New school clothes

When I was eight and my sister Cristina was 10, our mother took us out to the shops one day to buy clothes ready for us starting back to school. Neither my sister nor myself were particularly enamoured with this idea – we would have much preferred to be out with our friends playing rather than […]

Now or bedtime?

I’m a big fan of your website, as it transports me back to my own childhood and to my years as a mother actively disciplining her brood. I had no problems with spanking when it was richly deserved – correctly administered with love, a sore bottom can do a child a world of good. The […]

Knicker thief

People who grew up in Scotland will probably remember that the idea of a boy wearing school knickers, while not an everyday thing, was not quite as extraordinary as it would have been elsewhere. This came partly from the kilt and although some people say that the ‘real’ tradition is to wear nothing underneath, in […]

The way to do it

When I was 16 and my brother 17, my grandmother came for an extended visit. She was nice to have around but was clearly a no-nonsense person, who rather dominated my mother. One day, my brother and I got home late from a trip to the mall and my mother was very upset. She announced that we […]

Sink or swim

Mother was the disciplinarian in our household of three children. My brother was three years older, and my sister three years younger. Mother spanked us with a small plywood paddle that is still very clear in my memory today. It was a Bo-Lo Bouncer game paddle that also doubled as a very good spanker once […]