TALES OF A FIFTH GRADE DIAPERING

September 8 – September 22

“Come on Kolby,” my twin brother Kregg pulled me toward him. “Don’t do anything stupid.” But I was mad. Taylor and Drake started teasing me as soon as I got to school. I wanted to do something about it. They are the meanest boys in my 5^th grade class at school.

“Hey diaper boy, where’s your pacifier?” yelled Taylor.

“Yeah,” added Drake. “Are they gonna bring your baby bottle to you at recess?”

The thing is, I wasn’t even wearing diapers. My parents have diaper disciplined me and my brothers since I was 8 years old. My sisters have been diaper disciplined, too, but not for a long time. I’m 12 now. Everyone knows about it. Everyone knows that I have to be punished more often than my brothers, Kregg, Kolt, who is 10, and Kourt who is 8. I often have to wear diapers to school, and Taylor and Drake tease me more than anyone else at school because of it.

It was the first day of school. I like school, especially because Kregg and I get to stay together. I go to a very small private school where there are only about 8-10 students in each class. The 5^th grade is the largest class. We have 11 students. Unfortunately they include Taylor and Drake. Drake was hanging upside down on the monkey bars. He has kind of long hair that was hanging down toward the ground. I pulled free of Kregg’s grasp on my arm. He tried to grab me again.

“Come on, Kolby. They aren’t worth it.” But I didn’t hear him. Well, I heard him, but what he said didn’t really go into my brain. If it had I would not have any reason to write this. I went over to the monkey bars. I just wanted to show Drake he can’t pick on me. And he was in a perfect position. “Kolby, NO!” Kregg yelled. But I didn’t want to lose this opportunity. I’m really small for my age. Drake is bigger than me even though he is a year younger. And I am afraid of him. But now I could be the bully. So I went over and I yanked on his hair. A little harder than I meant to. I stood frozen as I watched Drake fall off the monkey bars. He landed in the sand pit and screamed, holding his shoulder. One of the teachers came over and picked him up. I couldn’t move.

“Kolby, come with me,” another teacher, Mrs. Reinhart, took my hand. I still couldn’t move. “Now, Kolby.” I stood with my feet planted. I felt Kregg put his arm around my shoulder.

“You have to go with her, Kolby. I’ll walk in with you.” I felt my feet move, and I realized what was happening. I was in a lot of trouble. I started to cry. Mrs. Reinhart was going to paddle me. She didn’t say so, but she didn’t have to. And a spanking at school meant I would be in trouble at home, too. Tomorrow Taylor and Drake would have a reason to tease me. I could count on it. By suppertime I would be in diapers. Again.

Kregg went to the discipline room with me. He tried really hard to get me out of trouble. “They were teasing him again,” Kregg explained to Mrs. Reinhart. “Kolby felt like he was defending himself.”

“Sit down, boys.” We did. “Kolby, tell me what happened.”

I was sobbing by now. “They … were … calling … me … names. They … asked … where … my … pacifier … was.” I could hardly talk. “I … didn’t … want … to … hurt … him.” This wasn’t completely true. Actually it wasn’t true at all. I was more upset about what was going to happen to me.

Mrs. Reinhart waited while I tried to stop sobbing. After a few minutes she started the lecture I had heard a thousand times before. “Kolby, you have to learn to deal with the teasing. Hurting another boy because he calls you names is not acceptable behavior. Hurting another boy for any reason is not acceptable behavior. You know that. Now you have just given him ammunition. Didn’t you think about what would happen?” This is where I have big problems. Thinking about what will happen. Kregg even tried to warn me this time. Mrs. Reinhart went on and on. Finally she said, “You know I am going to have to paddle you. Kregg, you may leave now.”

“See ya Kolby,” I heard Kregg say. I remember watching an old movie with my dad where some guy was facing the firing squad. I think I felt the same kind of dread he felt. All that was missing was the eerie organ music.

Mrs. Reinhart got up and got the paddle off the hook on the wall. She seemed to be moving in slow motion. She sat back down, pulling the chair away from the table. “Come over here.” I didn’t move. “Don’t resist me, Kolby Kristofer.” I got up and went to where she was sitting. She pulled my jeans down, then my underpants, and she pulled me over her lap. It is a position I am very familiar with. She didn’t wait. After six sharp spanks she stood me up and put my clothes over my stinging butt. I was crying very hard, partly because of the spanking, but mostly because I knew what I was facing when I got home.

“Okay, let’s go to the office.” Mrs. Reinhart took my hand and walked me down the hallway.

I sat down where Mrs. Reinhart told me to. Nurse Jenna was in the outer office talking on the phone. “No, he’ll be all right. It looks like a bruise, but you might want to get it checked out if it swells. If you want to come and get him I can release him for the day, but I really think he can stay. OK, that’s what I’ll do.” By the time she got off the phone Mrs. Reinhart had gone into the inner office and shut the door. Nurse Jenna sat next to me and stroked my head. “Did you get a spanking, little man?” I nodded my head. “You’re lucky. Drake wasn’t hurt badly.” I’m not sure I’d call it luck. I nodded my head again. I don’t know why. “I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other over the next week or two,” Nurse Jenna said quietly. I nodded again. She usually changes my diapers at school and I knew that is what she was talking about. I started to cry harder. She picked me up and hugged me close to her. “It’ll be OK, little man. You’ll get through it just fine.”

I stayed in the office for almost an hour. Mr. Anderson, the principal, came and talked to me. He gave me pretty much the same lecture as Mrs. Reinhart did. “You have to learn to ignore them, Kolby. They shouldn’t call you names, but being called a name is not the worst thing that can happen to you. Was pulling Drake off the monkey bars really worth the consequences you are facing now?” That’s when Kregg’s words sunk in. “They aren’t worth it.”

I went back to class still sniffling. Everyone knew what I had done. I was glad to learn that Drake went home. But I still had Taylor to bother me. He knew that I would be in diapers the next day. Everyone knew that I would be in diapers the next day.

“Only babies pull peoples hair,” Taylor said coming up to my workstation. The sting in my butt kept my foot from going up in his crotch. Kregg is always able to tell what I am thinking about doing. He came over to my workstation.

“Leave him alone, Taylor,” Kregg said.

Taylor just laughed. “Or what, the diaper twins will join forces?” I didn’t see Miss Schumacher, my teacher, standing behind Taylor. I don’t think Taylor saw her either.

“Let’s go, Taylor,” Miss. Schumacher said sternly. I never got spanked by Miss Schumacher before, but I hear it doesn’t feel too good. She told the aide they would be back in a half hour.

By recess time it was raining so we had to stay inside. Kregg and I were playing checkers. I couldn’t stop thinking about what was going to happen when I got home. Tears came in my eyes and I couldn’t stop them from coming out. “Your butt hurt?” Kregg asked.

“A little.”

“You worried about going home?”

I nodded and started sobbing. Kregg couldn’t get me to stop. Finally he went to Miss Schumacher’s desk. “Miss Schumacher, can me and Kolby go see Nurse Jenna to see if she can calm him down?”

“May Kolby and I go, and yes, I think that is a very good idea.” All the teachers know that when I get really upset I get sick, so they are really nice about letting me go see Nurse Jenna. She can usually calm me down. As we walked to Nurse Jenna’s office I started crying harder.

“Nurse Jenna, can you please help Kolby?” Kregg has always been protective of me.

Nurse Jenna looked up from some folders she was looking at. She got up and held her arms out. I ran into them crying about as hard as I have ever cried. “I’ll take care of him Kregg. You go back to class.” After Kregg left she got me a drink of water and pulled me up on her lap. Sometimes it’s nice being small. “Now, you tell me what’s wrong, Kolby Kristofer. Your spanking can’t be hurting enough to make you cry like this.”

I shook my head. “It hardly hurts at all now. I just don’t want to go home.”

“Well, that is a problem. But you don’t really have much choice with that, do you? Let’s talk about what will happen when you go home.”

“I’ll get a spanking,” I said, still sobbing. “And I’ll get diapers. I don’t want diapers again.”

Nurse Jenna waited for a few seconds before she said anything, then she started talking real softly. “I know you don’t like your diaper punishments, Kolby.” This is very true. “But think about what you did. You really could have hurt Drake. Your mom and dad want you to learn to behave more responsibly than that, and the way they teach you not to misbehave is by giving you a spanking and putting diapers on you. That is how you are punished. Just like some children get grounded and others lose privileges. Do you think it would be unfair for you to be punished?”

