A Good Boy

[Bertha]

This letter was sent to my blog by Etta and has been edited by me. I run an occasional series of letters from the archives of a long forgotten magazine written to the Nanny Smackbottom column and the
Ask Matron page.

(A school blazer was very common up until recent years in the UK. They were usually made of a blend of wool and everyones first year of senior school started with your mum taking you to the school outfitters for your blazer. Inevitably your mum would buy it a size too large so you could grow into it. I don't think I ever did grow into mine!)

(Winceyette is a warm nightwear fabric similar to flannel/flannelette.)

Dear Nanny Smackbottom

You asked me to recount my thoughts on the disciplinary methods I impose on my son Jonathon.

I can say without any hesitation that it is unashamedly traditional.  My hope is that it helps other like minded concerned mothers adopt a similar approach in their own approach to home discipline.

Matters first came to head as my son Jonathon turned sixteen and became involved with some badly behaved boys. It  soon became apparent to me that I had no alternative other than to regress Jonathon back to a time in his life when mummy knew best.

My first action was to introduce a smacked botty for even the most minor of infractions. I facilitated this mode of discipline by ensuring Jonathon wore traditional school boy style short grey trousers that ensured smacked botty time  was made much easier.

I have also introduced some of the behavioural standards one would commonly see in years gone by. I now expect Jonathon to address me as "mummy" at all times.

In addition, any of my frequent guests must  now  be recognised as "aunty" and other ladies he may come into contact with as "Miss".

Most importantly I have now introduced a strict traditional dress code. A meeting with Jonathan’s headmistress confirmed that there would be no objection to him wearing the short trousered uniform that usually only first years wear.

This is probably a good time to recount to you the first visit I took to the traditional outfitters to purchase his new clothing. His behaviour had gradually deteriorated until I'd run out of patience. When I was told that he'd misbehaved by swearing in the presence of the vicar I decided that urgent action was required. For the first time in many years I pulled down his jeans and smacked his bottom. The punishment seemed to shock him and Mummy was definitely in charge from that moment onwards. This gave me the confidence to introduce the dress code that I'd been considering.

Making him hold my hand all the way, we walked to the high street one Saturday morning and turned left down Flannel Lane and entered Miss Hardacre’s shop, a traditional outfitters that sold, as the shop front stated, Little Boy Clothes For The Older Boy.

A small bell tinkled as I pushed the shop door open and Miss Hardacre, dressed in a crisp white blouse and wearing pince-nez spectacles asked if she could be of assistance. I told Jonathon to stand still and behave himself while I outlined my requirements. I then returned to Jonathon and ushered him into one of the large changing rooms and proceeded to remove his clothing.
Miss Hardacres assistant pulled aside the changing room curtain to pass me the first item of clothing, Jonathan was quite naked and staring at the floor in embarrassment as she appeared.

“It’s Jonathan isn’t it?” She said pleasantly. “I’m Melissa, I’m in the year below you at school, I thought I recognised your mum’s voice from the school committee.

Jonathan stood with his hands over his bits looking as if he wished the floor would open up and swallow him.

I smiled, it was quite amusing to me that Jonathan would be equipped with a new wardrobe by  a girl from his school who was a year younger than him.

“I prefer to be known as Jonathan’s mummy if you don’t mind young lady. Jonathan, put your hands on you head and say hello to Miss Melissa like a good little boy.”

”No mummy please don’t make me….”

I was in no mood to compromise and insisted that he reply to Melissa in all his naked glory.

He put his hands on his head as I had ordered and stuttered “H..h...hello Miss M..M.. Melissa.”

She smiled as she looked at him then passed me his new, little boy style underwear. I encountered initial reluctance from him to put on his new underwear, a return to traditional white underpants and a white vest under-garment, but a reminder that he was heading for a trip across my lap in front of Miss Hardacre and Melissa, let him know I was in earnest.

I tucked the hem of his under-vest into his underpants as if he were a small boy and then proceeded to redefine his slovenly image.

A short sleeved, traditionally tailored shirt, which I buttoned to the neck was swiftly followed by a striped clip-on school tie. Then, and much to his horror, a pair of short trousers in schoolboy grey. The very short legged trousers were hitched up high, with the shirt tucked neatly into the elasticised waistband . A grey V neck sweater and a smart maroon blazer were next followed by regulation knee length grey socks  and finally a pair of brown T-Bar sandals completed the transformation of Jonathon into a smart little boy.

