I thought very briefly about writing a new note and forging my mother’s signature, but I knew that doing so would only make matters worse. I thought about how much the paddle was going to hurt. I had never been hit before-not even spanked. In fact, my parents had never hit any of my siblings. I thought about how angry my mother must be since she was allowing the principal to paddle me. Then I thought about what I was wearing. I reached back and touched the seat of my jumper, but there were no pockets there. I thought about stuffing paper into my underpants, but I was afraid that I would get caught. So much for any thoughts of adding padding to soften the blows.
Catholic School in New England15
