In our house, mom used the belt for the more serious offences committed by my siblings and I. While I received plenty of whippings in my childhood, I can remember one in particular that stands out in my memory.
I was 15 and decided to experiment with alcohol with my best friend Julie. Her parents had a full bar in the house, with every variety of alcohol imaginable. A little sip here and a little sip there; we found some that we liked and some that we didn’t. Expecting to feel something right away, we continued to take sips of various liquors.
And then it hit me. My head started spinning, my speech became somewhat slurred and I felt a loss of control. Shortly afterwards, Julie’s parents returned home to find us in quite a state. Trying to act as normal as possible, it was evident they knew exactly what we had done.
After being lectured, Julie was sent to her room and Mrs Roberts took me home. “I don’t know what your mother will have to say about this, Karli, but I know my daughter will be getting a good tanning when I get home.”
Mrs Roberts walked with me to the door, where she confronted my mother about the situation. It was evident from their conversation that both mothers would tend to their daughters appropriately over this incident.
That night, I was sent to my room to ‘think about’ what I had done and informed that I would be further punished the next day when I had sobered up.
The following day, my mother carried on with her normal routine; running errands, grocery shopping etc. Having to wait was a significant part of the punishment, leaving me to ponder my whipping all day.
Finally, that afternoon, I was called to her bedroom, where I was lectured once again about the consequences of using alcohol. After lecturing me, Mother got up to retrieve the belt and I was told to take my pants and underpants all the way off. While I fumbled to remove my pants, Mother pulled out the chair from her vanity and told me to bend over.
Then the sting of the belt raced through my cheeks. By the 10th stroke or so, I would want to jump around and cover myself but Mother would grab our hands and place then behind our back to keep them in place. Not to mention that moving out of place was deemed unacceptable while receiving your punishment.
I got about 25 strokes with the belt that day and my rear end felt the effects of the whipping for a couple of days thereafter. Consequently, I never so much as thought about alcohol for a very long time.
Contributor: Karli