His complaints grew louder by the minute but a series of slaps on his bare legs kept him in check. At this point I opened the curtain and led him back to the shop counter where we were greeted by the two assistants who had helpfully ensured that my requirements were catered for.  Miss Hardacre made a point of commenting how smart he looked in his new school uniform and patted his head stating that  it was a pity that other mothers did not dress their unruly children this way.

Melissa smiled and coughed delicately.

“Excuse me madam but I think you may have forgotten a very important item of a young schoolboys uniform.”

She opened one of the highly polished wooden drawers behind her, pondered for a second or two before turning to Jonathan and fitting him with a traditional school cap the same maroon colour as his blazer.

Jonathon’s eyes began to tear up and he made to remove his new cap, but I was too quick for him and slapped his hand away before informing him sternly that these clothes were to be his school and church attire from this point forward and that he would no longer be wearing jeans, t shirts or training shoes in the future. Then I made him apologise to Melissa for his bad behaviour.

Even though he took some coaxing he eventually stuttered, “I’m very sorry for being a naughty little boy Miss Melissa.”

He looked mortified addressing a girl younger than him him in such a demeaning manner but I was determined to instill respect in him.

It was at this point that I noticed the rails of raincoats assembled in the corner and realised that Jonathon would need such an item.

Following a brief discussion with Miss Hardacre, Melissa was despatched to locate a navy blue gabardine mackintosh. When Jonathon was greeted by this perceived monstrosity, despite his previous warnings, he threw what I can only describe as a proper tantrum when told that this was to be his new, everyday overcoat that he would have to carry daily over his arm in case of rain.

It was below knee length, double breasted with a belt, buttoned to the neck and was a perfect complement to his new outfit. However he was having none of it and let out a series of loud complaints outlining precisely why he wouldn't wear it.

Miss Hardacre held the mackintosh up to him and told him not to be such a naughty little boy and to put the mackintosh on at once as he was behaving the right way to receive a smacked bottom and an early bedtime. This was all the incentive I needed and without a moment's hesitation I pulled him over my lap to administer the soundest of smacked bottoms as
Miss Hardacre and Melissa looked on approvingly while I punished my sixteen year-old in the traditional naughty boy manner.

Once again taking the gabardine mackintosh I pulled it over his arms and shoulders. Turning him around to face me I proceeded to button it up in front of everyone as if he was a small child. His eyes said that he wanted to protest, his bottom said otherwise, and he stood there meekly nursing his sore rump while I secured the top button and tightly fastened the belt. Asking him to stand up straight, I knew that the mackintosh was a perfect addition to his new wardrobe.
I also intended to reinforce his new disciplinary regime by introducing strict early bed times. One problem was his night attire. As with his daytime attire I had become lax and allowed Jonathon to wear unsuitable clothing to bed each night and on occasion nothing at all. His new bedtime was to be set so that he was tucked up in bed by 7.30. I determined that to implement this successfully he must revert back to wearing traditional little boys pyjamas and that necessitated further purchases from Miss Hardacres excellent emporium.

Miss Hardacre and especially Melissa were delighted to discover I now needed to procure some new, little boy pyjamas for Jonathon. Melissa asked Miss Hardacre that she be permitted to serve us and she enthusiastically soon selected several pairs of traditional  little boy style winceyette pyjamas that buttoned to the neck.

Melissa carefully unfolded them and watched as I held a pair of pale blue racing car motif pyjama bottoms against Jonathan. We had quite a discussion on sizing and style until Melissa suggested Jonathon should actually try a pair of the infantile pyjamas on.

Much to his chagrin, Jonathan was again undressed and Melissa selected a particularly appropriately yellow pair of jim-jams which were covered in the sweetest little teddy bears.

“Come along then little one, let’s see how cute you look in these cosy jimmy-jams shall we?”

She spoke to him in that sing-song, infantile voice that is usually reserved for babies and toddlers, Jonathan blushed beetroot red at being addressed in such a manner by a girl younger than him.

Melissa gently coaxed him into the pyjama bottoms and soon had him fully buttoned up into the pyjama jacket. “There’s a good boy,” she praised as the sixteen year old stood reluctantly resplendent in his yellow Teddy Bear pyjamas.