I had to admit that it wouldn’t be unfair. What I did was wrong. But… “Why don’t they ever get in trouble for teasing me?” I asked. “Why do they get away with calling me names?”

“They aren’t getting away with anything, Kolby. That’s why Miss Schumacher gave Taylor a spanking before recess. He was told to leave you alone or he would be paddled.” Nurse Jenna moved me so my face was looking at her face. “You have to let the adults take care of these things, Kolby. You can’t just take matters into your own hands. You only get yourself in hot water when you do that.”

“Tomorrow they’ll tease me more.” I really was worried about tomorrow.

“If they do the teachers and Mr. Anderson will take care of it. Mr. Anderson talked to Drake’s mother this morning and is going to talk to Taylor’s dad this afternoon. What do you think you should do if they start teasing you tomorrow?” Nurse Jenna was still talking real softly.

I knew the answer, but just shrugged my shoulders. For some reason I didn’t want to admit that I knew the answer. Not even to Nurse Jenna. If I said it out loud I would have to do it and I didn’t know if I could. It just makes me so mad when they tease me and call me names. Nurse Jenna waited for me to answer. I didn’t say anything.

“I know you know what you have to do Kolby.” She was still talking real softly. I still didn’t say anything. It was like my mouth was stuck. I couldn’t look at Nurse Jenna anymore. I looked down and started to cry again. She put my head on her shoulder and rubbed my back. “You have to walk away from them,” she answered her own question.

“I know,” I said, “but I don’t know if I can.” And then I thought to myself, especially tomorrow when I’m wearing diapers. Somehow it didn’t seem like it would work that well.

Nurse Jenna sat me up and put her hand on my chin. You can do it Kolby. You can do it. If you have to ask Kregg to help you that’s okay. But you can do it.”

I still wasn’t very happy, but I finally calmed down enough to go back to class. It was almost lunchtime. The morning had been so long. While we were eating lunch Kregg told me we were going to the computer lab in the afternoon. He told me what they did while I was with Nurse Jenna. We talked about everything but what happened with Drake that morning and what was going to happen with Mom and Dad that afternoon. The afternoon went better, even though I was still in a bad mood. Taylor left me alone. He seemed to stay as far away from me as he could. In a way I wanted school to end. But I was not looking forward to going home.

Kregg and I got to the van first after school. My stomach felt like it was turned inside out even though Mom gave me a hug and a kiss before I got in the van. She didn’t say anything about me getting in trouble. But I knew the school had called her. They always call after a spanking. I got in the very back seat of the van. Pretty soon my big sister Kelsey came. She got in the front. Since it had rained all day and we had to stay inside I didn’t talk to my brothers and sisters all day. But it never takes long for the whole school to know when someone gets a spanking. So I knew they knew.

“Way to go, Kolby,” Kelsey said as she was climbing in the van.

“Kelsey,” Mom had that ‘I’m warning you’ tone in her voice. She thought Kelsey was going to tease me. Teasing isn’t allowed in my family.

“No Mom, I’m serious. Drake is such a brat. He deserved to be knocked down.” Mom let it go. I have always wondered if she agreed with Kelsey.

My brother Kolt got there next. “You finally got him, Kolby. Good for you!” Kolt has had trouble with Drake, too. But he’s better at ignoring him than me.

Then Kourt came. “I heard you beat up Drake.” Kourt is in 2^nd grade and never has trouble saying whatever he is thinking.

“I didn’t beat him up,” I said defensively. “I pulled his hair and he fell off the monkey bars.”

“Same thing,” Kourt said as he put on his seat belt.

My little sister Kami got to the van last. Mom lifted her up and she came back and sat right up against me. “Are you OK?” She looked very concerned. “I heard you got a spanking.”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I tried to assure her as I put her seat belt on her.

On the way home Kelsey talked nonstop about how much fun 7^th grade was going to be. It only takes five minutes to get home from the school, but it felt like a very long road trip to me. Mom parked the van behind Dad’s car in the circular driveway. That meant we would be going out later. Usually I liked that, but since I would be wearing diapers by then I was not very anxious to go anywhere. Everyone got out of the van. I was the last one out. We walked in the house and Dad gave me a hug and a kiss.

“We might as well get this over with, Kolby,” my mom said. “Go put your backpack in your room and bring me your paddle.” She was speaking very firmly. My parents don’t yell, but we know when they mean business. I knew trying to stall would just make matters worse. I hung my backpack on the back of my desk chair and got my paddle off the wall where it was hanging. I had just gotten this paddle four days earlier on my birthday. We each have our own paddle – a ping-pong paddle with the rubber backing shaved off. We get a new one every year on our birthday. This would be the first time this paddle was used. I went to the living room, which is where we usually get our spankings. I was already starting to cry.

Dad spoke first. “We want to hear from you what happened, Kolby.” At least they were being fair about it. I told them the things that Drake and Taylor said that morning. I told them I just wanted to pull Drake’s hair. I didn’t mean for him to fall off the monkey bars.

“I was just defending myself,” I finally said, hoping that would keep me from getting what I had been dreading all day. But I knew it wouldn’t.

“I understand you were angry, Kolby, but you cannot pull other boys off the monkey bars or anything else because they are making fun of you, or for any other reason.”

Here we go again, I thought. Mom and Dad took turns telling me the same things Mrs. Reinhart, Mr. Anderson, and Nurse Jenna had told me earlier. For the fourth time I had to listen to how I need to learn to ignore Drake and Taylor, how my behavior was not appropriate, how I didn’t think about what would happen, how I was lucky Drake wasn’t seriously hurt. I only half listened. My mind was on the spanking that was coming. And the diapers.

Finally Mom said, “And you know we don’t tolerate misbehavior at school. We are very disappointed in your behavior Kolby. Come over here.” Some of my friends would rather be spanked by their moms. They say it hurts less. With my parents it doesn’t matter. They both give spankings that hurt. I got up and went over to where my mom was sitting. She pulled my jeans down. “Step out.” Then she did the same with my underwear. Dad took my clothes to the laundry room while Mom pulled me across her lap and started spanking. It seemed to go on forever. She finally put me in the corner with my red butt facing the room for the whole world to see. My butt was on fire. A second spanking in one day almost always brings back the hurt from the first one. After a while Dad got me out of the corner and put me on the couch. He taped two diapers around me and covered them with plastic pants. Then he put two more on and covered those with plastic pants too. After he finished putting the diapers on me, he stood me up and had me face him. “Two weeks, Kolby. Had Drake been hurt badly it would have been a lot longer.” Okay, so maybe I was lucky Drake wasn’t hurt any more than he was. Dad continued. “You’ll go to school in just diapers for the rest of the week. No pants except to church. Your behavior over the weekend will determine if you wear pants next week. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir,” I said. He had his hands on my shoulders, so I just stood there. Then I started to cry again.

“Oh, Kolby,” Dad pulled me toward him and held me. “I wish you would learn to ignore people who tease you. I know it is hard for you, but you would really be doing yourself a favor. We’ll try to figure out how we can help you with this.” He held me until I calmed down. “We’re going out to eat in a little while. Why don’t you go play in your room until we are ready to leave.”

I went to my room and got a video game out. I sat down in the bean bag chair and started playing, trying to forget what had happened that morning.

“Kolby?” My little sister was standing in the door to my room.

“Yeah?”

“Can I watch?”

“Sure.” I moved over in the bean bag chair to make room for her. She sat down and put her head on my shoulder. I just kept playing. After a while she asked me if my butt hurt.

“Yeah, it does,” I said. “Two spankings in one day makes it hurt a lot.” Kami has never gotten two spankings in one day. I don’t think she has ever gotten two spankings in one month.

“I’m sorry you have to wear diapers again, Kolby.” Kami’s voice was very sympathetic. “I know you don’t like them.”

I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Don’t ever stop being sweet, Kami,” I told her. And I meant it.

The next morning I woke up realizing I would be spending my second day in 5^th grade wearing only diapers and a t-shirt. I lay in bed trying to think of a way out of it. Kregg looked over at me from his bed. “It won’t work,” he said.

“What won’t work?” Being a twin can sometimes be maddening. He always seems to know what I’m thinking.

“Whatever plans you have to try to get out of going to school with no pants. It won’t work. Kolby don’t fight it. You’ll only make things worse.

I knew he was right. I lay there for a few more minutes then started to get up.

“Where are you going?” Kregg asked.

