorist...

I swear it's like a switch inside my kid flipped and it's been like living in toddler hell ever since.

The sassiness and unwillingness to cooperate has really taken a toll on this Mama's soul. I mean, my child has always been a little on the moodier side, but lord help me these days...

(See photographic evidence below)

I've noticed trends in her meltdowns over the last week... And it has occurred to me that I am at a loss over what I should do about it... Maybe you will have some super secret Mom hack that I can steal?

Let me give you a prime example to explain my struggle:

Today we went shopping. My kiddo was in an excellent mood, and super pumped to go out. We got to the store and grabbed a cart. Olivia sat in the cart like a champ, which is honestly amazing for her, because usually she would much rather run around like a little psycho.

We made it half way through the store when I started to sense that the tides were changing. My kiddo started to get antsy and whiny, and before I knew it she was screaming and trying like hell to climb out of the cart. I struggled to keep her calm as eyes all over the store started to look towards us. I could feel my face turning red.

In that moment, all I wanted to do was yell at my kid and give her a little spank.

Oh no.

I said it...

I wanted to spank my child. I wanted to spank her so badly.

I'm literally crying inside.... And not because I actually thought about giving my kiddo a spank, but because the only reason that I didn't spank her, was because I was afraid of what other onlookers would think.

Even just writing that paragraph makes me want to vomit. I am not the person who cares what people think. I would never let what someone else thinks dictate my actions. So why am I doing it with this scenario?

So my kid flipped out and received no punishment. Ugh, a missed learning opportunity...

On the bright side, big shout out to GiGi (My Mom) for taking one for the team, and getting my kiddo the hell outta there so I could continue shopping...

I guess what I'm looking for here are opinions. I DO NOT want this to spark a conversation about punishments and pro-spanking VS. anti-spanking. I'm not a child beater. I was spanked as a kid, and I'd like to think that I turned out okay. I just want to know if I was right to be scared to reprimand my child in front of other people.

Should I let her commit the crime without doing the time?