Here is another ancestor story. If you are offended by stories that describe the spanking of children, please do not read this. This story is pure fiction, although the character is real. It was common in Deborah's time, for children to be punished with a spanking. Deborah was my great aunt. Please do not use this story without my permission.

At the time of this story, Deborah was eight. Each Saturday was a major cooking day in Deborah's household. Usually there was bread baking in the oven, and often, in season, there was jelly making on the stove top. On this particular day, the grapes had been harvested, and they were boiling down in the huge pot on the stove. Deborah's mother explained that if they were too ripe, a piece of apple would have to be put in to give some pectin, and she was watching closely to see that she did not get too much. Too much would make the jelly rubbery, and too little would make it syrup.

As the grapes bubbled away, Deborah's mother left to do something else, and Deborah got a chair to see what this looked like. She stood by the stove fascinated. Her mother returned and whisked her away with a sharp *smack* to her bottom. "That is hot, young lady! Get down!" Deborah stood there surprised and just watched.

The canning jars were sterilized and the wax melted in a pan, ready for pouring. Each jar was filled carefully and left to cool before the wax was poured. Once again, Deborah was left alone. This time, she wanted to help. She went to the stove and with a dish rag for a pot holder, as she had often seen her mother do, got the pan of wax and carried it to the table where the jars sat waiting. With her shaky hands, she began to pour the hot wax over the jars, table, floor and even onto her shoes. That is when she screamed.

Her mother and father ran into the room and found her crying and the wax cooled now and stuck everywhere. Her mother peeled the cooled wax off her shoes, scolding her every bit of the time. "I told you not to touch anything, young lady! What in the world were you trying to do???" She checked Deborah carefully for wax burns, but found none. "You know that you will get a spanking for this, don't you?" Deborah started to whimper. "Daniel, I was in here earlier, and she was up at the stove. I took her down and told her then that she was to stay away from all of this. I think it is time for an old-fashioned spanking!" Deborah began to protest....

Her father took her by the hand and led her to his study, where he took a chair and pulled it from his desk area. He opened his desk drawer and took out a wooden ruler and placed it on the desk. "All right, young lady, it is time for you to see what happens when you do not listen to your mother." He lifted her up and placed her over his knees, raising her skirt and petticoats and pulling down her bloomers. She struggled to get free, but he had a firm grip around her waist. He reached for the ruler and began to smack her bare bottom with it. "Do you know that you could have been seriously hurt?" Deborah kicked and cried. "Do you think we want to have to do this to you?" She struggled in vain. The ruler came down again and again, not hard, but enough to scare her. She was getting a bit pink, so her father put the ruler down and spanked her several times with his hand.

Do you (spank) understand (spank) that when (spank) you (spank) are told not to (spank) something (spank), it means (spank) no!? (spank) Deborah was crying hard now and could not respond very well. Her father pulled up her bloomers, pulled down her petticoats and dress and took her onto his lap.

"We care about you, love you, and if you had been burned, your mother and I would have been terribly sad. You are not to go near the stove until you are much older and have lessons from your mother. Do you understand? " Deborah tearfully nodded, sobbing as her father held her. He hugged her tightly and told her that he was very grateful that she had been so protected. Together they went to help pick hardened wax off the things in the kitchen.