Nothing Ever Happens- Book 7

Nothing Ever Happens

Except for one copy for your personal use, no part of this story may be copied, transmitted, or posted either electronically or in print form anywhere without the prior written permission of its author.

This is a work of fiction about young people who wear diapers. If you don’t like the subject, this is not the story for you.

Book 7 – Convergence

Spring had arrived in full force. Kyle, Kevin, Bill, and their friends had all grown accustomed to their diapered state (without pants) outside of school hours. It had been less painful than the three boys had feared. They were back to doing all their normal activities, inside and outside their neighborhood. Practically nobody talked about it or teased them anymore.

Kevin and Bill were at their friend Peter’s house.

“My dad wants to know if you guys will be on his baseball team again this season,” Peter said.

“You mean he still wants to coach us?” Bill said in surprise.

“Sure,” Peter answered ingenuously, “why not?”

Kevin and Bill merely stared back at him.

“O-o-o-o-h! … you mean your diapers. He knows all about them and he saw you, Kevin, playing in them during a couple of basketball games this winter. Your parents are going to let you wear your uniforms over them, at least for games, aren’t they?”

“I guess so,” Kevin answered. “Kyle and me always wore uniforms over our diapers on game days, but not for practices.”

“That’s great, then,” Peter said enthusiastically. “I can tell my dad that you’ll play. Right?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Bill answered for himself and Kevin.

It was much the same with Kyle. His friends accepted him as they always had. The three boys were thankful that their friends assumed that their parents had been the primary movers in their diaper wearing. If their friends ever found out that they enjoyed it…

****

Mrs. Saddler looked out over the schoolyard, a frown deepening across her face.

“How in the world did this happen?” she kept asking herself. “What did I do wrong?”

This was her tenth year in school administration, the fourth as a middle school principal.

“Back in Hillington Primary School I never had eleven children in diapers… never! How is it possible that I’ve got eleven boys in diapers—bulky cloth and plastic pants, no less.”

The worst part of her dilemma was that she knew that she had unwittingly caused a major escalation of the situation. She didn’t feel like replaying that tape again. She knew it all by heart. The question was how to control things so that they wouldn’t get out of hand again.

“Dammit,” she said to herself, “I won’t be held hostage by a bunch of seventh and eighth graders! I’ve got to get back the upper hand.”

But how? The last group of boys to fall to the diaper punishment might be a good starting point. Their parents had certainly overreacted to the offense the boys had committed. They would have calmed down in the last three and-a-half weeks. They were probably ready to listen to reason. If she couldn’t convince these parents to release their boys from diapers, she could at least get them to give them their pants back.

“I’ll start contacting them right after lunch,” she thought, “when the children are back in class. This might even give me a chance to sway some of these children back to my side. They’ll surely be grateful to me if I get them out of diaper wearing.”

She started by calling Brett’s mom. She and her husband had seemed the most reluctant to discipline him when he had been accused of stealing Camp’s pants. If only he hadn’t tried to wheedle his way out of it by lying.

“Hello, this is Irene Saddler, I’m calling to discuss Brett.”

“Brett? What has he done now?” she asked in an irritated tone.

“He hasn’t done anything,” Mrs. Saddler quickly answered. “I just wanted to talk to you about his current punishment… to see how you were feeling about it at this point.”

“Oh, that’s a relief! Brett has been a veritable angel at home. I would have been extremely disappointed to hear that he was misbehaving in school. And he would have been very sorry about it, too.”

“Yes, yes… I can understand,” Mrs. Saddler responded.

In fact, she didn’t understand. It sounded like Brett’s mom was happy about how things were going. This wasn’t a good sign.

“In any case,” Mrs. Saddler continued, “I just want to report that Brett has been very well behaved. His teachers also report that his class work has improved.”

“Wonderful!” Brett’s mom exulted. “I’m so glad that this new discipline is having such good results. Who would have thought that putting him back into diapers would have been such a positive move? Thank you for letting me know.”

“You’re welcome.” Mrs. Saddler decided to go for broke and ask the real question she had on her mind. “Since he has been doing so well over the last few weeks, have you and your husband thought about giving him back some of his privileges? (Like, his pants, she thought to herself.)”

“My heavens, no!” Brett’s mom practically shouted. “We’ve been around the block with him too many times already. He’s perfectly capable of behaving for one or two weeks, even a month, when he’s being punished. His father and I are firm. This punishment is for the long haul. He’ll be lucky if he sees a pair of pants before Labor Day.”

“But, that’s more than five months away! Aren’t you afraid of being too harsh, of breaking his spirit, or damaging his self-esteem?”

“I can understand your concern, Mrs. Saddler, but Brett was getting way out of control. We’re not going to risk letting him off the hook too soon. You can see that we’re doing this for his ultimate good, can’t you? Besides, have you seen any indication that we are hurting his spirit or doing damage to him?”

“Well, no, I haven’t (dammit).”

There was nothing left to say. Mrs. Saddler wished her a good day and hung up. It was a toss-up as far as whom to call next. She chose Sean’s mom. This conversation started out in a more promising manner. After the preliminaries were over, she went for broke again and asked her is she and her husband were satisfied that Sean had learned his lesson.

“That’s a very good question,” she answered. “I think that we have Sean’s attention for the first time in several years. The diaper changes have given us an opportunity to stay in closer touch with him. I think that he has become more reflective as a result. He’s shared more thoughts with us in the last three weeks than he did in the last three years. But, I’m straying from your question. Yes, I think that his punishment has done him some good, maybe even a lot of good.”

“Have you thought of perhaps modifying some of the parameters of his punishment? (Please say ‘yes’.)

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said as casually as she could, “perhaps he might come to school wearing pants one day a week, and then, after he’s proven himself, two days a week… and so on until he gets out of diapers completely.”

“I see,” Sean mom answered. “I don’t know about that. When we decided on this punishment we told the other parents that we would work together on deciding when the boys would get their pants back and when they would get out of diapers. I don’t think we’re ready for that discussion just yet.”

Well, that’s that! Mrs Saddler thought. She wrapped up the conversation and decided that it would be a waste of time to call Dean’s parents. No sooner had she hung up than Mrs. Sanchez, the school nurse, asked to see her.

“Irene,” the nurse said, “you know that I take my duties seriously and that I’m always there to help the children, but I’m at the end of my rope. I’m spending my entire day changing diapers. You know that I don’t complain very often but I simply don’t have enough time to get my other duties accomplished. This has gone on long enough. It’s got to stop or you’ve got to get me some help.”

Of course, Mrs. Saddler thought, how stupid of me not to have considered this! We’re not equipped to handle all these diaper changes. I’ll go to the school board and ask for money to hire someone to help Mrs. Sanchez. They’ll never go for that. I’ll also use the opportunity to have them adopt a policy saying that, unless a student is medically in need of diapers, the school will not take responsibility for changing them.