Miss Hardacre and Melissa fussed over him so much he blushed continually, especially when I made him thank Miss Melissa for, “choosing my lovely new Teddy Bear pyjamas for me.”

We left the shop with four pairs of delightfully childish pyjamas and a pair of Thoma the Tank Engine blue fluffy slippers and sixteen year old Jonathan wearing his new schoolboy uniform.

Melissa has undertaken babysitting duties for me and now most afternoons, Aunty Melissa as he must now call her, escorts Jonathon home from school and immediately supervises his bath and dresses him in his little boy pyjamas ready for me to tuck him into bed by 7.30.
I enjoy hearing her as she talks to him not as a sixteen year old but as if he were a baby or a toddler. “Into your bath, there’s a good boy. Clever boy now let’s get you into your pyjamas and ready for beddy-byes shall we?”

Of course in the event of unsatisfactory behaviour his bedtime can be brought forward, it's not at all rare for him to be tucked up in bed with a sore botty and without his supper by 5.30 if he has been particularly naughty.

I hope my account serves as an example to other mothers out there who are thinking about imposing little boy clothing disciplinary measures on their wayward offspring.

Yours faithfully

Etta

[Bertha]

Etta's original letter, A Good Boy, sent to the now-defunct, specialist publication PPM, engendered many replies. I reproduce three of them here now in two parts, from Helen Good, Caroline and Beth. I have edited the letters and also edited Nanny Smackbottom's comments as she did wander off topic.

Part One

My dear Etta

Please accept my congratulations on your disciplinary methods. Young males always get ahead of themselves and by far the best way to deal with such behaviour is to return them to a state of reliance on their mummy, aunt or nanny. It is important to remember that you must be consistent in the treatment of your "little boy". There must be no slackening of your resolve. I believe that once Jonathon realises that you are determined to enforce your methods rigorously, he will quickly come to accept his new status.

Short trousers are excellent tools to use in such regressive treatment and any hope of a return to long trousers should be nipped in the bud. I always liked to have special weekend visiting outfits such as a velvet sailor suit that would include an effeminate white blouse, ankle socks and Mary-Jane strap over shoes. This encourages the boy to become accustomed to his smart, day to day outfit that you must make as childish as you can. A similar approach must also be used to bedtime. It is best, to begin with very early bedtimes, Jonathon is sixteen so I would recommend a six pm bedtime, seven days a week and remain firm,
as with all children, he will try and wheedle his way into staying up later but you must be consistent and ensure he is in bed by the agreed time, even if he is sixteen. Indeed I have enforced early bedtimes on boys who were well into their twenties.

Six pm would mean Jonathon being tucked in lights out.  You will find that he will become used to his early bedtimes and he will struggle to stay awake much past that time anyway. The same is true with pyjama time and getting him ready for bed early. I would also suggest you bathe him personally, I used to bath my boys, as allowing him to bath himself will give him the impression that he is still a "big boy". It is best to supervise bath time with some babyish toys. perhaps a ducky or a small boat to occupy him while you wash him. Bathing him also gives you the opportunity to appraise whether or not he needs to be shaved in any places. At sixteen, most of my boys were too immature to be concerned with such things but Jonathon may need clipping now and again.

It is important though to always maintain control of the putting on of pyjamas. Nothing better will indicate to Jonathon that he is your "little boy" that being put into his pyjamas ready for bed early. I used to aim for a two hour before bedtime pyjama time, so four pm would initially be his pyjama time before eventually settling at five thirty. Summer evenings are the best time to begin early pyjama time if possible. Jonathon will be mortified as you button him up into his pyjamas ready for bed when he can hear much younger children playing outside.

To emphasise your dominance and control over him it would be much better if you could take him outside for a picnic supper with Jonathon cuddling his teddy bear.

This is a ploy I once used to great effect, perhaps, as I did,  you could invite a few of your like-minded friends.

You are all sitting on picnic chairs and Jonathan is sitting on the rug with a child's tea set so he can play tea party with teddy in front of you all. Make sure he offers everyone a “cup of tea” from his tea-set and alt pretend to drink. This will humiliate him greatly, especially if he is praised for being a clever boy.

As his designated bedtime approaches, you could produce his potty, remove his shorts and let him go "wee-wee before beddy-byes" in front of everyone.

Then, much to his embarrassment you undress him totally and start to prepare him for his night-time nappying. As you are oiling and powdering him in front of everyone, he squirms in shame at his predicament and you have to slap his botty to calm him down.

