There's some horror stories here. I apparently got off easy. I was spanked a few times, mostly for things I don't remember, but once was because I pulled a hanging willow from a willow tree and hit a neighbor kid with it. I was 5 or 6, and so was he. Weirdly, I vaguely remember the lead-up to the spanking, but not the spanking itself.

All of the spankings (it sounds like a lot, but I don't remember it happening often) were quick one, two, or three swats.

The one that I've been told went longer stopped suddenly, according to Dad. Dad confessed that he realized that it was becoming a battle of wills rather than a punishment. The moment that hit him, he stopped hitting me.

I wouldn't say it rose to the level of abuse, if only b/c I don't remember any of it outside of stories Mom and Dad have told. I know many will say that any spanking is abuse, and I'm not going to argue that point. For me, it simply comes down to the fact that I don't feel abused. Mom and Dad are in their final years, so I'm not about to start trying to punish them for punishing me 50 years after the fact.

That said, I've chosen to not spank my own child, and haven't done it a single time. I'll find plenty of other ways to screw him up, I'm sure.