Many stories in the old “Little Lulu” comics followed this pattern:
Something was missing or damaged.
Lulu was blamed and spanked, usually by her mother, but sometimes by her father.
Lulu’s innocence was proven, too late, usually by her friend Tubby in his “Spider” persona.
The culprit frequently turned out, with sublime irony, to be Lulu’s father. I really shouldn't say "culprit," because his actions weren't intended to get Lulu into trouble.
The parent who had spanked Lulu unjustly, or, as Lulu put it, “For no reason at all” would apologize, and Lulu would always forgive. She would always reconcile with them. I think that was rather virtuous of Lulu.
Unfortunately, unjust punishments also occur, all too often, in real life. And if it happens repeatedly, the parent-child relationship can be seriously damaged.
I wish that parents would make it a point not to punish their children before finding out what really happened.
When I was a teenager, I heard this quote from H.L. Mencken on the tv show “Family”:
“Injustice is relatively easy to bear. What stings is justice.”
I said, “I don’t agree. I’d rather be grounded for a month for something I did, than sent to my room for an hour for something I didn’t do.”