“I’m so sorry. I should have considered how overworked you must be,” Mrs. Saddler said to the nurse. “I’ll get on it right away.”

Mrs. Saddler’s mood had improved considerably. She now had a clear plan to work on. She phoned the secretary to the school board and explained her problem. She was put on the agenda for the next meeting. She also got busy writing letters to the parents of the eleven boys. She thought it was only fair that they not be blindsided by a possible change in school policy.

****

The second Tuesday of the month was the regular meeting day for the School Board. The parents of the eleven boys decided that they would attend in a block. The boys themselves were gathered at John’s house under the watchful eye of Mrs. Gonzag, the housekeeper.

“OK,” Mrs. Gonzag was saying, “has everyone been served? …Good. I’ll leave you alone, but first, let me go over your names again. Of course, I already know you— John, Darren, Mark, and Carlos. Let’s see now. You’re Camp, and you’re Ken, and you’re Brett, Sean, and Dean, and… let’s see, you’re Artie and you’re Aaron.

“No,” Aaron laughed, “I’m Aaron and he’s Artie.”

Mrs. Gonzag laughed, too, and then left, shaking her head. The evening was going better than expected. The boys’ parents had been a little apprehensive about Brett, Sean, and Dean being included. They were the ones who had stolen Camp’s pants and they weren’t sure how much animosity was left between them. The atmosphere has started out tense but Mark, the natural diplomat, had managed to bring the sides together with a few jokes.

“So, you guys get together every day after school?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, our parents won’t let us be unsupervised.” John answered. “We go to different houses each week. What do you guys do?” he asked Brett, Sean, and Dean.

“We have to go straight home and call our moms or dads at work.” Sean explained. “They call us back to make sure that each of us is really calling from home. After that, we have to do our homework. I don’t know why they’re so strict about checking up on us and making us stay by ourselves. Where could we go in just our diapers anyway?”

Mark, Carlos and Ken (who not only had gotten used to wearing diapers, but actually enjoyed being seen in them) wisely held back in saying that they habitually went to lots of places in just their diapers. They sensed that the timing wasn’t right.

“Yeah,” John sympathized. “Your having to stay alone really reeks. Would you like to ask your parents if you could join up with us? I mean, we have to do our homework, too, but at least we get to hang out together.”

The three boys jumped at the chance.

“Of course,” Dean interjected, “it all depends on what the school board decides.”

“No matter what the school board decides,” Darren said emphatically, “I know that my dad is going to make me wear diapers until the whole of my punishment is served. Heck, if the board bans wearing diapers to school, I bet he’ll figure out how many hours of non-diaper wearing that would be and then add that many hours to the back end of my punishment—no pun intended.

“No way! You can’t be serious!” Dean exclaimed.

“You don’t know my dad,” Darren said.

“Or my mom and dad,” John added.

“Or mine,” several other voices added in unison.

Two hours later their parents returned. They entered the house talking among themselves but the boys didn’t hear anything about the board meeting or what they were going to wear to school. Most of the boys hoped that they could at least gain some dignity back by not being diapered at school, even though they realized that they probably wouldn’t escape their diaper punishments outside of school time.

“Well?” Darren asked his dad impatiently.

“Well, what?” his dad answered back mock-innocently. “Oh! The meeting, you mean. Mrs. Prett did most of the talking so I think it’s only fair that she explain the outcome.”

Mrs. Prett (John’s mother) began explaining, “Well, the meeting didn’t take very long at all. Mrs. Saddler explained the problem—you know, like she did in the letter that we all received. Anyway, she made her proposal to change the school policy so that only children with medical needs would be allowed to wear diapers in school. The board members then asked if there was anyone in the audience who wanted to speak to the issue. Since I had already talked to each of your parents at least once (This was news to the boys; they had no idea that their parents had been talking to each other.) and knew what was on everyone’s mind I acted as the spokesperson. I explained why we felt that our discipline was important and how much good it was doing you. (At this points, the boys groaned in unison.) Anyway, they listened to my proposal and they passed it unanimously.

“Proposal? What proposal?” John nervously asked his mom.

“I did skip over that, didn’t I?” she said smiling. “I proposed that we, the parents, should be the ones to help relieve Mrs. Sanchez from having to change your diapers.”

“What does that mean?” Artie asked.

“Well,” his mom answered, taking over from Mrs. Prett, “it means that you’re going to continue going to school in diapers and that we,” she said pointing to all the parents, “are going to be doing your diaper changes from now on. Each one of us will spend one day a month at your school (between the hours or 9:30 and 2:00). Instead of Mrs. Sanchez taking care of you, we will.”

The boys didn’t know what they had been expecting but this certainly wasn’t it. All their parents would be changing their diapers in school? Brett, Sean and Dean were the most shocked.

“Since we’re pooling your diaper changes, so to speak, we’ve also decided to pool your diapers, too. From now on, you’ll be put into whatever diapers are available wherever you are. Also, we are going to hire one diaper service to take care of laundering your diapers and plastic pants. Since we’re bringing so much business to them, we’re getting a very good rate,” Mr. Prett said. “Does that cover everything?” he asked the other parents.

“Almost, “Artie and Aaron’s dad answered. “We also discussed the unequal treatment you’ve been receiving. Some of you aren’t allowed to wear pants at all, some of you have to wear double diapers after school and all weekend, etc. We’re going to unify your treatment so that we parents will always know how to change you and how to dress you at any time. So, first of all, you will all wear double diapers after school and on weekends. That means that there will be no pants wearing during those times. What to do during school time was a more difficult problem to resolve.”

At this point, Artie and Aaron’s dad paused. The boys were holding their breath. What was the decision? They knew that Brett, Sean, and Dean’s parents were adamant that they would not get any pants to wear for quite some time. Would the others have to suffer because of this? (Mark, Carlos, and Ken were actually hoping for this outcome.)

“Yes, it was quite a problem. You see, all of us want your punishments to be as public as possible and what better way to accomplish that than by having your diapers exposed twenty-four hours a day? On the other hand, eleven boys wearing only diapers to school could be a big distraction to the other children. We asked for Mrs. Saddler’s advice and we have accepted her recommendation. First of all, you will all wear overalls to school… (Brett, Dean, and Sean cheered, even though they knew that the overalls they would wear would be really juvenile looking.) … Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, you will go to school in just your diapers.”

“No way!” John (who was the shyest among them about wearing diapers publicly) protested.

“John, you didn’t just say ‘no’ did you?”

John began backpedaling immediately. He knew that every time he said ‘no’ another period of diaper wearing was added to his punishment.

“I... I… but it’s not fair!”

“Think of it this way,” his dad explained. “Right now, Brett, Dean, and Sean have to go without pants every day. Now, they will only have to go to school one day a week in just their diapers. Don’t you want to help them? To share their burden?”

