Fetch my slipper!

One of the most evocative parts of a punishment in a discipline based relationship for me is when I have to fetch the implement that is going to be used across my bottom.

Some of my school memories are very much about this, for although the headmaster had his own cane, form masters were required to share one.  This was kept by the school secretary and any boy needing to be caned was sent to fetch it.  The idea of actually going to get your instrument of “torture” and then handing it over to the master for use is a memory that always stayed with me.  Consequently, when this happened to me as an adult boy, it was especially poignant.

I think what intrigues me the most is that it is perhaps one of the clearest indications of a dad’s authority over you.  The fact that he can send you to collect the very thing that he is about to use to make your life miserable, and you do actually go and get it is a very clear message of your subordinate position in the household.

I hate the long lonely walk to collect the dreaded implement, gingerly picking it up, maybe even giving it a trial swing or two and then heading back to dad with it in my hand and dutifully handing it over to him.  I have assisted greatly in my own punishment and will momentarily feel the very real results across my bottom.

The punishment over, I am required to obediently put the dreaded implement away “ready for next time!”

As boys in a discipline relationship, we know we are under our dads’ control – collecting his cane, slipper, paddle or strap happens to be one of the clearest indications of this fact.