Right up until the time my daughter Danni was almost five years old, I was a confirmed non-smacking mum. I had been brought up myself without corporal punishment, and believed it to be a brutal and unnecessary part of child-rearing. But then, one day, Judith came to visit.
Judith was an elder at the evangelical church we had begun attending at a town close to our small English village. My husband was away on business a great deal and I appreciated the company, friendship and support as much as the spiritual aspects.