“To find Mom or Dad.”

”Kolby, don’t try anything stupid. Just accept the punishment.”

Ha, I thought. You don’t always know what I’m thinking. “I have to pee,” I told him and I threw my pillow at him. I felt the pillow hit my back on my way out of the room. We have a rule when we are in diapers. We can’t use them without telling Mom or Dad first. So I had to find one of them. Mom was in the kitchen.

“Hi Mom,” I said as I walked in.

“Good morning sweetie. Did you have a good night?” Interesting question considering the circumstances.

“It was okay. Um, I have to pee.”

“Okay, hon. You want to help me get breakfast ready?”

“Okay.” I wet my diaper and then set the table. I noticed Dad’s car was gone. “Where’s Dad?”

“He had to go to the office for a meeting this morning. He said to give you this:” She bent down and blew raspberries in my neck. It tickled and I giggled. “And he said to tell you to have a good day.”

“Um, Mom?” In spite of Kregg’s warning I decided I had to try. “Can’t I please wear shorts to school? Please? I don’t want to go in just diapers. Everyone will make fun of me.” Not a smart move. I knew it as soon as the words were out of my mouth.

“Kolby, we are not having this debate. You know the rules. You get in trouble at school you lose the privilege of wearing your pants. Now, I don’t want to hear any more arguments. If you ask again I will spank you.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. Mom could tell that I really was sorry.

“I love you, Kolby Kristofer.” She bent down and gave me a big hug and a kiss. “Go get Kregg and tell him breakfast is ready.”

I went to get Kregg. I didn’t have to go very far. He was in the den, right next to the kitchen. He had heard my conversation with Mom. “Someday you’ll learn to listen to what I tell you. I told you it wouldn’t work. You are really lucky she didn’t bust your butt.” And he was right. We don’t often get warnings when we do something we know we are not supposed to do. And I know I am not supposed to fight my punishments.

“Breakfast is ready,” I told him. I decided not to say anything more about my talk with Mom. After breakfast Mom took me to my room to get me changed and ready for school. “Um, Mom?” I said as she was putting a fresh diaper on me.

“Um-hmm?” Actually her tone kind of had a careful sound to it, like she was afraid I was going to ask her again if I could please wear shorts.

“Thanks for not spanking me.”

She was finished putting the layers of diapers and plastic pants on. She stood me up on the bed and looked right in my face. “You’re welcome, son. Go get your t-shirt and shoes and socks on.” I hopped off my bed. Well, as well as a boy with diapers can hop. I finished getting dressed and made my bed. Mom was getting the diaper bag ready for school. She put my soccer shirt in. I had forgotten soccer started today. “Don’t forget you two have soccer practice right after school,” Mom told Kregg and me. New dread filled my stomach.

As carefully as I could so I did not sound like I was asking if I could wear pants I said, “Do I get to wear my soccer shorts?”

“Not for practice,” Mom answered. I will talk to Mr. Riddell so he knows what your situation is.”

I sighed. It was going to be a long two weeks. Mom hurried us out to the van and drove us to school. When we got there Drake and his mother were on the front steps. Great, I thought. First person I have to see is Drake. Mom was making me go into the school with her so she could talk to my teacher. We got to the steps. Drake and I glared at each other.

“Hello, San,” Drakes mother said.

“Good morning Jill. Drake, how’s your arm?”

“It’s okay. It’s just a little sore.” Drake was still glaring at me.

“Drake,” his mother said. “I think you have something to say to Kolby.”

I’m sure he does, I thought. But what he has to say he sure isn’t going to say in front of the adults.

“Sorry I teased you yesterday,” Drake said with about as much meaning as Dracula saying he’s sorry he sucked out your blood.

“Sorry I made you fall of the monkey bars,” I said, with the same amount of meaning in my voice.

“Do you have time for a cup of coffee, San?” Drake’s mom asked. Dandy, I thought. Now they are going to be like best friends.

“A quick one,” Mom said. “I have a conference call scheduled for 10.” My mom works from home. Sometimes she has to go to her office, but not very often. We went into my classroom.

“Well, Kolby,” Miss Schumacher said. “I see you are paying for yesterday’s poor judgment.” I think she didn’t really need to say that, but probably thought she had to say something.

“Yes ma’am,” I said. “Two weeks. No pants this week.”

“Everything he needs is in here,” my mom handed Miss Schumacher the diaper bag. “I’ll leave a supply with Jenna also in case he needs to be changed when he is not in the classroom. Just a reminder that he may ask to be changed but must be spanked if he does.” I don’t really like this rule, but I do sometimes choose a spanking because I hate sitting in wet diapers. Even worse is sitting in dirty diapers, though they are pretty good about getting me changed quickly at school after I’ve pooped. “He is also to inform you of his need to use his diaper before he uses it.”

“Kolby, go ahead and put this in the closet,” Miss Schumacher handed me the diaper bag. I took it back to the closet, a big walk in closet where we put our coats and stuff. I put it on the hook where my coat goes. Mom was saying goodbye to Miss Schumacher. She bent down and gave me a kiss.

“Be good today, Kolby.”

“I will,” I promised. My butt was still a little sore from yesterday’s spankings, and I had the constant reminder of the diapers to make sure I behaved.

The morning started off pretty good. I finished all my math projects and even did two extra for extra credit before recess. Taylor and Drake stayed away from me. I tried to just do my work and not pay attention to the way the other kids were looking at me. It was so hard though, and by recess time I was feeling like everyone was staring at me. To top it off, I had to pee. And I knew I had to let Miss Schumacher know. Since she was never my teacher before, I wasn’t sure how to handle it. I went over to where my brother was working on a puzzle. “Kregg,” I said. “I have to pee.”

“You’d better tell Miss Schumacher. She knows the rules.”

“I know, but what do I do?”

“Raise your hand and ask her if you can tell her something in private.”

I raised my hand. “Yes, Kolby?” Miss Schumacher said.

“Um, can I talk to you in private?” This did not feel good. I was getting real embarrassed. It’s not like no one knew what was going on. I felt like I was going to cry.

“Come on up here sweetie.”

I went up to her desk. I whispered in her ear and she smiled. “That’s fine, Kolby. Would you like to go back and look for a game or something in the closet?” Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. I went back to the closet and wet my diaper. I came out with a game of checkers and took it over to Kregg. He grinned.

“See, she doesn’t bite.”

“Thanks Kregg.” I started setting up the checker game. I just got it set up and the bell rang for recess. It was nice out, so we all went outside.

“Kolby,” said Angela, one of the girls in my class. “You’re so cute.” She and the other two girls in my class started talking about how they can’t wait to have a baby and change its diapers. I started to panic.

“Just ignore them.” It was Kregg. “Just go play on the jungle gym. I looked over at the jungle gym and saw Taylor over there. No way was I going over there. It was just asking for trouble. I decided to go play on the climbing wall instead. Mr. Anderson was over there helping some other boys climb. That seemed to be a very safe place to be. But to get there I had to walk by Taylor.

“Hey baby boy. Did you pee pee in your diaper yet?” I guess one nice thing about wearing more than one diaper is no one really knows when the bottom one is wet. But this fact did not help me right then.

“Shut up, Taylor.” Not the best comeback. But what could I do. I was not going to get in a fight with him. But I wasn’t going to let it go either.

“Shut up, Taylor,” he mimicked me. “Listen guys, the baby knows how to talk. Were those your first words? Did your diaper twin teach you how to say ‘shut up’?” I started to cry. “Aw, does him want his mommy?” Taylor was getting really loud. The other boys weren’t laughing, but they weren’t defending me either. I wanted to knock him off the jungle gym. But I knew if I did that it would mean I would get in trouble again. I just started wondering where the adults were who were supposed to take care of this when I heard Mr. Anderson’s voice behind me.

“In my office boys. Now.” I cried harder.

“I didn’t do anything,” I sobbed. I was scared I was in trouble for telling Taylor to shut up.

“You aren’t in trouble, Kolby. I just want you to come with me. Taylor, NOW.” Taylor jumped down from his perch on the jungle gym. Mr. Anderson took his arm and led him to the office. “Kolby, sit here until I am done talking with Taylor.” I wondered exactly how much talking he was going to do. Mr. Anderson doesn’t spank very often, but he has his own paddle and he does use it. He took Taylor into the inner office. I tried to hear what was going on, but could not make out what they were saying. After about five minutes I heard a smack. A few seconds later I heard another. And another. They sounded like they were pretty hard spanks. I counted 8. In another two or three minutes Mr. Anderson opened the door. “If we have to have this discussion again, you will get 12 spanks. Am I making myself clear?” Taylor was crying pretty hard.