You would undoubtedly double nappy him and put him into tightly fitting plastic pants, the ones with the bunnies on. His nightshirt would swiftly follow as you place his head into the baby blue flannel garment emblazoned with teddy-bears just like his own teddy.

"Peek-a-boo", you shout as his head pops out as his long nightshirt cascades to the ground puddling at his feet as you fasten up the three teddy-bear shaped buttons to keep him cosy in bed. You then pin his dummy to his nightshirt and offer the rubber teat to his mouth, he takes it at once, the blue soother bobbing rhythmically in and out as it comforts and eases his anxiety.

As you take his hand you announce, "Come along then, wave night-night to the nice ladies, it's time you were tucked up in bed."

As he is reluctant to obey, you, take his arm and wave it up and down, imitating an infantile action.You lead him indoors and up to his nursery which although thickly carpeted contains only a changing table and a cot. Jonathon wearily climbs in and you cover him with his favourite blanket as he hugs his teddy and continues to use his dummy.

Quickly, the sixteen-year old's eyes begin to flutter with impending sleep and you gently kiss him nigh-night and look forward to another day when you can continue to impose your disciplinary technique on him, all of course, for his own good.

Miss Helen Good

Nanny Smackbottom replies

Miss Helen Good has published many letters and articles on this subject and is an expert on early bedtime discipline and her advice is not to be ignored. I myself endorse her methods, there is nothing better than seeing an older boy put in his place by being dressed as a sissy looking toddler in nappies and being put to bed ridiculously early. I hope Etta is enthused by Helen’s comments and encouraged to continue Jonathan’s discipline.

Nanny Smackbottom




Dear Etta

I was delighted to hear from you after reading your most interesting account of dealing with your son Jonathan when he was sixteen. I  also believe older teenage boys – and even those in their twenties and beyond - can often be very immature and need strict discipline and control which should include regular corporal punishment and being dressed in suitably childish clothes such as short trousers, sailor suits, babyish play rompers and even nappies.

Girls are far more grown up and can be most effective in exercising authority over a boy older than themselves such as Melissa did with Jonathan.

Edward, my step-son was attending a boys prep school and still in short trousers which he wore at all times. He looked very sweet in his school uniform and was an obedient and respectful child. After passing an exam he moved to another school at fourteen where I had hoped he could continue in short trousers but this was not allowed by the school and nor could I persuade his father to keep him in shorts outside of school. Nor did my husband believe in the use of corporal punishment aside from my occasionally slapping Edward’s legs when he complained about his bedtime. Before I married his father he was used to staying up until all hours. I eventually managed to get his father to agree to a nine thirty bedtime and still Edward moaned and acted up when he had to go to bed.

Sadly my husband suddenly passed away and I was now responsible for Edwards upbringing. My first action was to remove the now
fifteen-year-old Edward from school and put him back into short trousers. I employed a Governess and a private tutor, a young lady of nineteen - who taught at the house in an especially prepared traditional style schoolroom. As well as short trousers he now wore a full Prep School uniform with a maroon blazer, cap, and long turnover knee socks with brightly polished black lace-up shoes or T-strap sandals in brown or red. He looked such a sweet little boy in his new clothes and could easily pass for eleven or twelve, although of course, he felt ashamed and embarrassed when out in public. I also was happily able to impose a strict bedtime of seven pm with no exceptions.

I also introduced regular spankings for misbehaviour and poor school work which included smacking his bare bottom over my lap, slapping the backs of his bare legs or, if warranted a strap with which to use on his non-writing hand. I also encouraged governess and tutor to correct his behaviour in a similar fashion.

His governess instigated a bedtime spanking, once he was ready for bed in his pyjamas, she took him across her lap. His tutor, however, was a keen advocate of corner time and mouth soaping. He always cried when being smacked but he knew it was for his own good. Her other sanctions included punishment essays or writing lines in detention.

When Edward was not attired in his school uniform, Governess and I and preferred him to be dressed particularly childishly around the house. These outfits were especially made-to-measure by an understanding lady dressmaker and included sailor suits, velvet shortalls with a bib and cross straps to the rear, and baby-style cotton rompers. For footwear, we used white knee socks or white ankle socks with either patent leather single strap Mary Jane shoes or Startrite sandals.

