I definitely pushed the boundaries when I was a youngster, and was on the receiving end of a number of paddlings. My father eventually tired whacking me on the butt and did something pretty smart. (He has always been a sharp guy. I still ask him for advice at my ripe old age of 59.) He was remodeling our old house in Portland at the time and had some wooden laths laying around from a wall he had opened. He placed one of those laths on the top of the closet door jamb in my room and advised me to look at it whenever I was contemplating stepping out of line. That tactic worked pretty well. I don't recall too many spankings from him after that.
The last one I remember receiving was from my high school vice principle, Col. White. He was USMCR at the time. I knew I had it coming and owned up to the infraction, and did not hold it against him at all. We actually joked about it at the time.
He was legendary in school for his use of the paddle that he hung on his office wall, to the point of it being a badge honor among the boys to have been paddled by him. Darn if he couldn't swing that paddle with authority.
Despite all the paddlings I received as a kid, I grew up to be a reasonably well adjusted adult. (Most of my psychopathic tendencies are under control.)
My two oldest boys each received one bare handed spanking from me as they grew up. I forget what the infraction was, but it was fairly serious and deserved corporal punishment. It was delivered along with a serious discussion of the whys and wherefores, and in a way meant to impress them that I did not want to have to ever spank them again. It worked. They were much better behaved boys than their father, for sure.