“Yes sir,” he said through his sobs. He sat down next to me. I could tell he was real uncomfortable. Inside I was really happy I got to hear him get a spanking. At least I knew something was being done.

“Kolby, come in here please.” I got up and went in. I was shaking and started crying. Even though Mr. Anderson said I wasn’t in trouble I was still scared. “Sit down, Kolby.” Mr. Anderson’s voice was not stern any more.

“You did a good job trying to ignore Taylor. I’m proud of you. I just wanted you to know that.” I was still crying. I was at a point where I couldn’t stop. “Come here, son,” Mr. Anderson said kindly. I got up and went over to his chair. He held me tight to try to get me calmed down. My sobbing finally started to go away. “I really am proud of you Kolby. I hope you believe me.” I nodded my head. I did believe him.

“But I didn’t walk away like everyone said to.”

“That’s okay, son. You didn’t walk away, but you didn’t try to fight Taylor, either. I hope there won’t be a ‘next time,’ but if there is I think you will handle it just fine. Are you feeling better?” I nodded my head. “Good. Why don’t you have Nurse Jenna change you before recess is over? I’ll let her know I sent you in.”

I went over to Nurse Jenna’s office. She was on the phone. “He just walked in. I’ll take care of him right away,” she said. She hung up the phone and smiled at me. “Well, little man. I hear you did a good job ignoring Taylor this morning.”

I grinned at her. “He got a spanking and I got to listen.” I don’t usually get a lot of pleasure out of someone else getting spanked, but I couldn’t help it this time.

“See, I told you someone would take care of him for you.” She put me up on the cot and started taking off my diapers. She talked to me about soccer, which is the only sport I can play. She asked me if I like Miss Schumacher so far.

“She’s real nice,” I said. “She let me go in the closet to pee.” I wouldn’t tell just anyone that. But I knew Nurse Jenna would understand why I thought that was so nice. Wearing diapers to school is not easy for me. Using them is even harder.

Nurse Jenna finished changing me and patted my butt just as the bell rang for recess to be over. “Go find Kregg. I know he wants to know what happened in Mr. Anderson’s office.” She probably had not talked to Kregg, but she understands the twin thing that we have going. I got out in the hallway just as Kregg was coming by the door.

“What happened?” He was whispering.

“Taylor got spanked and I got to listen. It sounded like it hurt a lot.”

“I bet it did. What did Mr. Anderson say to you?” I told him about Mr. Anderson being proud. “That’s great Kolby. See, you can ignore people. You just have to think.” We walked back to our classroom. The rest of the morning was quiet. We did our history lesson and the projects the teacher assigned and we started a reading assignment. Taylor stayed far away from me. I could tell by the way he sat down that his butt really hurt. I hoped it hurt for a long time.

Lunchtime came and Kregg and I sat with two other boys in our class. We traded some stuff and talked a little bit about the soccer team. After a while Gordy said, “Kolby, I’m not teasing. I just want to know. What do those things feel like?” I looked at him to see if he was serious. It looked like he was. But I wasn’t sure how to answer him.

“Um, what do you mean?” Always a good way to stall when you don’t really have an answer.

“Well, they look so … bulky. Are they uncomfortable?”

I sighed. I really didn’t want to talk about my diapers. But if I let him use his imagination it was hard to tell what he would come up with. “Yeah, they are bulky and it is hard to get used to.”

“Why do you have so many on?”

“To make them show more.”

“Oh. I just wondered. ”

I finished my lunch and went out on the playground. I didn’t want to talk to Gordy any more about the diapers. I didn’t want to talk to anyone about the diapers. I saw my brother Kourt on the swings so I went over and sat on the swing next to him. Even though Kourt is four years younger than me, we are about the same size. Some people think that me and Kregg and Kourt are triplets. “How’s it going?” Kourt asked.

“OK,” I said. “This morning was kind of hard. Then Gordy asked all kinds of questions at lunch. It bugged me but he didn’t mean anything by it”

“I hear Taylor got paddled by Mr. Anderson.” The highlight of my day.

“Yeah,” I grinned. “I got to listen. It was great.”

“Cool. You going to soccer practice tonight?”

“Have to. Mom says. I don’t want to. I can’t wear my shorts. You going to come watch?”

“Nope. I’m going to Jason’s after school.” The bell rang saying lunch and recess were over. I walked back into the building with Kourt. “Kolby?”

“Yeah?”

“I feel sorry for you.”

“Thanks, Kourt.” Kourt has always handled the diaper discipline thing better than me. He pretends he’s superman without tights, which I think is pretty good for an 8 year old. But he knows how much I hate wearing diapers and how embarrassed I get. So it was nice to have him sympathize with me.

The afternoon went pretty good. Taylor stayed away from me and so did Drake. By afternoon recess everyone seemed to be used to my diapers. Miss Schumacher was real nice when I told her I had to poop. She sent me to be changed right away. It made it a little easier to deal with being in the stupid diapers. Even the girls quit their chattering about having babies and changing diapers. I was pretty happy by the end of the day, even if I was in diapers. Then I had soccer practice.

Not all of the boys on my soccer team go to my school. Some of them do not live in my town, either. The boys who were on the team last year know about the diapers. But for the new boys it was new.

“Whoa. Take a look at the kid in baby pants,” said one boy I had never seen before. I couldn’t believe it.

“Ignore him,” Kregg said. I was about to cry. “Mr. Riddell will talk to the whole team just like he did last year. Remember?” Kregg and I had been punished together during soccer season last year and Mr. Riddell gave the team a speech about playing as a team and not making fun of Kregg and me. It was embarrassing, but it helped and no one said anything about our diapers after that. But this time I was in it alone. All of the attention was going to be on me. I wanted to crawl into a hole. Mom was talking to Mr. Riddell. I decided to go over there. For my own protection. If I didn’t I was afraid I would do something that I would wish I hadn’t done.

“Hi there, Kolby,” Mr. Riddell said. “Are you ready to play some soccer?” I wasn’t really. It was hard to walk. Running and kicking a ball would be even harder. Not impossible. Just hard.

“I guess.” I really just wanted to go home. Plus I had to pee. I tugged on my mom’s shirt. She bent down. “I have to pee,” I whispered.

“OK,” she whispered back.

The coach chose then to call the team together. Kregg and I have always wondered if other boys can tell we are peeing in our diapers. It’s one thing doing it when your brothers are around, but it is a little embarrassing to have to wet your diaper when you are in a group of guys.

“OK, fellows,” Mr. Riddell started out. “First some ground rules.” I braced myself for one of life’s most embarrassing moments. “We have some real tough games to play this year, so practice is mandatory. If you can’t make it, I want a good excuse. We will play as a team and we will work as a team. This means that we have to get along with each other. I’m sure you have noticed we have a player who is wearing diapers.” I felt my face go red. I don’t know how else he could have said it, but I didn’t like the way this was going. Kregg put his hand on my shoulder. I felt the tears coming in my eyes. Mr. Riddell continued. “There is no reason to make comments about this. I do not want to hear any name-calling or anybody making fun of anybody else for any reason. If I catch any of you making fun of anyone else, it will mean an automatic two-game suspension. If you violate this rule three times, you are off the team. Are there any questions about that?” I was looking down at the ground. I did not want to look at the other guys.

“How come he’s wearing diapers?” It was the same voice that had made the comment earlier. He didn’t sound like he was interested. He sounded like he was nosy.

“That will cost you two games, Trent. Are there any other questions?” No one said anything. Mr. Riddell continued with his speech, talking about what he expects at practice and how he was going to handle the practices, dividing us into two teams to practice all our moves. He told us to be sure to pick up a practice schedule, and then had us go around and introduce ourselves since we didn’t all know each other.

When it got to Kregg and me, Kregg introduced himself first. After I introduced myself, one of the guys we didn’t know asked if we were twins. Kregg and I are identical twins. We are always amazed at how many people ask us if we are twins.

“Yeah,” Kregg said. “Identical.”

“At least we can tell them apart,” Trent said. I couldn’t believe this guy.

“That will cost you another two games, Trent,” Mr. Riddell said. “If I were you I would watch what I say from here on out. You are pushing being kicked off the team.”