[Bertha]

Part Two

Furthermore, I ensured all his white ankle socks had a pretty lace frill on the turndown above the ankle to give a distinctly effeminate appearance.

For the first year of my new regimen, he adapted reasonably well and seemed to accept that despite his age he was now mummy’s very special little boy. He was far too frightened to resist and found it easier to meekly comply with his sissy dress code. Anyway, for his private lessons he only wore his short trousers and school uniform and not his childish costumes which were confined to the weekends and around the house. Aside from myself, only his Governess saw him in these clothes so he did not complain even though she often addressed him as “Babykins” or “Baby Edward”. She taught him needlework including embroidery and had him sew lace frills on the legs of his velvet shortalls and rompers as well as on his white ankle socks. He soon became highly proficient and was able to make his first pretty white and then pink pinafore with ruffled borders and ruffled over the shoulder straps.

Nevertheless, despite his initial submissive attitude I began to notice a slightly rebellious streak creeping in just after his eighteenth birthday, as though he felt his age allowed him to be more assertive. I was determined this should be promptly nipped in the bud with a dose of suitable baby treatment.

Treating him as an infant would soon rid him of his silly delusions of being a big boy.

I first alternated his little boy pyjamas with a very short extravagantly frilly baby doll nightdress with a nappy covered by plastic ruffled knickers that could be easily seen below the hem of the dress. From then on he was put in a fresh nappy every evening before his early bedtime and give a large drink of milk, this plus the amount of time he was confined to bed ensured he needed changing the next morning.

My challenge was now most firmly aimed at his humiliation which meant dressing him in the most babyish outfits I could think of and ensure that he would be seen like this and teased by selected visitors and friends. He would soon realise he would only be allowed to grow up when mummy decided if at all.

Caroline

Nanny Smackbottom replies

Dear Caroline

Thank you for your most informative letter. I think you and Etta should definitely work together on refining your techniques for regressing your boys as your situations are so similar. To that end, may I have your permission to put you in direct contact with each other and also Miss Helen Good whose advice will be invaluable. Please keep us informed as to your progress.

Nanny Smackbottom



Dear Nanny Smackbottom

My son is a shy and a pretty well-behaved boy so I don't often have to discipline him but I do wish to keep him sweet and innocent as long as I can.

Tommy is very small and lightweight for his age and was bullied at school so I removed him and now keep my little boy at home all the time with his mummy who knows how to care and protect him.

I still put Tommy in nappies at bedtime as the poor little chap has a problem and wets almost every night. Recently he somehow got it in his mind that he was a big boy and didn't need mummy to pin him into his lovely fluffy nappies any longer and I had to find a way to correct this misconception.

It was my turn to host the ladies monthly get together and I realised it was a perfect opportunity to reinforce mummy's control. That evening I told little Tommy I was going to bath him early. I always like to bath my sixteen-year-old son myself to ensure he is properly clean for beddy-byes, he protested vociferously of course but he knows very well not to make too much of a fuss when I've made up my mind.

The doorbell rang just as I was towelling Tommy dry in front of the fire as always. I told Tommy not to move while I went to let in Mrs Matthews and her daughter Alice, who has just turned thirteen.When we returned, however, he had run and hidden in the kitchen, I called for him to return to the living room but he replied that he wanted to put day clothes back on because of our visitors.

I was having none of this nonsense and used my angry mummy voice to tell him that he knew full well that it is always pyjama time after bath time and if he didn't return immediately I would have to review his bedtime as he was obviously overtired.

This threat made him come to his senses and he sheepishly came out with his towel still wrapped around his waist and barely able to take his eyes off the floor. I'm not sure if Mrs Matthews and Alice had noticed the jim-jams and nappy that were warming on the radiator but Tommy certainly did.

I removed his towel and told him to lie down on his changing mat. He was reluctant to obey at first since his nappies had been a secret between us up to now but after a sharp slap to his inner thigh, he quickly did as he was told.

I explained his bedwetting problem to Mrs Matthews and Alice and how because of the monthly meeting tonight I wanted to make sure he was ready for bed before our evening started. She was surprised when I informed her of Tommy’s age, but voiced her approval of his being nappied at bedtime, she said she always thought it best that bedwetters of any age were kept in nappies and that Tommy seemed like such a little boy that she wasn't surprised at all that he still wore them. He had already been blushing but as she spoke he turned bright red.

