by Susan Thomas
I was eight when my parents divorced. Later I found out why. My mom had an affair, my dad demanded she stop, she agreed but reneged and my dad sued for divorce. Naturally, the court deemed that I would be best living with my mom, and naturally my opinion carried little weight. Dad had visitation rights. I, of course, had no say in that either. No visitations happened because my mom and her boyfriend, whose name I forget, moved clear across the country from New York, where we were, to California. I did keep in contact with my dad but was never able to see him unless he flew to California. Every time he did that, my mom would take me on an unexpected holiday somewhere else altogether.
My mother opened a smart beauty salon which did extremely well, and she went through a series of men. I've forgotten almost all of them and I began to hate my mother, her men and even, quite unfairly, California itself. I associated the state with my mother's life, and loathed it. My dad moved too because a job opportunity came up in his old home town in Arkansas that he simply couldn't turn down. In time I went off to college with relief at being away from my mom. Eventually I qualified as a teacher of Mathematics and needed a job.
By sheer coincidence a job came up in the very town my father lived. It wasn't a heavily populated area, so there was one elementary school which ran to grade six and one combined high school running from grade seven to twelve. It seemed to work well because it was one of the best performing schools in the state. As I later discovered, the school, with the support of the local community, pretty much ran things as it saw fit without much reference to anyone else. I decided to apply and got the job. I used Facetime to talk to my father.
"Hi Dad."
"Lucy! Great to hear from you. How's the job hunting going?"
"Good. I have a job, now I just need to find somewhere to live."
"So where's the job?"
"It's a grade seven onwards high school in Arkansas."
"Arkansas! Anywhere near me? We can see each other."
"I'm teasing you Dad. It's in your small town of Palmer Springs."
"Lucy! I ought to spank you for doing that. I had been dreading you saying somewhere like Alaska. You're going to be here in Palmer! That's wonderful. Would you like to live with me?"
Now... pause the video for a moment. Dad had always been strict with me when I was little and at some point had spanked me when I was naughty. I remembered the spankings although I still loved him to bits. Over the years when we talked or exchanged messages he had made it clear he did not consider me well behaved. He was honest in telling me that if I had lived with him I would get spanked. At the time I considered living with Dad, and getting spanked if I behaved badly, infinitely preferable to living with my mom and her men. But now I was twenty-two, right? I was a fully qualified teacher. A professional. An adult. Adults don't get spanked, right? I hesitated because I knew where Dad lived had a somewhat different attitude.
"Where do I stand with the spanking bit, Dad?"
"Lucy, I have to be honest and I just hope it's not a deal breaker. A daughter of your age living at home comes under her father's authority, and yes, if she misbehaves, he can and often does, give her a spanking. But come on, you're not a kid, so all the usual teenage nonsense that you've been through is over and done with."
Now despite not living with him I knew my dad. He sets high standards and I had an uneasy feeling that maybe I was going to fall short from time to time. That could mean a spanking. Then I thought that he probably wouldn't, me being the age I was, and if he did, well it was only a sore butt. Besides I needed somewhere to live and I loved my dad, so I agreed that spanking or no spanking I'd move in with him. My mom was way less than pleased. In fact she was furious. I don't know why she hated Dad so much because even she admitted he'd tried to be a good husband and father. In case you're wondering, he never spanked her. Perhaps he should have.
So I moved in with Dad and began to study all the school manuals and teaching programs. The first thing that I found, which shocked me, was that every teacher had a paddle and was authorized to use it, up to four swats. The only caveat was that it could not be in front of other students. Yes, even I, as a very new teacher, was allowed to spank. As I told you the school did pretty much as it wanted, and the parents and community supported it. The school was due to reopen on the Monday but teachers had to attend on the previous Wednesday for an endlessly long staff meeting. Then we had to be in on Thursday and Friday to prepare our room and generally gear up for the hordes on Monday.
My mentor was to be Mrs. Caroline Armitage who had the room next to mine. I had to be a home room teacher as well. Caroline had arranged for some of the new Grade Seven students to come in and assist every teacher. We all had one. My student was a pretty girl with curly chestnut hair and blue eyes. She was quiet and serious with the name Lisette Bartok. She was very young having only just had her birthday in time to make it into that year. Lisette was so serious she had even read up on how my classroom was supposed to be set out.