We finished the introductions and Mr. Riddell had us do some movement exercises, moving the ball up and down the field. Then he had us do some passing exercises. He had each of us kick a ball into the net and we took turns being a goalie. He was trying to get a sense for who would play different positions. Trent kept his mouth shut the rest of the practice, but he brushed up against me every chance he got. I could tell he and I were not going to be great friends. I was getting really frustrated by his constantly bumping into me. Kregg tried to get me away from him, but he had a way of always being right there, and bumping me and pushing me when Mr. Riddell wasn’t looking. The more frustrated I got the harder it got to handle it. It was not long before I was in tears. I went over to the bench and sat down. Kregg came over and sat with me, trying to get me to stop crying. But the harder he tried, the more I cried. Pretty soon Mr. Riddell called an end to practice. He came over and sat next to me. He asked Kregg to leave.

“What’s wrong, Kolby? You were playing really well.”

I was crying so hard I couldn’t talk. I just sat there, not really knowing what to do. I didn’t want to tattle on Trent, but I knew that I couldn’t deal with it by myself.

“Was someone doing something to upset you that I didn’t see?” I nodded my head. “Do you want to tell me about it?” I shrugged my shoulders. “OK, I think I have an idea of what was happening. Did it involve Trent?” I nodded again. I didn’t say anything. I hoped this meant I wasn’t really tattling. I was glad Mr. Riddell was getting the picture. “I’ll take care of it, Kolby,” he said. “Your job is to play soccer as well as you can play it. Don’t pay any attention to Trent.” Here we went with the ‘ignore them’ speech again. I was still crying and was not able to stop. Mr. Riddell put his arm around me. “Can I do anything else to help?” He was trying to be helpful, but was not familiar enough with my runaway emotions to deal with them.

“Get Kregg.”

He called Kregg over. “I can’t get him to calm down. I’m sorry he’s so upset. Your mom should be here pretty soon. Is there anything I can do?”

“No,” Kregg said. “He gets this way sometimes. He’ll be okay.” Kregg sat down next to me and put his arm around me. Mr. Riddell left us alone. “Come on, Kolby.” Kregg was trying to get me to calm down. “Trent isn’t worth getting sick over.”

“It’s not just Trent,” I sobbed.

“What then?”

“I hate wearing diapers.” I blurted it out. I don’t know who else heard. I don’t even know how loud I said it.

“Yeah, I know. But you don’t have any choice. Kolby, look. It’s just punishment. You can’t keep making such a big deal out of it. It’s just for two weeks. Then it’s over. You just have to move on with things.” This was not exactly helping. But I knew Kregg was right. “Next time think before you act and you won’t be in this situation.” The big-brother lecture. Give the guy a four-hour head start being born and he knows everything.

“But I don’t want to wear them now,” I sniffed.

“But you have to. You got in trouble. This is what happens when we get in trouble. You might not want to wear them, but you really don’t have any choice. If you try to fight it you are going to be in more trouble. Just accept it.” Kregg pulled me close to him and tried to get me to calm down. “Come on, you’re going to get sick. Please try to stop.” He was getting desperate.

Mom drove up a few minutes later. She spotted Kregg and me sitting on the bench. I watched her talk to Mr. Riddell and knew they were talking about me. Finally she came up to Kregg and me. She sat down and put me on her lap, hugging me really tight. She held me that way for a long time, until the crying started to stop.

“Hard practice, Kolby?” I nodded my head. “It’s okay. You need to calm down so we can go home. I don’t want to drive while you are this upset.” She kept holding me, rubbing my back and I finally started to calm down. “That’s my boy,” she said. “Let’s get you home and into some clean diapers, okay?” By now everyone but Mr. Riddell had left. Mom stood me up and we started toward the van. Mr. Riddell met us half way there.

“Are you okay, Kolby?” I nodded my head. I seemed to be doing a lot of nodding lately. “I really am sorry you got so upset. San, maybe you and I should sit down and talk soon so I have a better idea of how to help him.” My mom agreed to that, and while they decided on a time and place Kregg and I got in the van. I was glad to see that my other brothers and my sisters did not come along.

“You okay now?” Kregg asked.

“I guess. I still don’t want to wear the stupid diapers, though.”

“I know.” Kregg left it at that.

When we got home Dad changed me and talked to me about what had happened at practice. “Why can’t I at least wear my shorts to practice?” I wasn’t being smart, and I wasn’t asking to wear my shorts. I really wanted to know. Dad realized this.

“Kolby, it is part of the punishment. I know it is hard for you. But let me ask you something. Are you going to pull anyone off the monkey bars again?”

He had to be joking. The last two days had felt like an eternity. Kregg’s words were stuck in my head: “They aren’t worth it.” I shook my head. Nope, I wasn’t going to do that again.

“OK,” said my dad. “That means your punishment is working. But I’ll tell you what. Let’s make a deal. I hear you did a really good job ignoring Taylor today.”

“But I didn’t walk away from him. I told him to shut up.”

“Yes, but that is better than how you reacted to Drake yesterday. Right?”

“Taylor got a spanking and I got to listen.” I wasn’t sure if Dad had heard this news.

“So I hear.”

“What deal?” I asked, wondering what it had to do with Taylor.

“If you can ignore mean comments like you did with Taylor all day tomorrow we’ll let you wear your shorts to soccer practice.” Maybe I could stay home from school tomorrow. That would make things really easy.

“OK. Deal.” I wasn’t going to pass up this rare opportunity. My parents hardly ever ease up on the diaper discipline. Not even a little bit.

The next day was terrible. It was like someone told the whole school about my deal with Dad and everyone was ready to make sure I had a hard time living up to my side of it. Taylor started as soon as I got on the playground. He must forget spankings awful fast.

“Hey crinkle pants, I hear you waddled real good down the soccer field yesterday.”

“Ignore him,” Kregg and Kolt said at the same time. Great, I thought, it sounds like Taylor somehow knows Trent. I started to walk to the other side of the playground with Kregg and Kolt. Taylor followed us.

“What’s the matter? Did the little baby forget how to say ‘shut up’?” I guess he was never going to let me forget my great comeback from the day before. I started getting tears in my eyes.

“Don’t let him bug you, Kolby. He’s a jerk,” Kolt told me. Taylor kept following us, saying mean things like babies can’t play soccer but maybe my noisy plastic pants would make the other team too nervous to concentrate. I wondered if this was going to go on all day. I looked around for a teacher. Maybe if I went to play close to where a teacher was Taylor would leave me alone. It was then that I saw Drake. He was with three other boys and he was acting like a baby. He had his thumb in his mouth and he was pretending to walk like he had diapers on. Kregg and Kolt saw him at the same time I did. The other boys were laughing at him. I started to cry. I don’t think it would have been so bad if the other boys hadn’t been laughing. But they were. Kregg and Kolt tried to get me to stop crying by telling me that Drake and Taylor wouldn’t get away with what they were doing. But I couldn’t really hear what they were saying. My ears heard it but the rest of my head didn’t. I sat down by the building and cried harder.

“What’s wrong, Kolby?” I heard Mr. Anderson ask. But I couldn’t talk. Kolt answered him.

“Drake and Taylor are making fun of him again.” Mr. Anderson looked at Kregg and Kregg nodded and pointed to Drake. Taylor had joined Drake and the other three boys. They were all laughing. They must not have seen Mr. Anderson talking to us. Mr. Anderson stood me up and wiped my face off.

“Kregg, why don’t you take him to see Nurse Jenna so he can get calmed down. Kolt, maybe you can go find someone to play with. He started walking toward the group of boys. Kregg took me into the school.

“They’ll be in trouble, Kolby. You did good. You ignored them.”

“No I didn’t,” I was still sobbing. “If I ignored them I wouldn’t be crying. Now my deal with Dad is off.”

“That’s not true. Dad knows you can’t help getting upset. He just doesn’t want you to do anything like hit them.” I knew Kregg was right. I really can’t help it when I cry. But I didn’t feel any better.

We got to Nurse Jenna’s office and Kregg told her what happened. She sat down and pulled me close to her, holding me the way everyone holds me when they are trying to calm me down. Kregg left. In a little bit my sobs started to stop.

