Others

When I was nine years old, I had a friend named Scott. He and I would often play at his house – in fact, we did pretty much ever… more

When I was growing up, I spent the summers working on my aunt’s farm. My uncle had passed away a couple of years befo… more

My parents never spanked me when I was growing up. They often threatened to do it – but I would change my behaviour quickly… more

When I was 10, mom and dad went away on a business trip. Since they could not take me with them, mom asked a girlfriend if I co… more

I was around five or six years old when this happened – I was staying with my grandmother for the weekend because my parent… more

When I was growing up in Dublin in the 1960s, spanking, caning and strapping were a fact of life. Most boys I knew got it, ev… more

My mother developed multiple sclerosis – leaving her in a wheelchair – when I was just three years old. This placed many e… more

It was a rainy day and I was playing ping-pong with a couple of neighbourhood girls, Tammy and Aleisha. We were all about 1… more

When I was 14, my mother, my sister and I visited my Aunt Karen in Chicago for Spring Break. I was excited to see my aunt sinc… more

When I was about nine years old, I lived on a farm for about six months. This was my aunt’s home. It was a cool farm, wi… more

When I was four and a half, I spent a few days at my Aunt Kathy’s. Dustin, my five-year-old cousin (not Aunt Kathy&#… more

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 deter… more

One weekend, when I was eight, my parents were out of town. However, they had instructed my 19-year-old nanny Brandi to t… more

When I was a little girl, my parents often went away and I stayed at my aunt and uncle’s house. My parents were not fi… more

When I was six, my parents went on a business trip for two days and I stayed home with my mom’s friend Amy. She was 18 a… more

When I was about eight, I used to go to a shop to buy sweets after school, usually with my friend David. The woman who ran the … more

When I was 18, in the 60s, my father married again. He had told me she was a ‘younger woman’ but was a bit vague … more

It was the 50s, and I was five – an only child living in an apartment with my parents. One summer’s day, my mother dec… more

The first time I ever remember being smacked by anyone other than my mum was when I was seven years old. My sister Jennifer … more

I was six and a half years old when my parents went to Florida to visit a sick member of the family. They left me with ‘… more

I was staying with my great aunt after my parents left for France. She was an old, sour woman with no tolerance for disobed… more

When I was about seven years old, I stayed at my friend’s place for two weeks.

My friend, Sue, wet the bed and her mum … more

One summer afternoon, when I was a skinny boy of 15, I took my sister Anne (who was 13 at the time) to one of our secret hideou… more

When I was 10 years old, I stole a half pack of cigarettes from my mother. I walked to the yard of our neighbour, Miss Foley, … more

When I was nine, my sister and went to live with my second cousin while my mother was going through some hard times.

Debbie … more

This is my first story about a childhood in which I was punished frequently, but always lovingly and fairly.

This was a re… more

The following is an exchange between two contributors to the long-defunct Maman mailing list, regarding that formida… more