Once his nappy was securely in place, I shuffled on his protective panties and I began to put him into his pyjamas. One of the things I insist on is that my little boy wears proper, little boy pyjamas. That night I'd purposely chose his most babyish jim-jams, they were footed pyjamas made from soft, baby blue winceyette with baby bunnies. Mrs Matthews was delighted by the sight and insisted on examining his pyjamas by sitting him on her lap."Aren't you a lucky boy your mummy keeps you cosy in such lovely jammies?" She asked him, giving his tummy a tickle as she did so. Alice too was most interested and asked many questions about his lifestyle until she eventually offered herself as a babysitter which I thought was very kind of her and an offer I shall certainly take her up on.     

Tommy cried and complained about not wanting to be babysat by a girl three years younger than he is and wanted to dash off to his bedroom but I told him how I expected him to stay and play quietly with his toys in front of us. Of course when they arrived the rest of my guests couldn't resist the freshly bathed and nappied sixteen-year-old little boy playing on the floor wearing bunny rabbit motif footed pyjamas, so he spent much of the evening being patted on the bottom and cuddled in their laps. Eventually, I came back from preparing snacks to find he'd fallen asleep being cradled by Mrs Andrews. I knew then that my plan had worked perfectly as I tucked him into bed.

He didn't feel like much of a big boy after that experience and now I always take him along to our ladies get-togethers. I take his nappy bag and footed pyjamas and change him into them after we arrive in front of everyone much to their enjoyment. Some of the ladies requested to permission to nappy him and pop him into his jim-jams themselves, something I always agree to as it emphasises to Tommy that he is just my little boy and that he will continue to be my little boy for a long time to come.

Tommy started to complain about his stricter regime so now I employ a dummy to soothe him and calm him down, so now his complaints have become babyish babbling. I also worried he would become lost on our trips to the shops so I  began to put him into baby reins for a while and have now obtained a pushchair that I strap him into. My sixteen-year-old little boy looks so sweet as I push him along the high street as he suc-ks his dummy. Two of the ladies are expert seamstresses and have made him some new baby pyjamas. Alice now babysits for him regularly and persuaded me to keep him dressed in nappies and infantile pyjamas permanently as there is no need for my little boy to become a big boy at all.


Beth


Nanny Smackbottom replies

Thank you for your wonderful letter Beth. What a lovely example of effective nappy and pyjama discipline. This is an excellent way to ensure mummy's little
boy behaves himself and that no matter how old he becomes, with the assistance of the ladies and Alice, Tommy will remain your little boy for the foreseeable future.

Nanny Smackbottom

[Bertha]

This letter was published in PPM and other places before being edited by me. The writer is Mrs K.M Reedwood.

Dear Nanny Smackbottom

I too favour corrective training for all little boys until they are twenty-one. Indeed to my mind, until that age, they are but children to be controlled and disciplined without the rights of adulthood.

I thought you might consider publishing another letter which will tell you of the methods I use to discipline my nephew.

I have three girls of my own, Kathleen 17, Susan 12, and little Rosemary who is 9. Robin, his full name being Christopher Robin, the name is very Victorian and reminds me of tunics, bloomers, and curls.

He became my ward when his parents sadly died. He is sixteen and not having a male child in the house, I did not see the need to make any changes in deference to Robin that should inconvenience Nanny or me, and so, from the moment he joined our family he has been treated and dressed just as one of the children.

He does wear some boys clothes such as when we venture into the village when he is taken out, but even they are very childish and sissy, similar to what the girls themselves may wear.

I am old fashioned enough to prefer girls in nightgowns rather than pyjamas. So along with Susan and Rosemary, Robin wears a long white or pink flannelette nightgown with ruffles at the neck and sleeves.

The children’s bedtimes tend to vary. Naturally, Kathleen, I consider as a girl who is almost grown up. She can go to bed when she pleases as long as she is reasonable about it. Susan’s bedtime is 8 o’clock, and Rosemary’s is at seven.

To show Robin that as a boy he cannot expect the same privileges as a girl, his bedtime is seven, the same as the youngest Rosemary. Oh, he grumbled at first, but the swift and stern application of the back of a big wooden hairbrush upon his bare bottom over Nanny’s knee soon convinced him that he had better cooperate.