“You did it, Kolby. You ignored them.” I shook my head. “Yes, you did. What? Do you think that because you are crying that means you didn’t ignore them?” I nodded. “Well, you reacted. But that doesn’t mean you didn’t ignore them. What you didn’t do is pull anyone off any playground equipment. You didn’t hit anyone. Do you know what ‘retaliate’ means? I shook my head. “That’s when you do something to hurt someone just as much as they hurt you. You didn’t retaliate. That’s how we want you to ignore them. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Sort of. But I wanted to retal … retal …”

“Retaliate,” Nurse Jenna helped me. “Wanting to do something and actually doing it are two different things, Kolby. You were able to keep from doing the wrong thing. And do you know what?”

“What?”

“That makes you the better boy in this situation. You did the right thing. The other boys didn’t.”

”For real?”

“For real. I promise.” That made me feel a lot better. I gave Nurse Jenna a hug.

“Thanks,” I told her.

“You are welcome, little man. Want to know what I just saw?” I nodded. “Five little boys going into the office with Mr. Anderson. And they weren’t laughing anymore.”

I grinned. “Are they all going to get spanked?”

“I can bet at least two of them are.” I knew Taylor would get 12 spanks. Mr. Anderson never breaks those promises.

“Nurse Jenna?” I had calmed down enough to be able to ask something I really wanted to know. Nurse Jenna was looking at my face. I knew I had all her attention. “How come Drake and Taylor are so mean to me?”

“I don’t really know, Kolby. Sometimes behavior like that means the person teasing is jealous of the person being teased. But I don’t think that’s the case here. I think maybe they just don’t know how to handle the way you are punished. Maybe they feel uncomfortable seeing you are in diapers and it makes them feel better when they tease you. It’s hard to say. They seem to enjoy trying to make you mad, though, which is why it is important for you to keep ignoring them.”

“I wish they didn’t go to school here.”

“I know honey. But no matter where you go you are going to have people around you who aren’t very nice. The best thing you can do is stay the sweet caring boy that you are. You are going to grow up to be a fine young man if you do that.”

“OK.” I did feel better. I started to get up to leave.

“I think you should stay here in case Mr. Anderson wants to talk to you. Why don’t you help me unpack some supplies?” We got half a box of gauze unpacked then Mr. Anderson came in.

“Are you charging us for your work, Kolby?” I smiled at him. I like Mr. Anderson. “I’d like you to come talk to me.”

I walked across the hall with Mr. Anderson. When we got to the outer office I saw all five boys sitting in the chairs. Four of them were sniffling. Taylor was sobbing. Mr. Anderson and I went into his office. I sat down in the chair by his desk. School had started and I was kind of anxious to get to my classroom.

“I want to tell you again how proud I am of how you are handling yourself, Kolby. I don’t want you to feel bad that you get upset. We know you can’t help that. But I need to ask you something.”

“OK.”

“Where was Taylor when you got to school this morning? I need to know because he said you and Kregg and Kolt were following him.”

I looked at Mr. Anderson. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My eyes filled up with tears. “That’s not true!” I said. “Taylor was waiting for me. As soon as I got on the playground he started making fun of me. He called me ‘crinkle pants.’ We tried to walk away from him but he kept following us. Then he called me a baby.” I was mad.

“It’s okay, Kolby. I believe you.” Mr. Anderson put his hand on my knee. “I believe you,” he said again.

“You do?”

“I do. If you and your brothers had started the trouble I don’t think you would have gotten so upset. Now, there is one more thing I’d like you to do.”

“What?”

“From now on if one of the other boys starts making fun of you I want you to find a teacher or come to me right away. Will you do that?”

“But I don’t want to be a tattletale. I tried to find a teacher just so I could get rid of Taylor and that’s when I saw Drake and got real upset.”

“I’m not asking you to be a tattletale. I want the boys to stop making fun of you. And I want you to feel safe and secure when you come to school. I also want you to try to talk to someone before you get so upset to see if we can help you avoid it. You should not have to spend your days being so upset that you get sick. I can’t promise, but maybe if you come and talk to me or one of the teachers we can help make it easier for you.”

“Why can’t Drake and Taylor just go to a different school?”

“That would solve some problems, wouldn’t it? But you know what?” I had my eyes glued on him. “They need to learn that the fact that you and your brothers sometimes wear diapers does not give them the right to torment you. Do you know what ‘torment’ means?”

“Make me feel so bad I cry?”

“Right. The fact that you sometimes wear diapers does not give anyone the right to make you feel bad. And I will not allow it to continue in this school. I could really use your help with this Kolby. Will you look for someone to talk to if the boys tease you again?”

“I guess.” I didn’t think he really understood how I felt about telling on Drake and Taylor. “I’m afraid it will make Drake and Taylor treat me meaner though.”

“Oh, I see.” Mr. Anderson sat quietly for a few minutes. He looked like he was thinking real hard. Finally he said, “I see your problem. I’m going to have the teachers keep a close eye on the boys who have been bothering you. That way they can do something about it without putting you in an awkward position. Does that sound better?”

“Uh-huh.” I wasn’t sure what an awkward position was, but I was glad I didn’t have to be a tattletale.

“But Kolby, if you start to cry, please find a teacher to talk to or come to me or Nurse Jenna. It worries me when you cry so hard that you can’t stop. You don’t have to wait for us to come to you.”

“OK. I will. If I’m outside can I come in without permission?”

“Yes, you may. And I will inform the teachers that I gave you permission. But you must come in here or go to Nurse Jenna’s office. I don’t want you wandering around in the hallway.”

“OK. Mr. Anderson?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome Kolby. Now, you go ahead and go to your class. I want you to go before I send the other boys up.”

“OK. Um, Mr. Anderson?” He looked at me and waited for me to go on. “Um, I need to pee in my diaper.”

“You go ahead and do that, son. I hope the rest of your morning goes better.” He gave me a hug and patted my thick butt. I left his office. I really wanted to pee on my way past Drake and Taylor and their merry men, but that would have meant stopping in front of them. They probably wouldn’t have noticed, but it would have given me some kind of weird good feeling.

The rest of the morning was okay. Taylor’s butt must have really hurt because he didn’t say anything to anyone all morning. Kregg helped me catch up on the projects in math and after our social studies lesson we worked together. When it was time for recess Miss Schumacher told us we could all go outside except for Taylor, Drake and the merry men. Well, she didn’t say merry men. Kregg and I went over to the swing set and I told him what Nurse Jenna and Mr. Anderson said. Then I told him about wanting to pee when I went past the jerks. “Only thing is I would have had to stop in front of them,” I said.

“Too bad you couldn’t have peed all over them,” he said.

“Yeah, make it like a machine gun. What do you think Mom and Dad would do if I did something like that?” I had no intentions of finding out, but it was fun to think about it.

“Well,” Kregg had a big grin on his face. “You could forget about wearing shorts at soccer practice. But it might be worth it.”

“You do it then.”

“No chance. I love being twins but I don’t want to dress like you right now.”

“Seriously. What do you think Mom and Dad would do?”

“Kolby, you would be in diapers until you graduated from college. And you’d probably be standing up the whole time. Please tell me you aren’t thinking of doing it. I was just joking when I said you should do it.” Kregg was real serious.

“Get real, Kregg. I’d have to cut a hole in these things to be able to pull that off. I’m not stupid. No way am I going to let Dad out of his deal either.”

“Good,” Kregg said. “Come on diaper boy, let’s go find Kolt and tell him what happened.” Only Kregg can get away with calling me diaper boy. Somehow coming out of him it doesn’t sound so bad.

The time between recess and lunch went really fast. About a half hour before lunch Miss Schumacher had us get our books out that we were reading for book reports. “Kolby,” she said. “You may go see Nurse Jenna.”

“Yes ma’am.” My face was red. It was no secret why I was going to see Nurse Jenna. The room was very quiet as I walked back to the closet to get the diaper bag. Except for the noise of my plastic pants and diapers. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me as I walked back to the front of the room. I heard one of the girls giggle. She didn’t giggle loudly, but she still giggled. Then she whispered something to the other two girls in the class and all three of them giggled. I couldn’t hear exactly what she said, but I heard her whisper and I was sure it had something to do with me. I got out of the room as quickly as I could.

Nurse Jenna looked up when I walked in her office. “Well, little man, how has your morning been?”

“Not too bad after I talked to Mr. Anderson,” I said smiling at her. I told her about wanting to pee when I went by the other boys. She laughed and agreed it might have made me feel better. She put me on the cot and got fresh diapers, wipes, and powder out of the diaper bag.

“Nurse Jenna?”

“Um-hmm?”

“You’re a girl, right?”

“Well, I used to be. Why?”

