>Dear Susan, >I stumbled onto your site by accident (as many do!) and was intrigued by the letters on petticoat discipline, in particular, the letter in July on 'Tights Punishment'. I remember as a young girl my little brother, aged 6, was often subjected to this type of 'corrective treatment' in order to stop him from becoming unruly. >I remember clearly the first time this happened was when we were visiting my aunt's house. She had a daughter herself, of a similar age to my brother. Just after lunch when the two were playing there was a loud scream, followed by sobbing, and in walked my cousin crying her eyes out saying that my brother had hit her. >This, I think, was the last straw for our mother, who had seen this kind of behaviour get worse and worse over the last few months. After shouting at him severely for a good five minutes he was sent to our cousin's room whilst Mother and Aunt discussed what they should do with him. >It was at this point that I heard them mentioned the word 'tights'. At first I did not understand what they meant, and kept on reading my book whilst the two of them went upstairs. After about five minutes I started to hear loud sobbing from my brother who appeared to be pleading with our mother that he would be good from now on. >This eventually died down, and after a while I heard the three of them come downstairs. When I looked up from my book I was amazed at what I saw. There, standing at the doorway, holding Mother's hand and trying to shrink behind her, was my brother dressed in a little red girls' tunic and thick white tights. I remember being quite shocked and asking Mum why he was dressed like that. She replied simply that it was his punishment for hitting his cousin, and for all of the bad behaviour which had gone on for the last few months. >My brother was then left to play in the middle of the living room whilst I and our little cousin could not help but giggle and snigger. It was amazing the change in his behaviour once he had been put in tights. I later learned that Mother had threatened to take him down to the shops dressed in his new outfit if he refused to behave for the rest of the day. >The tunic and tights belonged to our little cousin, and were a little too small for him. As a result, the bottom of the tunic stopped just above his waist, and you could see a pair of red panties on underneath the tights. In addition to the tunic and tights he had to wear black sandals with a T-bar across the top of the foot. >I remember he hardly moved an inch the rest of that day, and when he did he would constantly be trying to pull down the tunic to cover the top of his tights. Luckily for him, when it was time to go, he was allowed to change back to his old clothes. However, a couple of days later I know Mum went down to the shops and bought a number of pairs of ribbed tights in different colours (including a white periline pair), so that when he misbehaved at home he would have to change into them. Although he was never sent to the shops in his tights, when he was naughty he would often be sent to play in the garden in a red track suit top with matching tights underneath! >Dymphna >- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >Yes, tights are cheap, easy to store and care for, and are a most effective means of petticoat discipline. Mothers who feel they cannot afford beautiful frilly dresses and petticoats for their sons, should note that things such as tights and pinafores can have very much the same effect. And little boys look so sweet in tights too, and will always behave nicely, especially if they are dressed in tights with perhaps velvet shorts and patent leather buckle shoes whenever guests are present. Dressed like this they will be perfect, and most respectful, playmates for any girls who happen to be present. >Susan

• Re: 9 Days in KC Pt. 5 - Seamless at - 10.06. 16:10:07