Naughtiness is always punished in my household. The girls may get some small privilege withdrawn temporarily or are not allowed to attend some function. I do not inflict corporal punishment upon them as the girls are such delicate beings. Besides, it would be a lowering of their image in the eyes of Robin if he saw or heard them spanked as he is being taught that all females are much superior in every way to males.

With Robin I take a different approach and naughtiness is punished swiftly with a bare bottom spanking. There is a deferred punishment as well, for depending on why he has to be punished and the length of spanking he will receive from my trusty hairbrush, his bedtime will be advanced by an equal amount of minutes. Thus he may end up being put to bed earlier than Rosemary.

To impress upon him his naughtiness, the wooden hairbrush that has just been used on his naughty bottom is hung by a ribbon around his neck to be seen by all for the rest of the day. Naturally, both his Nanny-Governess and I punish him for any fault to impress upon him the inferiority of boys.

Both the older girls have the privilege of giving him a bare bottom spanking with their hands as well. As soon as Robin arrived to live with us, Kathleen was given the privilege as it does so humiliate and deflate a boy’s ego to go over a young girl's lap.

Now that Susan has turned twelve, she also has been accorded the privilege of disciplining Robin with a spanking. It is lovely to see embarrassment and shame on his face when spanked by a girl four years younger than him.

It is making him utterly obedient to the wishes of his cousins. I need not tell your readers that the girls really enjoy exercising their privilege, especially twelve-year-old Susan. I have made it a rule that neither Nanny nor I interfere when the girls are punishing Robin. Nor do we listen to any complaint from him.

Naturally, the girls, Susan in particular, call anything he does naughty and deserving of a spanking, should he respond immediately to their commands.

So you see he is under their strict control. If he interrupts the girls they say he is naughty, if he refuses to play their games, again he is naughty. If he is not polite to them, rising when they enter the room, opening doors for them, curtseying when he asks permission to speak, and all the other little niceties of conduct, he is naughty.

The girls are my eyes and ears in helping me to curb his boyish spirits especially since I have given them spanking privileges. As they never want to play boyish games he must join in and play their games such as skipping and catch the ball, playing with dolls and so on. This itself is a feminising influence.

I sometimes wonder if he needs his bottom covered at all, he spends so much of his time with his velvet shorts or bloomers about his ankles. Sometimes they stand him in a corner after a spanking, with his little red bottom exposed.

I do not know when he is more embarrassed. When Kathleen, just a year older, makes him stand in front of her while she unbuttons his little shorts from his shirtwaist, then lowers his under bloomers and takes him over her knees. Or when Susan, with great excitement and gusto, four years his junior, does the same.

It is even more amusing when he is in full petticoat discipline and either of them does the same. They embarrass him by lifting up his skirts and yards of fluffy petticoats and lowering his frilly, ruffled panties.

This brings me to the corrective dress discipline that should accompany any boy under strict domestic discipline and correction. I know your readers will be interested in my methods with Robin. I have already mentioned that he wears a nightgown just like the two younger girls. Of course, Nanny dresses him and undresses him as she does Susan and Rosemary, all in front of each other.

Let us look in on a morning when Nanny is dressing the children. I shall deal with just the dressing part here. Susan, Rosemary and Robin are all standing in their nightgowns. Nanny removes Robin's nightgown so that he alone stands naked.

The three of them have identical silk vests with a small lace trim at the neck, Nanny puts them on him, then his plain little cotton under bloomers. As their Nanny/Governess gives lessons each morning he is dressed in school uniform but not before he is forced to wear a special garment that only he wears.

He hates it with a passion and it has been the cause of many a smacked bottom until he became accustomed to it. Nanny laces him up into a very tight, small whalebone corset with eight dangling suspenders so that he looks even more like a girl with his slender waist and his flesh pushed out at the top and bottom of his corset, giving him rounded buttocks and respectable girlish breasts.

[Bertha]

He has sweet little boy sailor suits and complete kilt outfits for outings but they feminise him considerably by The girls are allowed modern pantyhose, although they want to wear them without under panties or over panties but I do not allow it. Robin wears the same coloured thigh hose that is gartered to the eight suspenders on his corset. It is good for him to feel the pull of taut stockings, reminding him of his femininity.

All three children then don white frilled knickers, then their red one-strap shoes. White petticoats with lace and embroidery follow for the girls and Robin alike. Their gym blouses are yellow. A green tie goes with their blouses and finally, they don their regulation gym tunics in green.