John knew he couldn’t win. “OK, I guess it’s alright.”

The other boys also agreed, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Not surprisingly, Brett, Sean, and Dean were the most relieved.

“Thanks guys,” Sean said in appreciation.

“Yeah, thanks,” Dean and Brett agreed.

“I’m glad you boys are getting along,” Brett’s mom added, “since you’re going to be together every afternoon after school, too.”

All the boys cheered and high-fived each other over this last bit of news.

****

The new routine began the next morning. Everyone showed up in school wearing overalls—yellow, red or green ones. Much to Mrs. Saddler’s delight Brett, Sean, and Dean went out of their way to thank her for suggesting that they be allowed to wear pants again. Mrs. Saddler also felt relieved that she had gotten the “visible” diapers out or her school for at least four days a week. Frankly, she was still surprised that Brett, Dean, and Sean’s parents agreed to it. Whatever. She could handle “visible” diapers one day a week.

Despite their reprieve, Brett, Sean, and Dean found the first few days difficult. They weren’t used to adults other than their parents or Mrs. Sanchez (whom they considered to be a ‘professional,’ like a doctor) changing them. Being seen and touched from the waist down was profoundly embarrassing to them, especially when they reacted with uncontrollable erections.

****

Inevitably, Friday came. The boys dreaded going to school in just their diapers. The fact that they all would share in the experience didn’t help to lower the anxiety level. Even Mark, Ken, and Carlos who loved being seen in diapers were a little apprehensive, At the other end of the spectrum, John, Darren, and Camp were positively terrified. Typically, they went too far in pleading their case not to go to school in diapers and wound up being punished more severely.

Mrs. Saddler was very apprehensive about the day, too. There undoubtedly would be ‘incidents’ that would result from the boys’ diaper exposure. The teachers would surely place a lot of the blame on her for the extra work it would take to keep their classrooms orderly. She had tried to divert some of this frustration by sending out a memo inviting the teachers to immediately send troublemakers to her office before they could cause too much disruption. Nonetheless, even before she left for school she had a throbbing headache.

The boys’ parents had decided that they would be dropped off at school in a group. They assembled at Sean’s house (whose mother was on ‘diaper duty’). From there his mom and Brett’s mom would drive them to school in their SUVs. They certainly were an eye-catching bunch of kids. They were all double-diapered in thick night diapers and they all wore very short t-shirts. The biggest variations in their dress could be seen in their plastic pants.

Artie, Aaron, Brett, Sean, and Dean considered themselves lucky to be wearing ‘normal’ semi-transparent white plastic pants. John, Darren, Mark, Carlos, and Ken had been put into baby-print plastic pants. John and Darren were beside themselves with anger and frustration. Their red-rimmed eyes said it all. Mark, Carlos, and Ken tried to comfort them but without success. By far, Camp was in the worst position. He had whined and fought his parents all last night. This morning, he got the answer to his behavior. He was once again wearing the much-hated fire engine red plastic pants and snap-shoulder baby shirt that he had been forced into the first day he wore diapers. His red eyes and his reluctance to sit down said a lot about the bare-bottom spanking he had received just before being diapered this morning.

A riot didn’t break out as the boys arrived but word spread quickly and the other children came running across the schoolyard to get a better look. Camp quickly became the center of attention. A few weeks ago, he had been the recipient of a great deal of sympathy when his pants had been stolen and he had had to attend school in just his diapers. Today, none of that sympathy was present. There were enough teachers present so that it didn’t become physical but he was the target of very severe mocking. In just a few minutes, he was paid back for all the suffering and anguish he had caused to other children during his bullying days. His eyes stung and he barely help back tears. Mercifully, the bell rang and the children went off to their classrooms.

Not surprisingly, the first trouble came out of Camp’s classroom. OJ (short for Oliver James) had disliked Camp from the first grade onward. Camp had repeatedly ridiculed him during the first and second grades for a series of wetting accidents that he had had. Ever since Camp’s diaper punishment had begun he had taken every opportunity to make Camp feel embarrassed. These prior attacks had been more or less private and subtle. Today, he felt emboldened to show aggression publicly.

As they filed into the building, he positioned himself right behind Camp.

“So,” he said in a loud voice, “how long did it take you to convince your mommy and daddy to let you wear your red ‘fire engine’ pants to school?”

He punctuated this remark with the sound of a fire engine siren. Several boys and girls began laughing. Camp refrained from answering. The sting of his latest spanking was too strong for him to risk another one.

“Do you want to be a fireman when you grow up?”

No answer.

“You’d be perfect. All you’d have to do is throw your wet diapers at the fire and, fzzzzzzt,” he said making a sizzling sound, “the fire would be out. I bet you could even put the diapers back on, all warm and cozy.”

The laughter spread to more children. Camp walked along, his head bent, seemingly unfazed by the comments and jeers. OJ, on the other hand, was getting angry; he wanted Camp to react. He would keep pushing until Camp couldn’t take it anymore.

“Hey, I’m talking to you, pee-pee baby,” he said loudly, using the name Camp had called him back in the first and second grades.

Camp still didn’t answer or react. OJ reached out to grab Camp by the shoulder to stop him from getting away. Just as he did this, Camp stepped into a small puddle of water on the tile floor. He lost his footing and fell squarely on his bottom, a sharp jolt of pain running up his spine. This was the final straw. Tears of frustration silently ran down his cheeks. He sat there hoping that everybody would go away and leave him alone. OJ was as surprised as anyone else that he had caused Camp to fall. He was just about to point out to everyone that Camp was crying when a teacher came out of a nearby classroom.

“What’s going on here?” she demanded.

The other kids smelled trouble and began scattering. Camp still didn’t move; OJ stood over him, a guilty look on his face.

“He fell,” OJ said.

“He didn’t have anybody’s help?” she asked suspiciously.

“I don’t know,” he answered.

“Yes, you do,” a girl answered. “You knocked him down. I saw you do it.”

“Is this true, Beth?” the teacher asked.

“Yes, ma’am. He was making fun of Camp for a couple of minutes and then he reached out and knocked him down. Camp didn’t do anything.”

“In that case, you’re coming with me,” the teacher said to OJ. “And, you, Beth, would you take Camp to the nurse’s station to make sure that he’s OK?”

Camp couldn’t have felt more humiliated. Here he was sitting on the floor crying, and he was being ‘saved’ by a girl (although he did experience a warm feeling when she smiled at him).

OJ, on the other hand, felt exhilarated. The story would spread like wildfire. Everybody who had ever been picked on by Camp would congratulate him. This might even make them forget about his pants wetting in the first and second grades.

Despite her irritation that she had another behavior problem to deal with, Mrs. Saddler saw the advantage that this incident gave her. If she responded forcefully, the other children would hear about it and that would make them think twice before picking on any of the other boys.

