>" I never had to raise my voice...and spanking was never an option. "

That is amazing. I know there are households where that DOES happen.
I pretty much raised mine alone and they were pretty unruly during the divorce period, so there were times when I had to clamp down on them (they were very young). Sometimes we'd all break out laughing when I was trying to be serious, but boy...there would be times when they shouldn't have tried my patience.
But I was a single mom and there were all kinds of outside pressures.I like to hear stories like yours Jody, I think my grandchildren wil get all the benefits of my learning.