"The 5 Greatest Spankings of All Time" by Rob Wood

When asked about favorite childhood memories I suspect few, if any of us, mention punishment. If Wood's memoir is to be believed he and his brothers are most unusual.

The spankings are described in detail: each was the result of an irresistible prank, and, although they had been administered in the 50's were still vividly recalled 30 years later by the brothers. Most interestingly they bear no resentment. Family rules were clear and each punishment followed an act that had trespassed the behavioral norm.

This family memoir takes readers back in time and to a rural setting few of us have experienced. Author Rob Wood says it is "the first of a trilogy." We will look forward to its bookmates. ( )

This is a small book with big impact. A look back in time to the 1950's through the eyes of a now grown man. As a child Rob grew up living on a 365 acre ranch with his mom and dad, Betty and Bullethead, and his 2 younger brothers, Randy and Rich. At that time it was not uncommon for children to get a 'lickin' when they had misbehaved. Kids then didn't have video games and didn't watch hours of television. They actually went outside and played, usually games that were made up on the spot or based on some concept like cowboys and Indians.

Out on the ranch Rob, Randy and youngest brother Rich, were always up for a new experience. The trouble was that most of those experiences that they had lead to a group 'lickin' administered by their father. He believed in the group punishment idea, as did most parents in those days, and had the 3 rules, known as Bullethead's Rules, written down and posted throughout the house.

This book tells the story of the 3 boys who had great ideas, very little fear (Randy wanted to be a daredevil when he grew up) and what happens when the great ideas the boys come up with and then implement take a slightly or sometimes greatly wrong turn.

Now for some people they'll say that 'Oh, that's horrible, spanking the children!' and say that they should have been removed from the home. But that was not the way it was then. And I know that for myself (I was born slightly later, in the 60's) I never considered it child abuse, it was what happened when you got caught doing something that although was fun, was definitely wrong.

This book has brought back some great memories of my own childhood. My 2 older brothers (they were both born in the 50's, several years before my sister and I) took it as their sacred duty to teach my sister and I some fine things like "How to blow up mom's cabbage plants with a nail and a ladyfinger firecracker (or for a better slaw, 2 ladyfingers). Yes we got punished, each of us got a lickin, and we all had to go out and scrub the neighbor's garage because the smell of rotting cabbage was pretty rank. But boy we sure had fun!

I loved how Rob Wood has taken his childhood memories and shared them with us. The story is told very clearly and with a lot of humor. He brings you right back there with he and his brothers, once with his cousin Larry, his parents and his grandparents. A humorous, well written quick read that is well worth the time to read.

I received my copy from the author and my review was unsolicited ( )