Now they are indistinguishable and could be taken for three girls of various ages. Robin’s hair is longish and cut into a boyish bob like the girls. As he is slight for his years he could pass for the oldest of the three as they all look like charming little schoolgirls.

They are ushered down to breakfast, where Robin suffers the indignity of wearing a pinafore like Rosemary, Susan, however, does not as she was allowed to discard the pinafore at the age of eleven.

Rosemary will also not wear one after her eleventh birthday leaving Robin who will be kept in his pinafore until he leaves the nursery, and that won’t be until he is 21.

Usually, Robin endures a further indignity that neither of the girls suffers, he has a pretty baby’s bib tied around his neck and over his pinafore to keep it clean.

To finish with the discipline of dress for Robin, he does have little boy sissy clothes of velvet and satin short pants, buttoning on to a blouse. The shorts, of course, are without a fly and fashioned at the sides or with a zipper at the back.
comprising of frilly blouses, lace edged petticoats, knickers and long stockings. For indoors, besides school uniform, he wears identical play rompers and little girl tunics as Rosemary. For company and dressing up, he has a beautiful little girl’s organdie frock with a pink sash, exactly the same as little Rosemary’s and of course, he wears his frilliest undies with this frock.

A pink ribbon is tied in his hair and all his hats have elastic that goes under the chin. His reefer coat has brass buttons and is identical with Susan’s, it even buttons on the left side as a girls coat does. Naturally, he wears gloves whenever he leaves the house while his Nanny always escorts him.

Another way the superiority of girls is impressed on Robin at bedtime as I have stated he wears a nightgown like the girls, but while they, of course, use the toilet by themselves, Robin is required to ask to go
wee-wees and then Nanny makes him use a child’s potty.

These measures are designed to deflate his ego as a boy completely. Nanny also baths him and she regularly allows the girls assist her.

A splendid chance happening enabled Nanny to reduce Robin even more in status and make him suffer the indignity of being pinned into nappies again just as if he were a baby. It seems that Rosemary had a lapse and wet her bed for a night or two.

Robin seized the chance to tease his little cousin from whom he had suffered so much teasing himself but it did not last long as Nanny soon brought him to his senses. She had decided Rosemary should wear nappies and rubber baby panties to protect the bedding until she got over her relapse. However, she came to me and asked permission to put Robin in nappies too, since Rosemary might feel ashamed to be wearing nappies in the nursery alone.

I at once agreed since I knew that this would be excellent discipline for Robin. Naturally, any boy over sixteen would be utterly ashamed at having to wear nappies and waterproof panties when he was put to bed and having nappies changed by his cousins.

Nanny pinned nappies and baby panties on Robin as well as on Rosemary. In his case, she added rubber sheets for him to sleep on, saying that a big baby like him would have to have extra protection besides his nappies and panties. Nanny gave him plenty to drink to ensure that he would also wet his nappies like little Rosemary so that she wouldn’t feel so bad.

After a while, Rosemary was dry and Nanny stopped pinning nappies and rubber pants on her, but by putting Robin to bed very early and making sure that he had plenty of warm milk to drink, Robin continues to wake up every morning with soaking wet nappies.


Nanny and the girls began calling him Lambikins because of it and he is persuaded to act like a baby or the girls threaten him with a spanking and an extra early bedtime.
It was a very short step to start treating him like a baby and put him in short baby dresses, making him use a dummy and give him all his liquids from a baby bottle. He also has to wear a lace-trimmed bib with a picture of a sweet little lamb on it.


These are some of the corrective measures that I impose on my sixteen-year-old nephew and they will continue indefinitely as I am not convinced he will ever reach the necessary degree of maturity required and prefer to ensure he is subject utterly to the discipline and whims of females.

Mrs K. M. Reedwood


Nanny Smackbottom replies

Dear Mrs Reedwood

Once again you impress me with your approach to disciplining boys. Robin is fortunate to have such a thoughtful aunt who understands the need for a strict discipline. His flannelette nightgowns sound cuddly and cosy and his bedtime being the same as young Rosemary is very sensible. I must also congratulate you on sending him to lessons attired in a schoolgirls uniform and the tight fitting corset is as inspired as it is delightful. Please continue to update us on his progress as I am certain many readers will want to follow your methods.

Nanny Smackbottom