Dawn had apparently cried loudly as she was thoroughly spanked, and no wonder. At the end of the conversation, I overheard Linda say to Mary that she would have done the same to her own daughters if they had behaved like that. Finally, I heard the phone being placed back on the receiver. I was totally engulfed by listening to this strict mother recount in detail how she had spanked her child, and by Linda’s own sympathetic and supportive responses. I didn’t have much time to ponder my excitement, though, as Linda suddenly came into the room where I had been skulking and asked me directly if I had been listening in to her private phone call with Mary. I decided the best course of action was, to tell the truth, so I said ‘yes. Linda looked me in the eye and said: “Well, it was very naughty of you to do that.” I blushed and said: “I’m sorry, Linda.” For one heart-stopping moment, I wondered whether Linda was about to look for her own hairbrush, and put me over her knee, but she just said: “I should think so, too!” After a few more awkward seconds, I scuttled off home. But in the years which followed, I often found myself thinking of that incident and imagining how it would have been felt to be put over Linda’s ample aproned lap for a good sore bottom