KYBass1276, I started this thread and your post is not off target. In fact it is right on. Thank you for sharing your stories with us.

In my house we had a 5 ft Italian mom and a 6'4" Swede dad. If you misbehaved it was the back of the hand, then "wait til your father gets home"

I remember eating alone a few times on the cellar stairs. Don't know where that originated, but if you acted up at the table, you sat on the stairs with your plate in your lap.  :-?