The usual mother-in-law jokes aside, I have a great relationship with Matthew, who is married to my eldest daughter Jennifer. But for a few years, there was a bone of contention between us.
Matthew and Jennifer have just the one daughter, Emily, who is now in college. Matthew, it’s fair to say, is from a generally more liberal family than our own, and for the first few years of Emily’s life, he rejected any thought of spanking his little girl. Jennifer went along with this, to my great regret, but there is only so much influence you can put on someone else’s family unit, so after a few occasions when I suggested a well-warmed bottom might be in order, I shut up.