This is my first story about a childhood in which I was punished frequently, but always lovingly and fairly. This was a regular day when I was out playing. I was 11 years old and visiting my aunt. All I remember was playing with the neighbours until it got dark. I was only about three […]

I was staying with my great aunt after my parents left for France. She was an old, sour woman with no tolerance for disobedience. I was only 10 at the time and was accustomed to doing things my way. However, my way meant nothing at my great aunt’s house. She gave me a bedtime – […]

It was the 50s, and I was five – an only child living in an apartment with my parents. One summer’s day, my mother decided that she would go back to work part-time and it was obvious that she needed to find a babysitter for me. The solution was right next door. My mother’s neighbour […]

When I was younger, my parents went on a business trip for two days and I stayed home with my mom’s friend Amy. She was in early adulthiid at that time. Before she left, my mom told Amy that if I was any trouble, she could  spank me. Anyway, after dinner, we had watermelon. Then […]

When I was in my early teens (in the early 1960s), my mother was required to move out of town for employment and it was determined that I would stay with my aunt. I cannot say that I was overjoyed at first as she was older and seemed stern (how right I was!) but I […]

It must be remembered that in Britain in the 1950s, corporal punishment was widely used to discipline children – boys and girls alike – both in the home and at school. I well remember when I was about 12 visiting a friend of my mother. I was sent to the playroom with her friend’s daughter, […]