“OJ,” she said after hearing the story, “attacking another student is a very serious offense. I’ll have to call your parents to have one of them pick you up. Who do you want me to call, your mother or your father?”

“My mother,” OJ said smugly.

This was even better than he thought. His mom would pick him up and bring him home. She would lecture him and then he would get a day off from school. Cool!

“Your mother says that she can’t pick you up. She’s in a meeting with clients. I’m calling you dad next.”

This wasn’t as good. His dad would get really steamed about having to leave work to pick him up. Still, it wouldn’t be so bad. He would get a free day, anyway.

He was right about his father being steamed; he was wrong about the free day.

“Mrs. Saddler, I agree 100% that severe discipline is called for. I would just like you to reconsider sending him home for the day. If I know my son, he’s sitting in your waiting room planning the other mischief he’s going to get into today. He’ll learn nothing from this experience. Give me an hour to deal with him and I guarantee that his behavior will be sterling for the rest of the year.”

“Alright,” she said skeptically, “when you feel he’s ready to be completely cooperative you may return here, to my office. I can’t guarantee that I’ll let him return to class, though.”

“That’s fair enough, Mrs. Saddler. Thank you.”

OJ and his dad left. They drove past the intersection where they should have turned to go home. This was bad—it looked like they were heading for his dad’s office. Spending the whole day there would really be boring. But, they didn’t turn into his dad building, either. OJ was getting seriously worried. Was his dad taking him to his grandparents so they could ‘baby sit’ him? Bummer. But, that wasn’t it either. They drove to a strip mall and parked.

“Come inside with me,” his dad said.

They walked in and approached the counter where a woman was sitting.

“Over here,” he dad ordered as OJ starting roaming around the store.

When his dad was in one of these moods it was better to do what he said right away. He stood next to his dad who put his arm around him and held him by the shoulder. OJ was uncomfortable but he was afraid to say anything.

“I understand that you make and sell diapers and plastic pants for teens who need them. My son, here, needs them.”

OJ stiffened under his dad’s grasp. This couldn’t really be happening… his dad was just trying to scare him.

“I see,” the lady responded. “Does he have daytime or nighttime needs? Or both?”

“Both.”

“Since you’ve chosen to come here, I assume that you know that I only sell cloth diapers, not disposables.”

“Yes, I know that,” he confirmed.

Geez, dad is really pouring it on, OJ thought.

“Is his condition short or long term?”

“Long term, at least two years.”

She then showed OJ and his dad several grades of diapers and the advantages and disadvantages of each. In the end, OJ’s dad selected the thickest and most durable.

“How many do you think he’ll need?” OJ’s dad asked. “My wife and I are new at this,” he said by way of explanation.

“Eventually, you’ll want three to four dozen daytime diapers and one and-a-half to two dozen nighttime diapers. It would be wise for him to keep a supply in school and anywhere else he might be spending a lengthy period of time. Of course, he’ll also need a diaper bag.”

OJ was beginning to think that all this was laughable, only he didn’t want to show it and irritate his dad further. His dad must have arranged all of this with the lady ahead of time. They couldn’t possibly be serious.

“For starters, though, I can only supply a dozen daytime diapers and eight nighttime diapers. It will take another five days to deliver the rest.”

“Fine. We’ll take what you have available. Now, how about plastic pants?”

“I have those in several styles. What would you like him to wear? (Ken’s mom was the ‘lady’ in the store. She was beginning to sense that this boy was about to be ‘put’ into diapers, and not for medical reasons.)

“Let me see what you’ve got.”

She showed him a whole array of styles—pull-ups, snap-ons, plain white, baby print, and solid colors.

“How many of these do you think we’ll need?”

“A dozen and-a-half daytime pants should be ample, and ten to twelve for nighttime use.”

OJ’s dad selected a variety of colors and patterns, all in the pull-up style.

“When he was a baby he was a very heavy wetter and his snap-on pants used to leak all the time. We don’t want to start that again,” he said with a chuckle.

As far as OJ was concerned, this had gone far enough. Talking to this lady about his baby diapers was too much. He decided that it was time for him to apologize for what he had done in school.

“Dad, I’m sorry that I made fun of Camp and pushed him down. I wouldn’t ever do anything like that again.”

“Of course you won’t. I know that,” his dad responded. “Now, let’s get you changed. You’ve got to get back to school.”

OJ was dumbfounded. He was beginning to understand that his dad was completely serious.

“No!” he yelled. “You’ll never make me wear these things… Please, noooo,” he begged.

His dad held him firmly and marched him to a back room. OJ became more terrified.

“Mom will never let you get away with this!”

“She already knows. Do you think that we live under a rock? We know all about the boys in your school who wear diapers and why they’re wearing them. Mom and I have already discussed this method of discipline. We think it’s a very good idea. And I think this lady does, too. She’s Ken’s mom.”

OJ’s dad introduced himself. “I’m sorry that I didn’t introduce myself right away but I felt that I needed to explain the whole situation to my son first before you and I talked about diaper discipline.”

“That’s quite alright. I understand.”

The seriousness of OJ’s situation was finally sinking in. OJ spent the next few minutes trying to negotiate with his dad and, when that failed, pleading and crying. In the end, his dad lost patience and gave him an ultimatum.

“Enough! Do you want this the easy way or the hard way?”

OJ wasn’t sure what the ‘hard way’ meant so he decided not to chance it. He meekly submitted, although he couldn’t completely hold back the tears. Minutes later he was dressed identically to Camp, except that his plastic pants were bright orange.

The next crisis came when it was time to load the car. OJ begged his dad to drive the car up to the front door of the store but his dad was implacable.

“You’re going to be dressed like this for a long time. You might as well get used to being out in public.”

OJ’s eyes were so full of tears that he could barely see his way to the car. He was relieved when his dad drove him home. His respite was very brief, though. They had gone home only to unload OJ’s extra diapers and plastic pants. As soon as they had prepared a diaper bag for him, they headed back to school.

“But he’s wearing diapers, too!” Mrs. Saddler said in dismay as she looked at OJ.

“Yes, he is. The new school board policy didn’t say anything about limiting the number of boys who could be sent to school in diapers. Today is Friday, he’s dressed like the others.”

Mrs. Saddler had no choice but to admit that OJ’s dad was correct. Her headache jumped up another notch.

“I would like to have the other boy brought here so that OJ can apologize to him,” OJ’s dad requested.

Camp was ecstatic to see OJ in diapers, especially since he himself had been changed out of his hideous red ones and now wore plain milky-white plastic pants. He accepted OJ’s apology and they were made to shake hands and go back to class. OJ could have died from shame as he walked with Camp towards their classroom.

Camp got the last laugh that day. As they walked into the stunned silence of the classroom he remarked, “OJ’s ‘orange juice’ pants are perfect, don’t you all think?”

