Chapter 10 - HELENA’S DEFENSE WAS “DISCIPLINE”Through counsel, Helena insisted:
“I never considered myself abusive.”
That sentence did not help her.
She called the dark room:
“time-out.”
The food restriction:
“consequences.”
The car washing:
“responsibility.”
The arm gripping:
“guidance.”
Language tried to clean behavior.
The evidence refused.
A time-out does not involve locking a three-year-old alone for two hours.
Discipline does not require threatening food.
Responsibility does not mean kneeling in cold water over imaginary damage.
Guidance does not leave finger-shaped bruises.
The child-trauma specialist said something Carmine remembered forever:
May you like
“When adults rename fear, the child still experiences fear.”
Exactly.
