Familiarity is one of the issues parents encounter with discipline. The child feels it's my mom, she's my friend, even when she tries to be serious he/she might thinks it's their regular play, LOL. I think that was what happened between that boy and his mom in that service.

Once in a while, a parent needs to switch to the rod method, it's not all the times that words work but then it shouldn't be excess, there should be a balance. Over dependence on one method might might complicate things.