"Miss Poole, you don't have your paddle hanging on the hook at the front of the class. Where is it? I'll put it up for you."
I looked blank. "Lisette, I don't know. I don't think I have one." Now that couldn't be right. In the previous school year a group of boys and girls made paddles from the raw wood. They sanded them down and another group varnished them after which some student artists painted the name of the teacher on the paddle. I should have had a new paddle with 'Miss L Poole' on it. We went together to the next class to find Caroline on her own.
"Where's your helper?" I asked.
"She was almost useless. A ditzy kid. I've sent her to help the janitor. I don't need help anyway I've been in already and done all I need to. Now what can I do for you?"
Lisette answered for me. "I was going to hang Miss Poole's paddle up on the hook but she doesn't have one."
"You're right Lisette. I have it." With that she handed it over. "Meant to give you that yesterday and forgot."
I held it like an unexploded bomb. Dad had a paddle hanging on the wall of his den along with a hairbrush. He didn't say they were for me but it was obvious as they were brand new. Caroline looked at me anxiously. "You have used a paddle before?"
"No of course not. Never even seen one... well Dad has one on the wall of his den, but that's it."
"Oh Lord! It's important to be very strict in the first few weeks and if you paddle a few as an example you'll have little trouble afterwards." She turned to Lisette who was open mouthed at this and said, "That's well known among the kids isn't it Lisette?"
"I don't know ma'am, we only moved here a week ago. That's why I volunteered so I could get familiar with everything."
"But it was the same where you lived before?"
"No ma'am, spanking students in schools was not allowed."
"Good lord. Nothing like a good spanking to clear the air and change the behavior. So you don't know what position to assume or anything?"
"No ma'am."
Caroline's frown vanished. "Right, we'll run through a paddling using Lisette as the student. Now Lisette, this is the position." With that Caroline stood a little way back from the teacher's desk, spread her legs a little and bent forward to hold the edge of the desk. "Now Lisette, you take that position."
Trusting, the poor girl did as Caroline asked. She was wearing shorts and a T shirt, so bent over like that her shorts were stretched tight.
"Now Lucy, watch carefully. The paddle must never strike up here." She rested it on Lisette's tailbone. "Nor down here on her thighs." She rested the paddle on the sitting part of Lisette's butt. "And this is how you do it." She did a slow motion swat which only very gently touched Lisette's butt. "See, and you may strike hard but there's no need to move out of position." She ran through several slow motion swats, none of them doing more than tapping gently on Lisette's bottom.
Very cheerfully Caroline said, "Now Lisette I'm going to get Miss Poole to give you three swats. It'll be an excellent experience for you both."
Lisette stood up hastily, "But I'd rather not do that."
Caroline shook her head sadly at such folly. "The first paddling is always a big shock in a girl's life; much better getting it over with here in this situation with no other students in school. Come on now no silliness, back in position."
Lisette was a wonderfully obedient child. Despite her deep reluctance she bent over and I took up position behind her. I did a couple of slow motion practice swats and landed taps in exactly the right place and then Caroline said, "Oh come on Lucy, spank the girl." So I let go with what I thought was a good swat. Lisette made a little, "Ow," but other than that didn't react.
Caroline laughed. "Well you'll have kids lining up to get those swats just for fun. Now come on, spank her properly."
I didn't want to do it but I was a new teacher and frankly overawed by the situation so I brought the paddle down with a good hard swat.
Whap!
Lisette yelped shrilly and leapt up, clutching her butt. "No Lisette if you jump up you get extras in this school. Now back in position. We'll let that go, but stay in position for the next two."
Whap!
The poor kid squealed terribly when I gave her the next swat but she did remain in position though she wriggled her bottom somewhat until Caroline snapped out, "Be still girl."
I heard a little sniffle and knew she was either crying or close to it.
Whap!
Lisette squealed again even louder and wriggled her bottom around but that was it. She'd had all three, although I guess it was really three and a half.
"Now you tell her to stand. She may not stand until you allow it."
I gave my poor volunteer the permission and she stood with tears in her eyes, rubbing her bottom hard. I asked, "Is that it now?"
"No, now you fill out a punishment slip to go home. Name of student, date of punishment, reason for it and what the punishment was. The kid has to return it signed by the parent. Let's get out a punishment slip and you can fill one in."
I laughed sourly, "But what on earth was the reason for Lisette's spanking other than for me to practice?"
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