One of my most vivid memories of being spanked happened a few weeks after I turned seven. It was a warm, late summer day and my mother and I were out with some other young mothers with children my age. Apparently, she decided at some point that it was time for us to go – […]
A doubly good hiding
Some of you may have already read my contribution to the Mothers Talking series – I’d like now to tell you about the discipline I was subject to myself as a girl. While I was growing up, I was subject to frequent spankings from both my parents, mostly over the knee with my knickers down. When I […]
Mom’s rituals
I am a 40-year-old woman who lives in Buffalo, NY, where I grew up. I am the oldest of four. I have a sister two years younger and brothers five and eight years younger. Though spankings were less in fashion during my childhood, my parents were definitely firm believers in their effectiveness and all four […]
A new coat
When I was seven and Jeff was six, mother had bought us new coats for Easter and we were invited to tea on Easter afternoon at the Potters. Our coats matched, even though his had buttons that worked differently and no belt at the back of the waist. Each of us had black velvet collars, […]
Red as a London bus
The summer between 9th and 10th grade, we went as a family – mom, dad, me and my younger sister and two younger brothers – to Scotland to visit my grandmother, my dad’s mother. We flew to Scotland in July and stayed for the month with my grandmother. I was not especially happy to be […]
Caught shoplifting
Shortly before I turned 14, I convinced my mother that I was too old to go to camp anymore. My mom had taken on a part-time job and was working several days a week. My dad, who was a tradesman, was working on a large, out-of-town construction project that kept him away from home for […]
Mom cleans up
I grew up the oldest of four, with a sister two years younger and brothers five and eight years younger. Though my parents were 1960s liberal types, they were anything but when it came to raising kids, and both were firm believers in the effectiveness of a warm bottom in maintaining discipline. Spankings in our […]