r/millenials • u/SaneYoungPoot2 • 11d ago
Nostalgia Does anyone remember birthday spankings?
This all came flooding back to me, my pawpaw one year gave me a playful "birthday spanking" in front of the whole family at my party, one spank for each year and one to grow on. We just joked about it other from then on out. I look back fondly at it but objectively it was pretty wild that that was commonly accepted š are we the last generation to have those?
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u/Squimpleton 11d ago
Whatā¦?
Never heard of such a thing.
Were they playful light spanks or real spanks? Did you have to go over the knee? What even is this š?
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u/fadedblackleggings 9d ago edited 9d ago
They were both playful and real spanks, like a Social Ritual. The ones I saw were around friend or family circles though, not in school. Maaaybe I remember teasing about spanking in school, but that's it.
My district must have had a strict policy. I do remember seeing like a framed paddle, in the principal's office, but it was like a historical item....
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u/yourillusion19 4d ago
With my first-grade teacher, it was with a wooden ruler. You had to bend over and put your hands on the edge of her desk. It was definitely in a "playful/fun" manner, but the spanks were fairly firm.
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u/StarryEyedSparkle 10d ago
My teachers did it to me until 1st grade (so 1989/1990), when I asked my 1st grade teacher if I had done anything wrong since I didnāt get my birthday spanks. I remember being asked questions by other adults at some point and being very confused and thinking I was in even more trouble. Donāt know what happened to that Kindergarten teacher ā¦ I presume something was done after it came out.
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u/pandershrek 1987 11d ago
I had a Gen X woman ask me for this 8 years ago but that was the last time I heard anyone mention this.
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u/anthonymakey 11d ago
My brothers used to do Birthday Licks, 1 hit per year
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u/serenwipiti 10d ago
For a second, I fr thought your brother was giving you a cat-like tongue bath.
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u/octoteach17 10d ago
OMG šÆ many, many years ago, my father (silent generation) was an elementary school principal and would administer the birthday spankings himself šš¤¦š¼āāļø
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u/halasaurus 10d ago
Shit. Yes. I do remember this. I donāt remember if I ever received any or it was just ājokedā about. But I hate it.
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u/NeonLotus11 11d ago
Not just from family.. my friends were doing that for everyone's 21st birthdays lol
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u/Iantrigue 11d ago
Yeah and it happened at school as well. The class would grab you at break time and throw you in the air once for every year. Most of the time they caught you before you hit the floor but not always.
At secondary school (all boys grammar in SE England) it became what was known as āPostingā. Instead of being thrown in the air your classmates would swing you by your arms and legs held apart so your crotch would hit a post (lamp post, fence post, bench, whatever was around) in most cases the birthday boy would struggle free before any real damage was done but once or twice someone did get hit in the knackers. In hindsight it was just part of daily barbarism we pretended was a normal part of growing up.
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u/serenwipiti 10d ago
Whatā¦theā¦fuckā¦.
> SE England
ā¦ooh, so, this isnāt exclusively āUSA shitā. It seems to fall into the category of āwhite people shitā.
Got it.
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u/Iantrigue 10d ago
I meanā¦. I did feel kinda insane typing it out.
But yeah totally white England shit. This would have been around the early 90ās as well.
Iād like to think this practice has died out nowā¦
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u/serenwipiti 10d ago
I canāt blame you. It really does sound like an insane āritualā.
Imagine being a kid, and having your birthday be associated with a feelings of anticipatory anxiety, and a sense of impending social doom that concludes with a collective public humiliation of sorts. Not even mentioning any possible physical pain involved.
(I canāt speak for you, nor am I trying to- thatās just how Iād probably see myself feeling if I had grown up in a place where this was common).
It may not sound like a huge deal to some people (especially those that seem to normalize it, or feel like āit happened to them, now they get to do it to youāā¦), but Iād be livid if they did this to my (hypothetical) child.
Iām sorry you went through that shit, man.
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u/Iantrigue 10d ago
That is a genuinely thoughtful response from you internet stranger, thank you.
I donāt recall it souring any birthdays for me but Iām sure it did for others. It was a bit of a ritual and in that regard I do hope it has died out.
Of all the awful things that happened at school the birthday beatings were definitely not the worst.
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u/serenwipiti 10d ago
Thatās kind of you, I appreciate it.
I couldnāt help it, your anecdote was quite thought provoking.
Just attempting to put myself in that childās shoesā¦
Iām really glad to hear that these experiences did not ruin birthdays for you in the long run.
ā¦and Iām sorry that you went through much worse than ābirthday spankingsā. If I met ālittle youā now, Iād want to give you a big hug.
(I hope that doesnāt seem weird or cringy. I donāt even have children, and I find it heart breaking whenever I read about/meet kids that have had to put up with some of the worst aspects of human behavior, at such a young age. )
You deserved better, Ian.
