Family Discipline
MAX: Well I hit Saul, I hit Saul a lot. You I didn't hit.
GEORGE: Well, a couple of times. Mom did most of the hitting. But you gave me a whack once, I'll never forget it. You were sitting around, trying to teach me to tell time. And I was not interested. I don't know, I must've been old enough, I just wasn't interested, and you were getting impatient. And I was giving all the wrong answers, so finally you gave me a whack, pow!, and I read it, immediately! (Lots of laughter)
MAX: I remember, I remember (clamoring for attention) I ran after Saul, around the table.
GEORGE: I remember somebody running around somebody around a table. Was it Saul?
MAX: He didn't report the report card! He denied it, he didn't want the report card. So I started chasing around the big table, remember the table?
IMAGE: Saul in wedding party
IMAGE: Saul in U.S. Army with George, 1943
GEORGE: I remember the big table, I used to hide underneath. (Laughter)
NARRATOR: Discipline of the Leavitt boys was basically handled by Jennie, the undisputed queen bee. Max's major personality traits included a penchant for order; his main concern was that things should always run smoothly, whatever the circumstances. How this tranquility was achieved and maintained was really left up to Jennie. Although her children's health was of utmost importance to her, she viewed corporal punishment as a primary and necessary means of health preservation.
Max, however, was not beyond occassionally whacking his children's rear ends. He was not the stereotypical husband whose major function was to support his family and to remain mute at domestic matters. The issue of his sons' education was of primary importance, so when Saul repeatedly came home without his report card, Max took things into his own hands.