Oh I am so glad I stumbled upon this article of yours today Anke! I blogged about this last week and have been feeling in a bit of an emotional vacuum about it since.

I was subjected to the traditional old kiwi "wooden spoon school of discipline" as a child and it traumatised me then and it traumatises me all over again as an adult every time I hear apparently ordinary-every-day New Zealanders speak proudly about how they smack(ed) their kids.

I had such an experience today - at the vet's of all places - as I dropped in to pick up my cat food and there was a group of 70-something blue-rinse ladies there discussing how horrid they think Sue Bradford is for trying to take away the right of younger generations to wield the wooden spoon as they did. I felt like some kind of alien being in the same room as that conversation.

So thank you again Anke, and thanks also to other commenter's such as Kirsten, Rebecca, Deborah, who validated my reality today. I look forward to a time in this country when the majority of us will look at smacking parents with the same horror and amazement that you and I do today - as if it is they who are the aliens.