“Why do girls giggle so much?”

“You do ask difficult questions Kolby Kristofer,” Nurse Jenna said as she pulled my wet diaper off. “And I don’t really know the answer to that. Why are you asking? Did one of the girls giggle because of your diapers?”

“I think that’s why. She did it when I got my diaper bag to come down here. She whispered something to the other two and they giggled too.”

“They are just reacting to your situation. Girls sometimes giggle when they are nervous about how they feel.”

“They keep saying I’m cute,” I said. “I wish they would stop saying that. Nurse Jenna was putting the last of the diapers on.

“But you are cute. With or without diapers, you are cute. So take it as a compliment.”

“But they talk about how they can’t wait to have a baby.”

“Well, all little girls want to have a baby. That is the way girls are made. Didn’t you ever wonder why your sisters like playing with baby dolls?” Nurse Jenna sat me up on the cot. “They don’t mean to hurt your feelings, Kolby. Seeing you in diapers just brings out their natural desire to be mommies.”

“Well, I wish they would keep it to themselves.”

“Things will calm down soon, Kolby. They always do.” She was right about that. Eventually the teasing would die down and everyone would be used to my diapers. I stayed in Nurse Jenna’s office until the bell rang for lunch. Kregg was bringing my lunch to me so I met him in the lunchroom.

“You okay?” Kregg asked.

“Yeah. It’s just going to be a long two weeks. What did Mom pack for lunch?”

Kregg opened the bag. “Smells like peanut butter and banana.” My favorite. Maybe she knew I was going to have a hard day.

We ate lunch and the boys we sat with didn’t say anything about the diapers. Even Gordy didn’t have any questions. Taylor and Drake sat as far from us as they could. After I finished eating I went outside. Kelsey was out there and came up to me.

“I heard about what happened this morning. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Nurse Jenna and Mr. Anderson helped calm me down. Taylor got another spanking.”

“Did you get to listen again?”

”No. I was with Nurse Jenna. But I saw him crying.”

“Kolby, you’re really doing well with this.” Kelsey gave me a hug and turned to leave.

“Thanks, Kelsey. I love you.”

“Love you too, squirt.” She went and found some of her friends. I went over to the jungle gym and climbed up to the top. Pretty soon the merry men came out without their fearless leaders. They started to come over to the jungle gym. I started to get down. I didn’t want to be anywhere near them.

“Hey Kolby,” Bryce said. I didn’t say anything. “Look, we’re sorry about this morning.”

“You’re just saying that because you got a spanking.” I didn’t believe they were sorry at all.

“No,” said Trace. “Really, we are sorry. We shouldn’t have laughed at Drake. It wasn’t very nice of us to laugh at him when he was making fun of you.”

“Yeah,” added Regan. “I really feel bad. Can you accept our apology?” I wasn’t real sure about that.

“Why’d you do it?”

“I don’t know,” Regan answered. “Because we are stupid, insensitive jerks.” That pretty much summed up how I felt about them.

“OK, apology accepted.” There really was not much else I could do. I didn’t really believe they were sorry. But I didn’t want to let this conversation go on any more, either.

“You want to go play kick ball?” Trace asked as he turned to go over to the ball diamond.

“No thanks. I’m going to wait for Kregg.” The merry men left, probably feeling pretty good about their attempt to smooth things over. I climbed down off the jungle gym and went over to the swings. I like swinging. And it’s something I can do even when I have diapers on. Pretty soon Kolt joined me. I told him about my conversation with the merry men.

“You don’t think they meant it?” Kolt asked.

“Not really. I might be wrong, but I think they just wanted to make themselves feel better.”

“Well, at least they said something. It’s more than you’ll hear from Drake or Taylor. You think you’ll get your shorts for soccer practice.”

“Yup. Dad’s not going to win this one. I’m determined.” ‘Determined’ was a new vocabulary word. I was glad to be able to use it.

After lunch we went to the computer lab. I had started working on a story for language arts class. It was about a cat that made friends with some mice. We had to use each vocabulary word once. I was really into what I was writing when all of a sudden I felt the elastic of my plastic pants being pulled back. I jumped up. It was Taylor. He didn’t say a word. He just had a grip on the plastic pants and an eye on Miss Schumacher, who was helping another boy on the computer.

“Thanks to you, baby boy, I might get suspended from school. I hope that makes you happy.” He couldn’t imagine how happy that made me. He was speaking in a very low voice, being careful not to be heard by anyone else. He had a tight grip on the plastic pants, making sure I couldn’t go anywhere. I was next to tears. I tried to get away, but he pulled on the pants when I moved. “You’re not going to go around tattling on me and get away with it, diaper boy. You and your diaper twin are going to be real sorry you talked to Mr. Anderson. You won’t know when and you won’t know how, but I will get you back.”

I started shaking. He had such a grasp on me that I couldn’t move. I wondered why no one noticed. Then I heard Miss Schumacher.

“Taylor, let go of him immediately.”

“I was just playing around,” Taylor whined. I had started to cry. I was scared, and I was embarrassed. Not a good combination for me.

“Do you need to go see Nurse Jenna, Kolby?” I nodded my head. “Go ahead. Do you want Kregg to walk with you?” I nodded my head again. “Kregg,” said Miss Schumacher, “will you take Kolby down to see Nurse Jenna, please? Taylor, you and I are going to the discipline room and then we are going to have a talk with Mr. Anderson.”

“What did he do?” Kregg asked when we got out in the hallway. I was crying too hard to answer. Kregg walked me into Nurse Jenna’s office. I seemed to be spending an awful lot of time here. And I was only two days into the two-week punishment. Kregg told Nurse Jenna he wasn’t sure what had happened and that he only knew it involved Taylor.

“Come here Kolby,” Nurse Jenna held her arms out. I went over to her and let her pick me up and hold me. “Kregg, go ahead and go back to class. He’ll be fine.” Nurse Jenna held me tight until I began to calm down. “Feel like talking about it?” I shook my head. I was really scared of Taylor. I was afraid if I said anything it would make things worse. Nurse Jenna kept holding me. I finally calmed down enough for her to be able to talk with me.

“Kolby, you need to let me know what happened. I can’t help you unless you tell me what Taylor did.”

“I’m scared if I tell it will be worse.”

“I understand that, but I really need to know. And I would really like to know. Please trust me enough to tell me.”

I took a deep breath and told her what Taylor did and what he said. I told her I was really scared. “I want to go home,” I finally said. The day had been too much. I didn’t care any more about soccer practice or my deal with Dad. I just wanted to get away from Taylor and Drake and the giggling girls.

“I could call you mom, but I think you need to stay. Running away would be very easy, but you are going to have to come back tomorrow. If you stay and let us help you work through this maybe tomorrow will be easier.”

“No it won’t. I’ll still have to wear the diapers.” I was being unreasonable, but I was so tired. All of the emotional upsets from the day had worn me out.

“Yes, you will still have to wear the diapers. But that doesn’t mean that tomorrow will be as bad as today. Kolby, you are doing so well. What you have to understand is that Taylor is the one with the problem here, not you.”

“He said it was my fault he got in trouble. Like if I didn’t wear diapers he wouldn’t get in trouble.”

“Well, if that is what he thinks then he is sadly mistaken. You wearing diapers does not cause him to get in trouble. His behavior causes him to get in trouble. Kolby, you are not responsible for what the other boys do. You are only responsible for what you do. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“Yes, but he said he was going to get me and Kregg. He said we wouldn’t know when and we wouldn’t know how. I’m scared he’s going to hurt us. What if he tries to hurt Kolt or Kourt or Kami?” That fear had just popped into my mind. What if getting back at Kregg and me meant hurting Kolt or Kourt or Kami?

“We are not going to let anything like that happen. And since you told me that I can let Mr. Anderson know that you are worried about it. Don’t worry, Kolby, everything is going to be fine. We will find a solution to this problem. And I promise tomorrow will be better. It might not be perfect, but it will be better. Nurse Jenna was still holding me pretty tight. I was starting to feel safe again. “How about we change your diaper before you go back to class?” I nodded my head. It needed to be changed.

Mr. Anderson came in right when Nurse Jenna finished changing me. He sat down on the cot next to me. “You’re having a pretty rough day, aren’t you, Kolby?” His voice was very sympathetic.

“Yes sir,” I answered.

“I’m sorry Taylor upset you again. Are you okay now?”

“I guess. I’m scared he’s going to do something to Kolt or Kourt or Kami. Just to get back at me and Kregg.”

