Were spankings real events in your house?

In our house spankings were real events in our home! By this I mean that they would often cast a shadow and affect the mood and atmosphere of the whole household before, during and after the spanking, itself. For example, if someone was due a spanking later in the day, this might be because the offender had not come home yet and their 'crime' had just been discovered, the offenders siblings, cousins, etc... would 'tread very carefully' and really 'mind', sometimes, especially if the parent was really 'pissed off', they would stay in their bedroom and keep a low profile for fear that they might annoy the angry parent in some way or remind them of some 'misdemeanor' that warranted punishment! I remember one occasion when I was in my bedroom and my older sister Ruth was due a spanking as soon as she got home from the cinema with her friends - it had transpired earlier that morning that Ruth had been hanging out with some girls Mom did not appove of and had forbidden her to associate with - anyway Mom happened to come into my room with laundry and seeing the untidy state of my and my brothers bedroom immediately put the laundry down, sat down on my bed, yanked down my pants and underpants and put me over her knee/lap and gave me a sound hand spanking! Although it did not burn, sting and hurt as much as her cherrywood hairbrush it, nevertheless, stung, burnedand hurt real bad! I must have got between two and three dozen slaps from her hard hand and they were fast and furious. I was howling by the sixth or seventh slap and the tears soon flowed. At the end of the spanking she stood me on my feet and as I performed my 'spanky dance' told me that "unless I wanted to join my sister Ruth for a workout with the hairbrush later"; I "had better have my bedroom looking spotless when she returned in 10 minutes time!" Boy did I ever have that room looking spotless by the time she returned! I often wonder whether had she had not already been angry with my sister that day whether or not I might have escaped with a scolding and/or grounding! This is a dramatic example of how a spanking - in this instance one yet to be administered - affected my Mother's mood and the whole atmosphere of the house resulting in me getting a spanking myself that I might have escaped on another occasion.

Also invariably after a spanking (or spankings) had been given the atmosphere in the house would be quite subdued with all of us kids really 'minding'! We like most kids back in those days - in comparison to the youngsters of later generations, anyway - were fairly well behaved in general; but in the period after someone(s) had got their butt blistered we were especially careful and mindful! A spanking would, in this sense would dominating event both on the day it took place and also often cast a shadow and have an affect on the days that followed!

Was this the experience of other members?

The spankings themselves were certainly real events. Mom made sure of that. No sense in going through all the emotional distress of the decision and preparation to spoil it by not spanking sufficiently to be sure "the punishment fits the crime."

The offender and mother would have had a talk before and if the decision to spank had been made a time would be set. If right away mom would go off and tell others who might be home she was going to spank me, or a sibling. If later, bedtime, then either at dinner or cleaning up the kitchen later mom would tell us she was going to spank me, or a sibling, in a few minutes or at bedtime.

Announcement of an immediate spanking, or one to come a little later, would set a tone. No one felt like being loud, rushing around. Partly if mom was in spanking mode it was foolish to act up and also you'd be sorry for the one getting spanked, relieved it wasn't you this time, and a silent-excited that fireworks were going to happen!

While spankings were certainly a real event in my home, I would not say that they caused any serious disruption for anyone involved. Of course a child will be anxious and less than happy when a good spanking is in his/her future but in my home, spanking was the expected and reluctantly accepted result of certain and serious misbehavior. The parent doing the spanking saw it as a necessary and expected disciplinary duty and sought to perform it well and without reluctance. Spankings were very unpleasant but quick accomplished and recovery from the ordeal was not inordinately long.

Spankings were solemn events in our home. They were also ritualistic, especially when my father decided that I or my sister deserved a "good" spanking. Those usually involved mom sending me to my bedroom to wait for dad to get home. "Wait 'til your father gets home!" was not something I wanted to hear. When he got home from work and was ready to deal with me, he came to my room and we discussed my behavior. If he brought the belt with him, that meant the discussion would end with him spanking me in my room. If he arrived without the belt, that meant one of two things: Either he had decided on an alternative punishment (e.g., a warning or grounding), or more likely he planned to take me out to the garage for "one heck of a whipping." That usually meant he was going to use the razor strop on my bare butt.

I wouldn't call them an event, but they set the mood in the house. When my aunt was in the wrong mood, it seems like it was far easier to get on her spanking list. So if someone had gotten one, the place was quiet as heck until my dad got home and things were safe again.

They weren't very common but they did happen from time to time.