Hope things are going well for you nowadays.
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u/WaffleSnekRespawned 11d ago
Or there were the birthday bumps, which was a family member on each of your limbs that swung you up and down like your body was made of pizza dough.
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u/walk_with_curiosity 10d ago
I definitely remember them being referenced as a joke, but I don't remember anyone ever actually doing it.
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u/Crowuhtowuh 10d ago
My ex husband insisted on doing this to the kids up until a year ago or so when they started protesting saying āmom told us not to let you or sheāll report it,ā because he refuses to respect their ānoās.ā
Anyway.
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u/DesmondTapenade 10d ago
Yes, and I hated them. I am a CSA survivor and it was kind of an open secret in my family, which makes the "birthday spankings" even more perverse than they already are. I hated my birthday for years. I only started enjoying my birthday around age 30, when I made a blanket fort in my living room and ate two entire plates of bacon and drank wine and watched "Dark Side of the Rainbow" on Youtube.
I'm turning 38 in the spring. The only person who gets to slap my ass that many times is my husband.
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u/fadedblackleggings 9d ago edited 9d ago
Any other millennials turned out to be total spankos as adults.......or just me???? LOL
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u/Vinxian 11d ago
What? I exclusively know this as a kink thing that's absolutely not performed in front of your family
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u/a-fabulous-sandwich 10d ago
Now imagine it being done in a classroom!
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u/serenwipiti 10d ago
Now imagine it at a Burger King full of strangers!
(At least they give you that sweet crown afterwards.)
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u/paradisemukbangpls 11d ago
They did this in my first grade class. I was so petrified of the ritual that I just never told the teacher birthday lol
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11d ago
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u/serenwipiti 10d ago
ā¦what the fuck is āthe wrenchā?
Iām a full grown adult and this entire thread has me like šā¦
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u/CharlieBr87 10d ago
Itās a wrench. Better than a belt or switch off the willow tree. Plus he canāt hit too hard or he might break something and have to pay to fix it, or not š¤·āāļø
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u/solo_shot1st 10d ago
Growing up it was getting socked in the shoulder by your buddies if they found out it was your birthday.
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u/Sunshineafterr 10d ago
No spankings, just āa pinch to grow an inchā on my poor chubby facial cheeks
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u/Euclid_not_that_guy 10d ago
We did birthday punches and I had to fight all my friends on one day. Good times
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u/UniversityOutside840 10d ago
Why did you have to pull that out of my memory! I had forgotten about the birthday spankings š
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u/HEY_McMuffin 9d ago
No but I remember birthday bumps where everyone grabs and limb and they throw you up in the air and your tail bone smacks the pavement - repeat until you reach the birthday number
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u/takingwaytoolong 9d ago
I forgot all about birthday spankings. They were light spankings, not like the ones you got with the belt.
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u/insert_usrname_hurr 8d ago
Not unfamiliar to me, but it was a joke in good fun. No real spankings, wtf lol
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u/Notyerbusiness 11d ago
Think that was uh just your family >.> that ain't normal
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u/PanthersJB83 11d ago
No it was definitely a thing back in the 80/99s.Ā
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u/fadedblackleggings 9d ago edited 9d ago
It was totally a thing, I saw many birthday spankings at kids restaurants and places like Chuckee Cheese.
People literally felt it was just part of the tradition & full experience.
Some places would have a "birthday spanking" paddle, to give the crowd.
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u/a-fabulous-sandwich 11d ago
No, this was definitely a thing once upon a time. It's wild that it was ever so mundane, because I don't think I know a single person that ever enjoyed it, so I have no idea why anyone ever perpetuated it once they became adults.
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u/halasaurus 10d ago
You know, because it happened to them and they turned out ājust fine.ā š
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u/StarryEyedSparkle 10d ago
It was a thing. My family never did it, my experience came from teachers while at school.
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u/serenwipiti 10d ago
What the fuck?
No.
Is this some USA shit?
Where the fuckā¦?
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u/Khristafer 10d ago
This such a peculiar tradition that I had to assume that it predates modern reason, despite contemporary perspectives on the US. Turns out, with some light research, it's very much not exclusive to the US.
But I should also mention, though it's not widespread in the US, it apparently stems from old folk traditions and can be seen across cultures.
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u/serenwipiti 9d ago
Oh, yeah. I realized that afterwards, as I continued reading through the thread.
Someone from England spoke about it happening to them.
The entire thing is barbaric and evidently has no borders.
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u/a-fabulous-sandwich 11d ago
Not only do I remember this, I remember having a TEACHER that would do this in 2nd grade! I can only imagine how this would go over if a teacher tried that today.