This page hosted by
Get your own Free Home Page
I am the only male in a small card group. The other three members (Helen, Maggie and Jean) and I meet every Tuesday afternoon and share the duty of hosting on a rotating basis. We were playing at Helen's house when Maggie brought up a discipline problem she was having with her 17 year old daughter and how it had been necessary to punish the girl the night before. Jean, whose children were quite young, asked how she handled the correction of an older child. Maggie shrugged her shoulders and answered, "The same way I always have. A stern lecture, loss of privileges and a good paddling. It's the way I was brought up and I see no reason to change any part of the ritual." Her last word aroused our curiosity and we pressed her for more details.
She leaned back in her chair and explained, "After I tell her she's to be punished she goes to her room to undress. She wears nothing but a bathrobe while we finish dinner or whatever and stays that way until we decide its time for a discussion in the family room. She stands in front of me while I give her a good talking to and outline whatever restrictions her actions have earned. After my lecture she goes to the kitchen to get the paddle (we keep it hanging on the wall as a reminder) and puts it on the table next to me. Then she removes her robe. After it is folded properly and put on a shelf she waits until I invite her over my lap. I start with what my parents used to call a 'warm-up' spanking with my hand before I pick up the paddle and begin in earnest. The number of swats with the paddle are equal to her age as a minimum with more added in accordance with the severity of the crime or her reluctance to accept the punishment. She earned an extra seven shots last night bringing her total to 24 in all and I must admit I did a pretty good job on the first spanking so her little rear end was quite red and I'm sure she was none too happy to feel the paddle but that's the idea, isn't it?"
She added as an aside that she was also subjected to this method of discipline well into her teenage years and it made no difference if her brother was present, in fact even though she never liked to watch him getting punished, she often suspected him of purposely being in the family room when she was to be paddled so he could enjoy the sights and sounds of her chastisement. On one occasion he even invited one of his friends to the family room to watch and when she complained to her parents she was told the extra humiliation would do her good and she they add a few extra swats questioning the punishment.
She wondered if her daughter was missing the full impact by being an only child. Having an audience might add greatly to the effectiveness of the ordeal since from her own experience she couldn't remember which was worse, the paddling itself or having someone other than her parents watching her take the robe off. The humiliation of delivering the paddle was nothing compared to standing naked and waiting for permission to put yourself in a position that was guaranteed to lead to a lot of pain. Adding that to the realization that any dignity you might have left was going to fly out the window as soon as the first swat landed was almost too much to bear.
Continuing with her recollection of her own childhood punishments she explained that the hand spankings were quite thorough and even before the paddle was applied, her bottom felt like it was on fire and she lost all interest in who might be watching and enjoying the show. "The spankings were very painful but I knew it was just a prelude of worse things to come. It seemed like an eternity between the time the spanking stopped, the paddle was picked up, and the first real swat made contact. I was never quite prepared for how much that paddle could hurt, especially on an already sore backside." When the last stroke was given she was allowed to remain on the lap until she had composed herself enough to get up, express her apologies, thank her parents for punishing her, and stand in the corner to reflect on her behavior until she was excused. She was not allowed to rub the soreness away and had to stand with her hands on her head to display the results of the paddle while in the corner.
She laughingly remembered one time when she went to the corner and her brother made a lewd comment about the state of her bottom and although she had to keep her nose in the corner, she joyously listened to the sounds of his comeuppance until she was excused and he took her place. "I don't know what my rear end looked like but his was a sight to behold. That was one time I was glad to be there and know he was getting what he deserved. He was still crying pretty hard after I put my robe on and left the room."
Although her daughter's punishment session ended with the sorry young lady being excused from the corner, putting on her robe, returning the paddle to its proper place and then up to her room for bed, Maggie wasn't always so lucky. If it was not time for bed she had to put her clothes back on and rejoin the family since sulking in her room was not tolerated. She recalled one of her spankings which was just before a football game and as her brother was on the team, her parents would not hear of her staying home. She giggled lightly, "I remember standing up to cheer anything and everything just to get some relief from sitting on the hard bleacher seat."
When I asked if she didn't think the punishments were too severe she replied, "When I was a girl and they sent me to my room to put my robe on I knew what was coming and I was filled with fear and regret for my actions. I couldn't sit still and time would alternately fly by or come to a complete halt until it was time to start. It was almost impossible to sit through an otherwise normal family supper wearing a bathrobe and knowing that all too soon my bottom would suffer the consequences of my actions and I do mean suffer. I think it was the desire to get it over with, more than the threat of greater punishment that gave me the courage to go through with the pre-spanking requirements even though I was usually petrified by the thought of what was to come. The lectures were bad enough but when it was time to get that damn paddle and stand naked while I folded my robe properly and put it on the shelf, I was entirely humiliated and any thoughts of rebelliousness or disobedience were gone from my mind. I had already accepted the fact that I was being punished for my own good and it was going to hurt a lot.
Don't get me wrong, my parents weren't terrible people. I know they loved us a great deal by the way they praised and encouraged us in everything we did. They did not need to punish us often but when it was necessary they didn't shirk from their duties. I knew what to expect if I misbehaved and their firmness helped me develop my own self discipline so I guess they did some good after all. I hope they have the same lasting effect on my daughter."
