@bobjanova said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
@HardwareGeek even as a kid I knew that was a threat that was never going to be followed-through on
Solution: follow through on it. Just once should be enough.
My wife has a story about a disastrous trip to Disneyland. The kids were squabbling in the back, and eventually, dad threatened "if you don't quiet down, we're turning around and going home." The kids continued to squabble. The gates of Disneyland came into view.
And at that moment, dad had enough, pulled the car over, spanked everyone, and they went home: another 2.5 hours of driving with sniffling kids in the back.
The kids never assumed anything was an empty threat ever again. My wife and her siblings were, of course, scarred for life, and are now fine, upstanding members of society. What a waste!
(From the parents' perspective: if the kids are that much of a handful on the way in, you just know it's going to be a bad day of squabbling, whining kids. Just give up early.)