When little S declared that she had beaten the dog "three times!" with the rainbow coloured feather duster, I steered the conversation along the lines of how she's not supposed to hit anyone, how it hurts the dog, that we never hit the dog, or her, or anyone else, and ended the sermon with a sanctimonious "We don't hit each other in our family!".
A very good, moral, and pedagogical statement, that was somewhat ruined by the loud snort of laughter from Mistress in the other room. Oh well. "We only hit consenting adults in our family!" doesn't really have the same impact when talking to a three year old.
We have had similar discussions with the kids.
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