Red Bottom Club

It was a chilly day in early autumn, and my dad was clearing away a huge quantity of leaves which had dropped on our garden f… more

Editor’s Note: Back in the days of the original Maman, I wrote a story about two girls sharing a flat. While this wa… more

One of the more notable things about my childhood was that my best friend Mark and I shared the same surname. It wasn̵… more

“Sincerity gives wings to power.”

From the Foreword to this, the Concluding Word, the author, by narrating her experie… more

Phyllis is a mother-of-two and grandmother of five from Des Moines, Iowa. At the time of the interview, her grandchildr… more

TO THE MARRIAGEABLE GIRL

“Children are what the mothers are.”… more

THE GOVERNESS

“A faithful governess plays the role of a true mother.”… more

I suspect that like a lot of parents in the 1990s, I did my utmost to avoid direct confrontation with my daughter, let alon… more

In spite of her extreme strictness and intolerance in most other matters, one thing that mum never smacked us for was bed… more

I guess there aren’t many kids these days who live in fear of getting their bottom walloped when report day rolls a… more

THE OLDER CHILD

“Uproot not the neglected flower; rather, care for it more diligently.” … more

A child who has just been spanked by mother will nevertheless instinctively seek comfort in her arms once the chastisem… more

DIFFICULTIES AND OBJECTIONS

“Difficulties give way to diligence. Objections are often traceable to ignorance of fac… more

When I was a child, my mum was good friends with a lady called Mrs Leese – I think they had worked together before they both l… more

David recalls how his mother’s younger sister came to stay to look after the family during an illness – and how it r… more

PERSISTENCY IN SPITE OF AUTHORATATIVE DECISION. Perseverance and determination are very desirable qualities in the … more

Probably somewhat unusually by the 90s, Mary and I were sometimes smacked by several family members in addition to Mum a… more

In spite of him usually being far more patient and good-natured than Mum, there was one area where our father’s to… more

From around the age of seven to around 12 years old, I had the same girl babysit me when my parents needed to go out and leave … more

HOLDING BREATH. A baby, or even a child several years of age, may, through temper, hold the breath. I strongly advise spa… more

In this interview from some years ago, we chatted to Australian mum Cindy about her use of the cane on the bottoms of her tw… more

TELLING OF UNTRUTHS. Making the child truthful is one of  the hardest tasks of child training. Perhaps in no period of t… more

Martin, the father of two young boys, talks about his use of the slipper and how, as head of the household, he takes respon… more

DISRESPECT. Disrespect not unfrequently results in sauciness, contradictions, flippant remarks, answers with no c… more

OBEDIENCE! Why is it that mother or governess finds it necessary repeatedly to remind a child of his misconduct ? Why so m… more

In Canada, children were accustomed to receive the school strap across their hands for misbehaviour. But as this anony… more

The time when mild hand spankings over mummy’s knee come to an end and are replaced by something altogether more f… more

DISOBEDIENCE. Of course many different acts of misbehaviour come from disobedience. The reader will notice that I pla… more

Editor’s note: Chapter XIV is by far the longest chapter of Mariam Fredrick’s book on child discipline, I … more

I was raised in Lancashire, England, during the 1970s and at that time, my mum would often look after the little girl next … more

The usual mother-in-law jokes aside, I have a great relationship with Matthew, who is married to my eldest daughter Jen… more

I was brought up in a very middle-class family in Surrey, England in the 1960s and my parents were, to put it mildly, very c… more

From the emails we receive, we know that many men are aroused when they overhear mothers discussing matters of family di… more

Impressionable and imaginative children often get up to the same mischief they read about in comics or see on televisio… more

In an era of school corporal punishment when most schoolgirls got the cane on the hand, Vanessa was one of the minority wh… more

I was brought up in Singapore and as you may know, even today the cane is a popular deterrent with parents there in shaping … more