Leave.

The first time my wife hit me, even in jest, we had a sit down. I told her, you can throw something, you can hit a wall, you can yell all you like. If you hit me in anger, that’s the last day we’ll be married. It’s an absolute rule that I established, and I own the rule so I can abide by it, or not, on my own… but SHE will ALWAYS be subject to the full penalties if she violates that rule. If she hits me, and I think she did it on purpose with intent, she’s gone.

Folks, abuse is not tolerated. Abuse happens out of chaos. When life is scary and there’s no leadership, no plan, no rules, then the experiences of life hit you like a ton of bricks. How you react is important. Some react in anger and hit things. But what you CHOOSE to do, decide to hit or not, is 100% up to you. YOU choose to pull back your fist, and hit someone.

Now, that does not include “fighting words.” Fighting Words is a term to describe the initial reaction when someone tells you something to outrageous, so shocking, so obscene, that you react. Walking to your wife and saying, “I cheated on you with…” might get you hit, or slapped. This is because even the most mild mannered person who would never ever hit someone, reacts instinctively and without thought in a situation like that. This is NOT abuse, this is a reaction. I know someone who instinctively reacts by slapping anyone who pinches her butt.

But someone who comes home with an attitude, walks to his wife, yells at her, then slaps her, has violated his trust, his leadership role, and the woman who leaves him will find refuge in my home if she needs it. A woman who beats her husband is wrong, and should face civil and criminal penalties, and the man who allows it, should stop. He rules his household, and he is responsible for what happens in it – if she hits him in anger, she should be done. No abuse, never, ever.

The woman who finds her man’s buttons, pushes them until he reacts, then cries he abused her, should find a closed, locked door when she gets home. I have -0- tolerance for abuse.