ThatWhiteDude said:

purplethunder3121 said:

No, he used the belt on her, too...

How did you guys get out of this situation? :/

My parents got a divorce when I was around nine...so my father became a single parent. When I was 13 I threatened to call the cops if he laid a hand on us again...

ThatWhiteDude said:

onlyforaminute said:

Keep forgetting you're in Germany. Isn't that kind of behavior generally frowned upon there? Your cousin was showing off for somebody at that table or he's mental. Back in the day in the States it was an insult for a kid not to eat what was put in front of them and it was usually insisted that they eat what they were told to eat. I puked a lot when I was a kid eating stuff I was being forced to eat. My kids in turn ate basically what they wanted within reason. I've noticed today's parents are lax on what their kids eat though I'm sure quite a few still have the attitude they must eat what is put infront of them.

He's definitely not mental But you actually got a point, since there were more people around, it sounds totally plausible that he was showing off for somebody. Maybe he wanted to us to see that "He's the boss."

I don't know. But from your description he sure wanted it known the kid couldn't even take comfort in his own mom. And the fact that nobody said anything to him right then reinforced that he is the king of his castle.