One winter afternoon back in the mid 1970's and after a very busy morning, I decided to go into the living room to relax in my recliner for a while and read the daily newspaper. After some time, I started hearing soft unusual bumping sounds coming from David and Jon's bedroom. I had not finished reading the newspaper and did not want to be disturbed at the time, so I kept reading. The sounds grew more intense as time went on. I wondered if the boys were scuffling, but didn’t hear any voices to alert me that anyone was in any distress.

I finished reading my paper and decided it was time to check out the odd sounds. When I arrived at the boy’s bedroom door, it was closed. I could hear the bumping sounds more clearly and decided to open the door gently to make a sneak room check. When I cracked the door, I could not believe my eyes; the sounds were coming from David and Jon. They were in dogged fight and rolling around on the floor. I quietly walked away to another bedroom and grabbed a leather belt hanging in the closet.

Without making a sound, I returned to their bedroom. Of course, I would not have had to been quiet as they were so intent on their voiceless scrapping, that they would never have heard me. I raised the belt and swung at anything that was up in the air. It took a few swats for them to realize it was not their blows directed toward each other that they felt, but ones coming from their mother.

All of this time, I never uttered one word and neither did they. They both suddenly jumped up and walked away. I am positive what started as an innocent and friendly wrestling match escalated into something more serious. That incident proved to me that boys will be boys and need to get their aggressions out of the way.