****

In the next few weeks, discussions among parents about diaper discipline became ever more common. All over town, they were debating the pros and cons. It took a while for the boys to accurately assess the dangers of the situation. At first, they mocked the boys who got put back into diapers. They felt secure in the knowledge that they themselves would never misbehave to the point of deserving such treatment. The general view was that only somebody really dense could miss the warning signs and go so far beyond acceptable behavior as to deserve diaper punishment. That perception changed one fateful Saturday.

Thirteen-year-old Henry and his eleven-year-old brother, Ben, hadn’t gotten along very well in several years; in fact, they argued constantly. Their mother had punished them with time outs and all manner of sanctions without result. A few days earlier, she had issued an ultimatum: stop or be put back into diapers. She was very pleased that she had not heard a single cross word between them since. If only I had thought of this sooner, she said to herself.

Saturday, after she had finished the marketing, she decided to go online to check her email. She turned on the computer and waited for it to boot up. As soon as she touched the keys, she knew that something was wrong. The ‘t’ and the ‘y’ were broken. They had been in working order last night. She called the boys into the house to find out what had happened.

“I’m very disappointed that one of you damaged the computer and didn’t have the courtesy to inform me about it. Obviously, someone is going to be punished but it will go a lot easier if you ’fess up right now.”

She waited a few seconds but got nothing but blank stares.

“I’m very sorry that I have to do this to both of you; go to your room and discuss this situation. The longer it takes for one of you to confess, the more severe the punishment will be.”

The boys went up to their room and she waited. One half-hour later she was fuming. What was taking so long? She went upstairs and stood by their door.

“You should take the blame;” Henry was saying to his brother, “you’re the one who wouldn’t let go it.”

“Me?” Ben objected, “I had it first. You tried to butt in on my game.”

“You were on it long enough. I had every right to take it away from you.”

“You did not! I’m telling mom what happened.”

“Go ahead,” Henry challenged. “Then I’ll tell her that you were playing Internet games when you weren’t supposed to.”

“Oh, yeah?” Ben retorted, “Then I’ll tell her that you were out drinking at High Field Park last night, and not at the movies like you said.”

Their mother had heard enough. She burst into the room. The boys took one look at her and knew that they were in big trouble.

“Both of you… into the car. Now!” she ordered.

There was no doubt in their minds as to where they were going or what was waiting for them when they got there. They tried negotiation, promises, even begging, but nothing moved her.

Their mom was pleased to find out from the storeowner, Mrs. Howard, that discounts were available.

“With so much interest in diapering lately, I thought that it would be easier for novice parents if I offered package-plans to choose from. Also, the savings will be considerable, about 15%,” Mrs. Howard explained.

“I think you’ve come upon an excellent idea,” the boys’ mother replied as she read the brochure detailing the items included in each package. “I think package #3, Long-term, will do.”

“How long is long-term?” Henry nervously asked.

“Longer that you need to think about right now,” she replied.

“I’ll get their diapers from the storeroom in a moment. First, you might want to select their plastic pants,” Mrs. Howard said as she led the boys’ mother down a side aisle.

“I can choose from any of these styles?”

“That’s correct.”

“Hmmm…, considering that the boys have been hiding things from me and lying, I think that I had better take a large supply of these completely clear plastic pants. It will be so much easier to just glance at them and know that they need a change than having to ask them,” she said with a mischievous glint in her eye.

The boys were told to go to the back room where they would be immediately diapered. They stripped down to their boxers.

“Take those off,” his mother said to Ben, “and lie down on the table.”

Ben managed to keep himself under control as his mother cleaned his diaper area. When the thick diaper was slipped under him he began to whimper. By the time his mother was pinning it up, he was crying loudly, begging for her to stop. A sharp slap to his thigh calmed him a little bit but he couldn’t completely stifle his sobs. Henry, who was standing behind his mother, was also losing it. He resolved that he would never allow himself to be put into diapers. He thought of his grandparents who lived only a few blocks away. He slowly began backing up toward the table where his and his bother’s clothes were laying. His plan was to grab his shirt and pants and run out the door that led to the back alley. He had almost reached the table when his mother saw what he was trying to do. They both grabbed his clothes at the same time. He tried yanking them out of her grasp but he couldn’t. He panicked and ran out the door wering nothing but his shoes, socks, and red-checked boxers.

“Now where does he think he’s going dressed like that?” his mom asked Mrs. Howard. (The question was motivated more by amusement than anger.)

“I’ll finish taking care of your younger son if you’d like to go after him,” Mrs. Howard volunteered. “He really can’t go very far. The alley opens up to very busy streets in either direction.”

Henry figured out his mistake in about two seconds after running through the door. He stood in the middle of the alley looking every which way for an escape route. There wasn’t one. His mother was sure to come after him… or would she leave him out here until he came crawling back? He needed time to think; he retreated behind a dumpster. He heard a door open and close.

“Henry!” his mother called. “Get back here this instant.”

He was too scared to move.

“Henry, I know you haven’t gone anywhere.”

He heard her coming closer. Should he bolt up the alley and try to get away? What would happen once he got to the street? Would someone stop him? Would they call the police? The thought of getting arrested in his underwear sent a shiver of fear through him. He stepped out into the middle of the alley, a few feet away from his mother.

“Give me your hand,” she ordered, leading him back to the store as if he were a toddler who had been naughty and run away. His face burned with shame when a stock boy from another store came out to throw something away. He snickered loudly, presumably because he knew where Henry had come from and where he was going.

Ben was sitting on the couch next to the changing table. He was dressed in clear plastic pants. He was wiping his eyes with a wad of tissues.

“I didn’t know how you wanted to finish dressing him so I left him in just his diapers and plastic pants,” Mrs. Howard explained.

“Oh, yes, thank you. Perhaps the terrycloth baby t-shirt?”

“I’ll get it for him,” Mrs. Howard answered. Ben began to sob again.

“Now, you,” Henry’s mother pointedly said to him, “take your underpants off and get on the table.”

He was terribly embarrassed as he lay down on his back, his diaper area completely uncovered.

“Roll over,” she ordered.

As soon as he was in position, she firmly held him at the small of the back with her left hand.

“Fight me on this, and you’ll get it twice as bad,” she advised him.

He couldn’t believe it had come to this. His mother had never actually spanked either of them. When they were very small she had occasionally swatted their butts through their pants but never had she administered a bare-bottom spanking. The first swat caught him by surprise. It stung a lot more than he thought it would. In all, she spanked him twenty-five times. He held out pretty well during the first half but by the fifteenth swat he was openly crying—half from pain and half from embarrassment. Ben sat on the couch, his eyes as big as saucers. He was very thankful that he wasn’t the one on the table.

