Following age-old custom, if my actions deserved it, I would be chastised.
This was always administered in a traditional manner and on the usual place – with comprehensive ritual and formality, I was given a sore bottom.
‘Getting my bottom tanned’ or receiving a ‘smacked bottom’ were not common experiences, but neither were they that rare.
When I was in trouble at primary school, I was given a traditional spanking.
My mother sat on a chair in her bedroom and put me over her knee – and smacked my bare bottom until it was hot and stinging.
As soon as I reached secondary school, I was deemed too big to go over her knee – but far from too big to receive a sore bottom.
I then had to bend over, most often for the slipper.