The birch was once a very commonplace instrument of corporal correction for the world’s children which fell out of popularity mostly due to the import of canes. However, it was … Read more

When I was in year three of primary school (i.e. eight years old) in 1960s Manchester, I had a particularly bad day in class. Throughout the morning, I played up … Read more

When I was a month or two short of 15, I started going out with Emma [named changed – Ed] who was about two years younger than me. Her parents … Read more

Quite a number of our correspondents have experiences of spankings by proxy when their own parents have been indisposed. Among them was Simon, who found resonance in an earlier story … Read more

Back in the ‘good old days’, when the teacher’s authority was unquestioned, the way in which they ran their classrooms was taken for granted, even in circumstances which might make … Read more

Sometimes, the effects of spanking their children can be confusing and worrying for parents, as Mike readily amids in this frank and open account of his experiences of fatherhood.

Often, grown-ups talking about spanking is more embarrassing for children than actually receiving it. Daniel remembers the humiliating way his mother referred publicly to the corporal punishment she administered to … Read more

When I was 10 and my brother David was seven, my parents took on a local neighbourhood girl called Linda to babysit us occasionally when they went out. Linda was … Read more

I first met Rosie in reception class at school and we stayed best friends throughout our school years, although we lost touch when we both went to different universities and … Read more

In this audio version of a popular Maman story, Marcus recalls the first time his mother required him to bend over to receive six of the best with her cane … Read more

I didn’t see a whole lot of Aunt Kate, my dad’s sister, during my childhood, as she and my uncle lived a whole state away from us. However, when I … Read more

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 from the trees which lined … Read more

Editor’s Note: Back in the days of the original Maman, I wrote a story about two girls sharing a flat. While this was fiction, the story was actually based on … Read more

One of the more notable things about my childhood was that my best friend Mark and I shared the same surname. It wasn’t that remarkable, I guess, as it was … Read more

“Sincerity gives wings to power.” From the Foreword to this, the Concluding Word, the author, by narrating her experience and citing examples, has endeavored to show the crying need of … Read more

Phyllis is a mother-of-two and grandmother of five from Des Moines, Iowa. At the time of the interview, her grandchildren were aged between two and nine years old. What makes … Read more

TO THE MARRIAGEABLE GIRL “Children are what the mothers are.”

THE GOVERNESS “A faithful governess plays the role of a true mother.”

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

In spite of her extreme strictness and intolerance in most other matters, one thing that mum never smacked us for was bedwetting, or indeed toilet accidents in the daytime – … Read more

I guess there aren’t many kids these days who live in fear of getting their bottom walloped when report day rolls around, but back in my schooldays, many of us … Read more