My paternal grandfather was a strict disciplinarian who was also a drunk, so my father and his siblings were accustomed to receiving ass-whipings just in case they might be thinking about doing something wrong. My mother was definitely not opposed to a richly deserved ass-whiping, but she laid down the law in the house regarding when and how her children could be spanked.
My father, like his father, preferred to use implements like switches, paddles, and belts. My mother informed my father after the first time he used a belt to discipline my brother, that if he ever touched the children with anything but his hands, she would go out and buy the biggest belt buckle she could find and commence to beating him from one end of the house to another with it. She meant it.
She was opposed to implements because its far too easy to cause injury with a belt or paddle, because you have no 'tactile' sense of how hard you are hitting, especially if you're angry. So, I don't ever remember being hit with anything but a palm. I probably received 4 or 5 spankings during my entire childhood, 2 of which I remember rather well, and I have to say that I deserved every bit of it. I was pushing my limits deliberately, being very disrespectful, and time-outs were a joke as far as I was concerned.
I remember telling my mother, "You can't tell me what to do!" I was about 6 years old, I think. She proved me wrong. hehe