Henry was dressed like his brother—thick diaper, clear plastic pants, and terrycloth t-shirt. The drive home was very quiet. The only sounds the boys made were whimpers and groans in response to the conditions under which they would now live. The worst of it was that there would be little change to their daily routines. They would just be doing everything in their diapers, and only occasionally with pants over them.

“But mom,” Henry objected, “I can’t go to a Boy Scout meeting with diapers under my uniform.”

“Of course not, dear. Whatever made you think that you’d be wearing pants?”

The picture of himself that flashed through his mind made him tremble in fear. How would his scouting friends react to his babyish plastic pants? Maybe the troop leader will kick me out, he thought hopefully.

They arrived home and the boys helped their mom ‘clean out’ their room. Basically, this meant getting rid of their underwear and most of their normal boys’ clothes. A little while after that, she called Ben and Henry downstairs.

“Ben, about your attending Larry’s sleepover tonight …,”

“I know, mom,” he said, “I guess I can’t go.” (Actually, he desperately didn’t want to go.)

“Oh, no, not at all. I’ve spoken to his mother and she’s prepared to change your diapers.”

“What?” he screeched. “But, she can’t do that…”

“Of course she can. She’s changed lots of boys’ diapers.”

“Well, I won’t let her,” he said defiantly.

“You won’t let her?” she asked, arching her eyebrows.

Visions of Henry’s spanking flashed before his eyes.

“I… I… didn’t mean that. It’ll be OK if she does,” Ben conceded.

“Good. I’m glad that that’s settled. I’ll bring you there right after lunch.”

Ben was given permission to watch TV; Henry was asked to stay.

“About your little party last night,” she began, “who were you with and how did you come by alcohol? And, while we’re at it, how did you get up to High Field Park?”

“Mom, please don’t make me tell you. I don’t want to be a squealer.”

“What you did was dangerous and wrong. Especially, if someone was driving after consuming alcohol.”

Henry hesitated.

“Henry, I won’t wait much longer. You’ll give me a complete answer right now or you’ll face dire consequences— exactly like the ones you’ve already faced this morning.”

Henry had no reason to doubt his mom’s threat. He caved in and told her. Including him, five boys had gone up to the park to drink. His friend Matt’s sixteen-year-old brother, Sammy, had driven them.

“But it was only beer, mom. We didn’t drink a lot. It was only to see what it was like. It was just a dare.”

“None of what you just said excuses your behavior. Now, go watch TV with Ben. I’ll call you when lunch is ready.”

“What happened?” Ben asked.

“Mom made me tell her who went to the park last night.”

“What do you think will happen now?”

“I don’t know. They’ll probably kill me… if not for squealing on them, they’ll surely get me for wearing these stupid baby clothes.”

Before preparing a light lunch (she assumed the boys wouldn’t be very hungry), she phoned the parents of the other boys. They were as shocked and appalled at their sons’ behavior as she had been. She explained everything she had done about it. In an unexpected show of solidarity, they agreed to follow her example. After a few back-and-forth phone calls, a little ‘treat’ was prepared for the boys.

Henry wasn’t to be trusted staying home alone so his mom made him go with her to drop Ben off at Larry’s house. Ben spent the entire trip begging to stay home this weekend.

On the way home she stopped at a gift shop called Bear All.

“Can’t we go home?” Henry asked when his mother ordered him out of the car.

“Of course not,” she answered. “You have to help me pick out a surprise for Ben.”

Henry glumly got out of the car and tried to use his mother as a shield between himself and other shoppers. He prayed that this wouldn’t take too long. He really had to use a bathroom soon. The storeowner spotted them as soon as they walked in the door. For several months, she had heard the rumors about boys being put back into diapers but this was the first time she had seen living proof of it. She finished up with another customer before walking over to them.

“May I help you?” the owner of the shop enquired.

Henry hadn’t heard her approach from behind and he jumped to the other side of his mother.

“Your boy seems awfully shy,” she observed.

“Yes,” Henry’s mother agreed. “He’s got a long way to go before being socialized.”

“I see that you’re looking at our teddy bear collection. Do you or your little boy have any questions?”

His mother asked a load of questions about the bears. Were they washable? How childproof were they? Which ones were the most popular? Were exchanges allowed? Henry started becoming desperate. His bladder was on the verge of exploding. He began fidgeting more and more.

“Is your little boy alright?” the storekeeper asked.

“Oh, he has never liked shopping. He does this all the time to try to make me go faster. Pay no attention to him.”

Henry couldn’t stand it anymore. He whispered to his mother what the problem was.

“Is that all?” she said with a laugh. “For heaven’s sake, stop that fidgeting. Here, sit on the floor in the corner and be patient.”

He held back for only about a minute. All of a sudden, he felt the warm torrent begin. He looked down at his diaper and saw the yellow spot grow bigger and bigger. Soon, he felt the warm liquid pooling inside his plastic pants. He felt like crying. Finally, his mother made her selections and was ready to go.

“Come along, Henry. Here, take your new teddy bear to the counter.”

He numbly accepted the gift and stood up. The heaviness of his wet diaper surprised him. What if his diaper fell off? He whispered his concern into his mother’s ear.

“Don’t be silly,” she said loudly. “Your diaper is pinned on very tightly. It won’t fall off just because of a little wetness.”

Defeated, he followed his mom to the front counter to pay for the teddy bears.

“Would you like to look at any of the accessories?” the owner asked.

“Accessories?” his mother responded with interest.

“Yes, the manufacturers have become more sensitive to children with special needs. We sell little slings for broken teddy bear arms and even casts and crutches. Perhaps you’re interested in the diaper and plastic pants?”

“Oh, aren’t they darling,” his mom gushed. “We simply have to take a set for each bear. Don’t we, Henry? Which one do you want for your bear?”

Why was his mother doing this to him? She must know that he wanted to get out of the store as quickly as possible. He didn’t care which diapers and plastic pants his mother wanted to buy for his bear.

“I asked you a question,” she said menacingly.

“Those,” he said barely looking at the items laid out on the counter.

“Choose carefully,” she warned. “I don’t want you whining that you really wanted something else once we get home. Look at them again to make sure.”

Henry sensed that his mother was deliberately doing this to embarrass him. Nonetheless, he didn’t want to anger her. He looked more carefully and hesitated. Why couldn’t any of them be plain white? He noticed a pair of plastic pants with blue stars. He decided on these.

“See, I knew you hadn’t looked carefully. Now… which do you think Ben might like.”

Henry sighed in frustration and looked at the samples again. He picked a pair with red, blue, and yellow balloons on them.

“I think you’re right. Ben will like those.”

She paid for the purchases and Henry was very relieved to get out of there. But they didn’t make it to the car unobserved. Mrs. Lamburr and her two sons aged (10 and 12) who lived across the street were also walking back to their car. The two boys spotted Henry first. They doubled over in mocking laughter and loudly pointed to him. Much to his shame, Henry began crying when they noticed that he had heavily wet his diaper. Mrs. Lamburr became quite upset with her boys, particularly when the ignored her instructions to stop their antics. She quickly apologized to Henry and her mom and continued to ineffectually scold her unrepentant sons all the back to their car. (Two days later they would be diapered, too.)

