For a deeper perspective and greater context, here's an article by Howard Zinn, a veteran activist for progressive causes (whole article at http://www.peace.ca/ongettingalong.htm ) I find it poignant and relevant for us progressives at this juncture:

Sumbitted by: Barbara Desmarais, Parenting and Life Coach

Remember those days before children when we could honestly say we couldn’t remember the last time we lost our temper? Do you now find from time to time, you don’t recognize yourself in your own behavior? Children have the ability to push buttons we didn’t even know we had and can push us to a point where we later regret our words and/or actions. Welcome to parenthood. I remember losing it once with my two children over them not going to bed and thinking: “Who was that?” I don’t think there is anything else in the world that brings so much joy while at the same time so much anxiety. Beating yourself up over your reaction to a certain behavior is neither fair on yourself nor productive. We’re all human and often say things we regret. Children need to know we too make mistakes.

Submitted by: Barbara Desmarais, Parenting and Life Coach

In speaking with parents a comment I frequently hear is “My child won’t listen!” Repeated attempts in trying to get a child to co-operate often lands on deaf ears and leaves parents feeling exhausted and helpless. Frequently we say things we later regret and become riddled with guilt. Usual attempts often include nagging, yelling, spanking, time out, lecturing and threats. Despite consistently not getting the results we’re looking for, we resort to the same methods time and time again. We usually use what we were taught to use by our own parents. Although we often resolve to ourselves that we will do things differently and not resort to some of their methods of parenting, we do. It seems to be automatic. This is not intended to be an article about blaming our parents, rather an understanding of why we do what we do and provide some alternative responses. There were no parenting courses for our parents and they all did the best they knew how.