She added, "Now that I think about it, the paddling hurt like hell but when it was over I felt that all of my shame and guilt had been washed away with my tears. Even though thanking them for my punishment and apologizing for my behavior were required I would have done that anyway with no reservations. This may sound silly but I would feel clean and free after the punishment. The soreness and memory of the humiliation would last for days but I felt as if I had a new lease on life with a clean slate. I had done my penance and felt forgiven. I haven't felt like that in a long time. Who would think I could get nostalgic about something like that?"
Helen said, "I'm not sure nostalgic is the right word but I know what you mean. There's no doubt a good spanking is very beneficial and I always felt better (or at least less guilty) once I finally got the first swat. Not that I enjoyed all the ones that followed but when it was over it was over and I accepted my punishment as necessary and well deserved." She blushed and giggled as she added, "I have to admit that there are times when I wish I was a little girl again so when I did something stupid someone would take me over their knee and spank my sins away."
Maggie agreed, "Don't be embarrassed, I've had the same feeling. However, I'm curious and what you mean by 'finally got the first swat'? Did you have to wait for it like I did?"
Helen was still blushing a little. "We'll, nothing like that. Most of the time the infraction was dealt with immediately by my Mom. I would be over her lap in nothing flat and her trusty wooden spoon took over from there."
Jean interrupted, "Did she spank you over your clothes? I always thought spankings were given on a bare rear end."
Helen laughed as she answered, "I guess I left that out but trust me, they wouldn't have it any other way and now that I'm a parent, I agree. It would happen so fast I almost never realized my bottom was bare till the spoon started doing its job and by then it was too late not that I could have done anything about it anyway."
After a moments hesitation, Maggie spoke up, "I thought you said you had to wait for the first swat. That doesn't sound like you had to wait very long. Maybe I misunderstood you before."
Helen answered, "I getting to that. As I said, most of the time it was a quick but effective spanking but occasionally there would be the dreaded words 'We'll see what your father has to say about this.' Of course, that didn't mean I wouldn't get the wooden spoon from her. That was a given but on those occasions it was only the preliminary spanking to give me something to think about while waiting for the main event with Dad later."
She paused and Jean urged her. "Don't stop there. Go on."
Helen continued, "I can remember feeling like I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders until he came home. Mom would wait till after supper so he had a chance to relax a bit after work and then she would announce that I had something to tell him. I think this was the worst part but I knew better than to try any delaying tactics. I would confess my crime and Mom was sure to fill in any details I 'forgot'. Then the questions would start. 'Why did I do that?' and 'I don't know' was never an acceptable answer, 'Didn't I know that was wrong?', 'Wasn't I old enough to know better?', etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. It was totally humiliating. And then came the big question, 'What did I think would happen to me when I got caught?' That was the signal to start my negotiations. I would have to propose something suitable, no TV, no phone calls, grounding, extra chores, and so on. If they didn't agree with the severity of my suggestions they would add to them but believe it or not, I was allowed to argue my position on any of those things and every once in a while I won. Once my extended punishment had been established the discussion was over. The only thing left was the one non-negotiable item. I would go to my room and Dad would follow in a few minutes. When he arrived I would have my desk chair situated so there would be plenty of room and holding my hairbrush to give to him. Those few minutes of waiting were the worst."
Maggie interrupted by asking if it was a special hairbrush set aside for just that purpose just any old hairbrush she had lying around.
Helen answered, "I guess a bit of both. I don't remember when I got it but its a beautiful brush. In fact, I still have it and use it regularly, but only for brushing my hair of course."
We all laughed as she went on, "I loved it but unfortunately for me, it has a nice strong wide back so it was perfectly suited for his purposes as well. Since it was the same one I used every day it also served as a constant reminder of what I could expect if or should I say when I misbehaved again. Once I handed it to him I would drop my pants. That's odd, now that I think of it I never wore a dress when Dad spanked me so I don't know how I would have prepared myself in that case but anyway, I would stand next to the chair with my pants around my ankles waiting for him to get himself settled and then I was over his lap."
She stopped for a breath and continued, "Listening to Maggie's experience I guess I was lucky in one respect. I didn't have my panties lowered until I was face down and even then I was spared performing the final indignity myself. Dad would pull them down to my thighs. And then the hairbrush would be put to it's other use very effectively. That was the first swat I spoke about but before I could really feel guilt-free I had a little bit of Hell to go through first. There was never any predetermined number of swats. He would just keep spanking until he was satisfied, and believe me that was long after I was a blubbering mess and not aware of anything except what I was supposed to remember, that it hurt and I was being punished because I deserved it. Sometimes I was not even aware that it was over till he pulled my panties back up which was a different kind of pain. I don't think he meant to drag the elastic over my sore bottom but it didn't make any difference. By then I was so sore that a fly landing on me would have been just as painful. I think that's a testament to his belief in doing a good job. At least it meant the spanking was over. I was allowed to stay in my room the rest of the night but God help me if I showed up at breakfast with even the slightest pout. Wincing as I sat down on the other hand was, thankfully, permitted and I guess expected as a sign that he had, in fact, done a good job at making his daughter realize the consequences of her actions."
She had been avoiding our eyes during most of her narrative but now she looked up and said, "I guess I echo Maggie's words when I say I'm glad they took the trouble to see that I was raised right."
Get your own Free Home Page