Back at the house, Henry’s mom was tender with him. She cleaned him up and changed him with extreme gentleness. Henry actually felt grateful when his mom pulled a milky-white pair of plastic pants over his fresh diaper. He was less happy about the new rules that she laid down. She informed him that he was to keep his teddy bear with him at all times. He was to treat the bear like a real friend. He was never to abandon him or carry him around carelessly. Naturally, he would also sleep with him.

“But why do I have to do this?” Henry whined.

“Because you and Ben have never learned to care for each other. All you ever do at home is fight and try to take advantage of each other. I hope that taking care of your bear will teach you things about getting along better with people, especially your brother. I suggest you be very careful with your bear. If you ignore him or mistreat him you will be punished. Obviously, I will explain all these rules to Ben, too. Now, let’s get your bear nice and cozy in his new diaper and plastic pants.”

Henry learned very quickly that his mother had very strict ideas about how he was going to ‘take care’ of his teddy bear. His mom gave him permission to watch TV or go outside (Yeah right! he thought.) He went into the den and, mindful of his mother’s instructions, set his bear down carefully next to him.

“Oh, no, Henry,” his mother gently admonished him, “you must always hold your teddy bear. See,” she said positioning him on his lap, “that’s much better. Now your bear knows that you love him.”

Henry rolled his eyes but didn’t object. He soon got bored with TV and went up to his room. He closed the door and pitched the teddy bear against the far wall. It thunked loudly as it came into contact with the wall and then the floor.

“Did you fall down?” his mother said, approaching his room.

Henry quickly ran across the room and scooped up the bear. He innocently sat on the floor cuddling his teddy bear when his mom walked in.

“When you’re in your room, you will leave the door open at all times,” she said.

Henry sat hugging his bear for quite some time. He was trying to figure out how to get out of this mess. He even talked to the bear, asking for his opinion. I really am going nuts, he thought. He suddenly felt tired and drifted off to sleep right there on the floor. When he awoke he again felt the insistent pressure of his bladder. Before he knew it, he was wetting himself. He hugged his bear more tightly and somehow felt comforted.

“I see that my little boy has woken up… and just in time, too. Your overnight guest will be here soon.”

“Guest?” he said fearfully. “Who? Who’s coming for a visit?”

“Just a friend,” she answered casually.

“A friend! Who?”

“My goodness,” she teased, “you’re beginning to sound like an owl. This morning, when I spoke to Matt, Hector, and Kevlin’s parents (the boys he had drunk beer with in the park), they all agreed that we had to meet and discuss your recent behavior.”

Henry was in a near panic. He didn’t want his friends to see him in diapers, not to mention carrying around a teddy bear.

“I don’t have to go downstairs, do I? Can’t you guys discuss without me?”

“Of course not,” she said dismissing his plea. “We’ll be discussing your future; you have to be there… Now, let’s get your diaper changed before they arrive.”

Much to his embarrassment, she again put him into clear plastic pants. The slightest wetting would show. Equally bad, his mother wouldn’t let him leave his teddy bear in his room. They were halfway down the stairs when the doorbell rang. His mom sensed his hesitation and warned him to not even think about running back to his room. He wondered how it was possible for his legs to feel so heavy and his head so light.

His mom allowed him to run into the den. He heard her greet Matt’s parents. What’s Matt going to think? He’s my best friend. Henry was sure that the next few moments would be the worst of his life.

“Where’s Matt?” his mom asked.

“Oh, he’s out in the car pouting. I said that we would give him five minutes to get over it and to come in here. He’s been warned what will happen if I have to go get him,” his dad answered.

“That’s a shame,” Henry’s mom retorted. “Henry, come here.”

Henry froze. He didn’t want his best friend’s parents to see him in diapers either.

“Henry, I’m waiting,” she said menacingly.

Henry unfroze and scurried out to the entrance hall. Matt’s parents greeted him without acknowledging that he was in diapers and carrying a teddy bear.

“Matt doesn’t want to come in. I think you need to tell him it’s OK.”

Henry froze again. What if the neighbors saw him? He especially didn’t want the Lamburr kids laughing at him again.

“Tell him to bring in all his things,” Matt’s mom added.

A semi-gentle shove on the backside pushed him out the door. Matt sat in the back of his dad’s car. An intensely shocked look crossed his face when he saw Henry walk out onto the porch. Giving up further attempts at hiding, Henry walked over to the car. Matt let out a nervous laugh as his friend approached. Here it comes, Henry thought sadly. Matt opened the car door and stepped out. Henry couldn’t have been more surprised if he had been hit with a snowball in August. Matt was wearing a diaper and clear plastic pants, too. For the first time since each had left Mrs. Howard’s shop, they smiled.

“I guess we’re in it together, huh?” Matt said.

“Yeah, I guess,” Henry agreed.

Henry was even more pleased when he noticed that Matt’s ‘stuff’ included everything he would need to spend an overnight and that he had a diapered teddy bear of his own.

Hector and Kevlin (and their parents) arrived soon thereafter. To Henry and Matt’s relief, Hector and Kevlin were in diapers and carrying teddy bears, too. Kevlin had the further indignity of having a pacifier stuck in his mouth.

“Kevlin said some things that no boy should ever say to his parents,” his dad explained. “Unless he’s spoken to directly, he’ll keep the pacifier right where it is.”

The meeting didn’t last very long. Their parents had already informed them how things were going to be handled. The real purpose for coming together was for them to see that they were being treated equally. It was all over in twenty minutes.

“Kevlin really looked miserable, didn’t he?” Matt asked after they had left.

“Yeah. I hope my mom didn’t get any ideas when she saw the pacifier in his mouth,” Henry answered with a shiver. Matt seconded him on that.

They were almost back to their old selves again. Their embarrassment about seeing each other in diapers didn’t last long. There was no point to it. But, when their other friends found out…

“Did your parents take Sammy’s license away?” Henry wondered.

“Oh yeah! He’s going to be riding a bicycle for a long time.”

“How long is he grounded for?”

“He isn’t grounded,” Matt said with a smirk. “He wishes he was, though.”

Henry wondered what that meant. Suddenly, the light dawned. “No…! Your parents didn’t…! He’s a sophomore in high school!”

Matt slowly nodded his head up and down, a slight smile playing on his lips. “The whole nine yards, including the clear plastic pants. His underwear and pants are history, just like us.”

Henry couldn’t believe it.

“And that’s not all,” Matt continued. “Do you know Walter Chen, Milton Radford, Dwayne Simpson, and Tim Blandin? (Henry did.) Well, my mom and dad made Sammy confess about the other times he went drinking in the park. Those guys all went with him at least two or three times. My parents called their parents and they’ve all been diapered, too.”