“We won’t let anything happen to any of you. Taylor’s dad is coming in for a conference. I promise we’ll get this issue resolved. Also Taylor won’t be at school the rest of the week. So maybe things will be easier for you.”

”But he said if he gets suspended it’s my fault.”

“Well, he’s wrong. He chose to ignore the warnings I gave him. So being suspended is his fault. You, on the other hand, have done exactly what we asked you to do. You should be proud of yourself.”

I didn’t exactly feel proud, but I was glad I was doing what they wanted me to do. “Thanks Mr. Anderson,” I said.

“You’re a good boy, Kolby. Do you want to go back to class? If you don’t you may stay here.”

“Will Taylor be there?”

“No, Taylor is in my office. He’s staying there until I’m done talking with his dad.”

“I’ll go back to class then.”

Kregg asked me as soon as I got back to class what was going on. I told him I’d tell him all about it later. I just didn’t feel like talking about it. There was only an hour left before the end of school. I worked on the projects for science and reading and put them in my portfolio. Then I got my book out to read. I didn’t feel like talking to anyone. Not even Kregg.

About 10 minutes before the dismissal bell rang the secretary’s voice came over the intercom. “Miss Schumacher?”

“Yes?”

“Will you please send Kregg and Kolby to the office?”

“Certainly.” Miss Schumacher told us to go, saying she would see us tomorrow. I went back and got the diaper bag and Kregg and I went to the office.

“Wonder what they want.” I felt a little nervous.

“I don’t know. You going to tell me what happened with Taylor?”

I stopped walking. “He told me he was going to pay us back for telling on him this morning.” I told Kregg everything Taylor said.

“My gosh, Kolby. No wonder you were so upset. I’m surprised you didn’t punch him.” I was surprised too.

When we walked in the office Taylor was sitting in a chair facing the wall. His shoulders were moving up and down like he was crying. The secretary told us to go into Mr. Anderson’s office. Taylor’s dad was in there. So was mine.

“Boys, your remember Mr. Davis, don’t you?” Mr. Anderson told Mr. Davis which twin we were.

Mr. Davis put his hand on my shoulder. “Kolby, I’m very sorry that Taylor has made your day so miserable. I want you to know that I will deal with him and he won’t bother you again.”

“Thank you, sir.” I would believe the not bothering me part when it really happened.

Dad and Mr. Davis shook hands and Dad told us he was taking us to soccer practice and that Mom was picking up the other kids.

“Are you going to stay for practice?” I asked. I like it when my dad does stuff like that because he doesn’t always have time.

“I am,” he said. “And look what I brought for you.” We had gotten to the car.

“My shorts!” I jumped up and down. “Thanks, Dad!” Dad handed me the shorts and I pulled them up over the bulk of the diapers. They didn’t hide the fact that I had diapers on, but it still made me feel better to have them on. We got in the car and went to the soccer field. We were the first ones there. Dad talked to Mr. Riddell while Kregg and I sat on the bench and waited for the other boys to come.

“Kolby?” It was Trent’s voice. I really didn’t want to talk to him. I turned around and looked at him, but didn’t say anything. “I’m sorry for how I acted yesterday.” I looked past him to see what adult was there to make him say that. All I saw was a car pulling away and my dad and Mr. Riddell still talking. “I was mean,” Trent said. “I shouldn’t have made fun of you and I shouldn’t have kept bumping into you during practice. I really am sorry.”

I didn’t know what to say. So I just sat there looking at him, wondering if he really meant what he said.

“Look,” Trent seemed determined to make things right. “I really am sorry. No one is making me say it. I was wrong, okay?”

“Really?” I asked. “No one is making you apologize? Mr. Riddell didn’t say he’d kick you off the team if you didn’t?”

“No, he didn’t. He just said that he will let me know today if he’s going to let me play.”

I really had to pee, so I was going to have to give in. “Fine,” I said. “You’re sorry. I just hope you really mean it.” I got up to go tell Dad I had to use my diaper. When I got back Trent and Kregg were talking.

“He just thought of something he needed to tell our dad,” Kregg was saying. Looking at me he said, “Was it okay?”

I grinned. “Yup, no problem.” Twin talk can be fun.

We talked to Trent until the other boys started to come. He turned out to be pretty nice, and really did seem to mean it when he said he was sorry. Mr. Riddell called the team to practice. We did some drills, some passes and some goal shots, then Mr. Riddell said he would decide by next week about the positions. I didn’t care what position I got as long as it wasn’t goalie. I can’t catch a ball. It turned out that Trent and I played pretty well together. Almost as well as Kregg and me. We waited with him while he waited for his mom to come and get him.

“Kolby, I’m glad we can be friends,” Trent told me, sounding like he really meant it. “You know, yesterday I didn’t realize the diapers were punishment. Not until I talked to Taylor. He said he goes to your school.”

Oh, good, I thought. Things were going so well. “How do you know Taylor?” I asked, really curious how a guy who seems so nice could possibly have any connection with a jerk like Taylor.

“He’s my cousin. But I’m not really proud of it.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be proud of it either.”

“Anyway, he told me it’s punishment. The diapers, I mean.”

“Yeah. It happens a lot.” What else could I say? “Let’s just forget it, okay? And I really don’t want to talk about Taylor. It just makes me mad.”

Trent’s mom drove up and he told us he’d see us tomorrow. Dad asked if we were ready to go. When we got home I really wanted my diaper changed. I waited for a few minutes to see if Dad would change it but couldn’t wait anymore. I got my paddle and went to find Dad.

“Dad, will you change me?” I hated asking because it meant a spanking. But I was really wet and it was starting to bother me.

“OK Kolby. Go wait in the living room.” He went to get some clean diapers and came out to the living room. After taking my wet diaper off he put me over his knee and gave me a spanking. Just enough to make my butt sting. I cried a little and he put the clean diapers on. He gave me a hug and told me he was very proud of how I handled myself during school.

“Can I wear my shorts to practice every night?” I asked. I was still sniffling a little.

“You may,” Dad said. “A deal is a deal and you kept your end of it.” He gave me another hug and told me to go put my paddle away and wash my hands for dinner.

After dinner we went out for ice cream. That’s a rare treat. I could not believe how long the day had been. I was eating a hot fudge sundae and I started to get real sleepy. “Dad, I’m real tired. Are we going home soon?”

“We’ll go right now, Kolby. You look like you could go to sleep.” Even though it was only 8:00, I went to bed as soon as we got home. Mom came in to tuck me in.

“Do you feel sick?” she asked.

“No, I’m just real tired.”

“Well, you had quite a day. I imagine you are worn out. You sleep tight, sweetie. Tomorrow will be better.”

I woke up the next morning feeling better, but still a little worried about school. At least I knew I could wear my shorts to soccer practice. And Taylor wouldn’t be at school to bug me. I got up to go find Mom or Dad. The don’t-use-your-diaper-until-you-ask rule can sometimes be a real pain. I found Dad in his office. “Hi Dad.”

“Good morning, Kolby. Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah, except I have to pee.”

“OK. How would you like to do something special this weekend?” He had a website for a state park up on the computer.

“What?”

“Look at this. We could go on a canoe ride. Would you like that?”

“Would there be other people?” I was worried about being seen in my diapers.

“Well, yes, but not in the same canoe as you. How would you and Kregg like to have your own canoe – just the two of you?”

“Really, could we?” That would make it worth being seen in the diapers. My parents are a little protective, so this was something really unusual.

“I’ll make reservations right now. You go see if your mom needs help with breakfast.”

After breakfast Mom changed me and I got ready for school. Once at school I noticed that no one said anything about the diapers. Not even Drake. The girls giggled and called me cute, but I tried to do what Nurse Jenna said, take it as a compliment. The whole day was much better than the day before, and I left feeling really happy.

We went on our canoe trip and I had a good time even though I had to wear the diapers. The rest of the weekend we did a bunch of family stuff together. I like weekends because my dad doesn’t have to work so we always try to do stuff together.

On Monday Taylor came back to school. I was feeling better about having to wear the diapers. Not great, but better. Taylor made some stupid comments, but nothing like the week before. Drake joined him in his teasing. Kregg and Kolt helped me ignore them and I made it through the second week of 5^th grade without getting into any more trouble.

I still can’t believe I spent the first two weeks of 5^th grade in diapers. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was only the beginning of what would turn out to be a very long year with lots of diaper punishments to come.