I was dead wrong. Not only did Mom take me into school, but she took me to my classroom, where she apologised to the teacher and explained in front of everyone that I was late because I had to have a bare bottom spanking for lying about being sick. My shame was complete, and the teasing I received from my classmates went on for weeks.
Predictably, that afternoon I also screwed up in the test, so when Dad came home a few days later I was taken straight upstairs to be paddled again, and of course he made it an extra hard one to take into account my previous shenanigans.
I do sort of feel sorry for today’s kids, as modern digital thermometers have taken away the possibility of pulling this stunt, even if it did mean risking your butt!