Henry was blown away. Five high school guys forced into diapers! Who could believe it? He made Matt swear three times that it was true. Even then he had his doubts.

“How do you know it’s true?” Henry insisted.

“Because I saw them. Before coming here, there was a meeting at Milton’s house exactly like the one we just had. They were all wearing diapers.”

Henry was convinced. He began giggling and Matt joined in. Henry’s mom thought it was cute that they were having so much fun.

“Boys. Dinner time,” Henry’s mother called. The boys came racing downstairs. “Let’s put your teddy bears on the couch while we’re gone,” she directed.

“Gone? Gone where?” Henry croaked.

“I thought that we’d get pizza tonight. Come on, let’s get going before the big crowds get there.”

Henry and Matt looked at each other and gulped.

“Well?” Henry’s mother added in an impatient tone.

Two very nervous boys got into the car—everybody was about to discover their shameful punishment. The pizza place had its usual Saturday evening crowd of families. Henry and Matt drew little comfort from the fact that they were not the first boys to be paraded through the restaurant in diapers. (At Christmas, their friends Kevin, Kyle and Bill had been the first.) They could feel every eye on them. They were surprised that the few kids who made snide comments were quickly silenced and sternly scolded by their parents.

As they were leaving, they ran into Matt’s older brother and his four friends going into the restaurant. Henry’s mouth fell open when he noticed that each had his teddy bear with him. Suddenly, the whole restaurant experience didn’t seem so bad.

****

During the next few weeks, diaper wearers from every social and economic background began appearing at an ever-increasing rate. It was as if a critical mass had been reached. Parents were using diapers in the same way they had once used groundings or time outs. The scariest part for the boys in town was that the punishments were being imposed for smaller and smaller offenses. (One story going around said that two brothers had been put into diapers for a year because they had not loaded the dishwasher in the way their mother had repeatedly asked them to.) Within a month, over 150 boys found themselves permanently in diapers.

Not all boys in town saw diapers as a terrible punishment. There were three small, but noteworthy, groups who welcomed diapers to varying degrees.

The first group consisted mainly of those first and second graders who found it difficult to keep their pants and underpants dry, especially when they were concentrating on something. Two such boys were in second grade at Harris Academy. One day during recess, they saw Kyle Kadra go by on his way to a diaper change in the nurse’s office.

“I think Kyle is real lucky,” he first boy said. “He doesn’t have to worry about wetting his pants.

“Yeah,” the second boy said dreamily.

The first boy wondered if he should tell his secret to his friend. “Sometimes I wish I could wear diapers again, but not baby diapers,” he added hastily. “I’d want big boy diapers like him and his brother wear.”

His friend understood exactly what he meant. A couple of times, their parents had sent them to school wearing disposables under their uniform because they had wet their pants at least two days in a row. The crinkling of the diaper had given them away and their classmates had teased them pitilessly.

“Yeah, me too,” the second boy agreed.

“Really?” the first boy asked with rising enthusiasm.

Catching the spirit of the conversation the second boy smiled. “Yeah, I hate having to stop playing to go to the bathroom.”

“Let’s ask if we can wear big boy diapers, too. OK?”

The second boy agreed.

At first, their parents flatly refused. After a couple of weeks of begging and a few more wetting ‘accidents’ (that their parents suspected weren’t really accidents), they broke down and agreed.

“Now, you understand that this is permanent, don’t you?” their parents repeated for the umpteenth time. “Starting today, you’ll wear diapers all the time.”

The boys were quite excited to go to the store together. They were a little less excited to walk out of the store in just their diapers. And, when they got home, they were downright scared to go outside and play with their friends. They really shouldn’t have worried about it. So many older boys had already been put back into diapers that their friends merely assumed that they were being punished, too.

The second group consisted of the bed wetters. Even with the most supportive parents, these boys felt trapped by their secret. They all went to extravagant lengths to keep anyone (even their best friends) from finding out. Rony Harringer’s case was typical.

He was thirteen and still woke up wet two or three times each week. He felt isolated from his peers, especially since he was very sociable and would liked to have gone on overnight trips with them. Because he always declined, they had stopped inviting him. Two weeks ago, his best friend Aron had been put back into diapers. (He and his brother were the subjects of the infamous ‘dishwasher’ story. In fact, they were being punished for trying to shoplift adult magazines from the neighborhood newsstand.) Rony thought a long time before talking to his parents.

“Rony, honey,” his mother said in response to his request, “are you sure you want your friends to think that we’re punishing you? Wouldn’t it be better to just tell them that you have a problem?”

“No, mom, not that, please. I’ll outgrow it soon, I hope. I don’t want them ever to know.”

“If that’s what you want, son, then let’s do it now,” his dad said.

Before Rony could agree, his dad grabbed him by the upper arm and led him out of the house. He opened the passenger door of his car and ‘forced’ Rony in.

“Your mother and I will not put up with that attitude for one more minute,” his dad said loudly as he slammed the passenger door.

They drove away immediately. As soon as they had turned the corner, his dad asked, “Do you think that that was convincing enough? I’m sure that I saw Mrs. Murtes in her kitchen. I bet everyone hears the story before we get back from buying your diapers.”

“Thanks, dad. You’re the best.” Rony laughed.

Just for good measure, when the returned home Mr. Harringer loudly ordered Rony to stay outside for the rest of the afternoon so that ‘all your friends get to see you.’ The plan worked. When Rony went to Aron’s house to find out if they could spend time together, Aron already knew about his diaper ‘punishment.’

The last group consisted of those boys who wanted to be put back into diapers, either because they were diaper lovers or teen babies. For the most part, they took the simplest course. They misbehaved and goaded their parents until they had no choice but to ‘punish’ them. Only one boy, Frank Barberger, actually told his parents the truth that he was a teen baby. Naturally, they were very surprised but they came to accept it in time, even to the point of buying him baby clothes and toys to enjoy at home.

****

By the time the school year ended no one knew the exact number of boys who were in diapers. Typically, at least 25% of the boys could be counted on to be dressed in diapers.

One afternoon just after summer vacation had started, Kevin, Kyle, and Bill were sitting on the patio behind the Kadra house.

“Just think, all of this diaper business probably started because of us wanting to go skiing in diapers,” Kevin said.

“Yeah,” Bill laughed. “Let’s hope that none of the guys ever put two-and-two together. Some of them might like to rearranged our faces if they thought that they were in diapers because of us.”

“Probably,” Kyle chimed in. “But a lot of them would probably want to thank us, too.”

“How do you figure that?” Kevin asked.

“Well, after the first hundred guys got ‘the punishment’, don’t you think it’s suspicious that guys would still continue to do stuff that they were sure would land them in diapers?”

Now that’s a thought.