104. What’s my role? Dom-ish?

It’s only been six days since Kayla moved in.   The holiday family comings-and-goings has out of our regular routine.  We are all making adjustments where we can so Kayla and I can fulfill our submissive needs as best as possible.  I look forward to resuming a more normal routine and allow Kayla to experience more consistency in her submission.  

Just six days in and we experienced our first wrinkle.  While not specifically expected, we all went into this knowing we had things to learn and would need to make adjustments to fit everyone’s needs.  Well, we’ve had one such adjustment already.

As I mentioned before re Kayla’s contract, Kayla has nightly maintenance sessions (mine have always been weekly and remain so).  The main reason is to be sure we give and receive feedback more frequently as we “calibrate” Kayla’s needs with our awareness and ability to fulfill them.  

In each of her first four sessions, Kayla made it clear she wants us to be strict and “hold her feet to the fire.”  Not literally, of course – we do have limits!  As such we’ve implemented more required tasks of her and critique her very closely regarding her adherence.  One such task is the Morning Inspection.  

MORNING INSPECTION
She was required to keep her room neat and clean but now has to maintain it at an impeccable level, else she is punished.  Any clothes that she has folded and in a drawer must be precisely folded and organized a certain way.  The hangers in her closet must be spaced apart at a distance of three of her fingers and all hanging clothes must face a certain way.  Every day she must dust her furniture and baseboards, vacuum, and clean both her mirror and window every day.  Her bed must be made the moment she gets up (assuming she slept in it and not in ours!).  Her personal appearance is also subject to inspection (as shared in Post 92. The Inspection).   She is to get up early to attend to these duties and on workdays Mike will do an inspection before he leaves for work.   On days he is off he will do so shortly after he wakes up. 

CHANGE IN ATTENDING HER MAINTENANCE SESSIONS
After I attended the first four sessions, Kayla asked that I stop attending the entire session.  She asked that I attend at the start, give any feedback on observations from the day, and then leave unless she or Mike specifically asks that I stay.  Her reason was simply she wanted most of the session to be between her and Mike.

The sub in me is fine with this.  The wife in me is very happy with this – as I mentioned before, I want Kayla and Mike to forge their own relationship that is not always dependent on my involvement.  Also, I am happy that Kayla was comfortable enough to say this as I know it was hard for her to voice that.  However, the supposed Dom in me was confused! 

I am comfortable with Kayla being submissive to me and she wants to be submissive to me, but clearly we need to define what this really means.  Does she really want to be submissive to me or not?  While she is submissive to me, it is clear that I am not her Dom, nor do I want to be.  That is Mike’s role.  In addition, I don’t want her to be nor consider her to be “my submissive.” She is Mike’s, not mine.   She says she wants to be submissive to me, but then not be involved in her Maintenance Sessions?   So what is my role?

We had a good discussion about this that helped me accept my role.  As we previously agreed and Kayla has in her contract, she must call me Ma’am, and must fulfill my requests and follow my directions.   However, she is free to question me at any time as that is intended to help her learn.  Her questioning needs to be calm and inquisitive and I can cut off further questioning if I feel it is necessary.  She can then bring up the issue at her Maintenance Session.  In addition, I am to deliver Immediate Rewards when earned, and can defer other punishments until Mike is able to deliver them.  

While all of these items were the expectations that were initially set, we didn’t explicitly talk about Maintenance Sessions but it was inferred I would participate.  Now she doesn’t want me there.  Again, I have no qualms about attending or not, it is simply about setting expectations and clearly defining my role.  I accept that the definition of my role will likely change over time as Kayla discovers what is and what is not fulfilling to her as a submissive. 

We talked about this and while we couldn’t really put a name on it.  I am dom-like, but not a Dom, I am submissive to Mike, but have to keep a Dom-mindset when dealing with Kayla.   So, sort of dom-lite, or submissive plus?  The best labels that we came up with to convey my role was Dom-Assistant or Submissive-enabler.   That is, I help serve as Mike’s proxy when he is away and will limit any spankings or punishments to those requiring Immediate Rewards when Mike is not around.  For all others, Kayla will self-report to Mike and Mike will handle accordingly.    In addition, I help facilitate Kayla’s submissive mindset, promoting certain behaviors through my “orders” and general interaction with her.   However, I am not “her Dom” and she is not “my sub.”

 I believe talking through this helped better set expectations going forward and I am fine with this.  This isn’t about my need to be a Dom – as I don’t need it.  It is simply about understanding Kayla’s needs and being there to help her be the sub she wants, so long as it does not interfere with my submissiveness.   I think this clarification provides a good balance that allows me to help her while staying within my submissive head space.   

We talked about re-writing a section of her contract to better codify what it means for her to be submissive to me, but we decided to hold off for now as I am sure we will learn more as we go.  In the meantime, we simply have this new understanding of how it will work.

I’ve got an interesting punishment story to share on my next post re Kayla and more cursing.

NEXT: 105. Cleaning a Potty Mouth

93. Post Inspection. Defining Needs.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE EVENTS
Regarding the events shared in my prior post, I was elated with the outcome of our visit with Kayla. I could not have wished for any better way to have handled the conversation than the way Mike handled it. I don’t have enough superlatives to do Mike justice, so will just leave it at that.

While the inspection was a complete ad-lib, Mike told me he was trying to come up with some way to have Kayla demonstrate some level of submissiveness during our visit. He couldn’t think of anything that would avoid pushing Kayla too far, too fast. The inspection idea just suddenly hit him as Kayla was pressing us for suggestions. He figured there was nothing to lose when he asked Kayla to undress. She could have said no, which would have been fine, and the conversation would have continued absent “the inspection.” But, since Kayla was open to it . . . well, you read what happened next.

HOW MUCH ABOUT KAYLA?
As Kayla becomes more important to my life it seems natural that I share more about her. I need to remain mindful that it is one thing to share some insights about an acquaintance within the context of my experience with them. It is another to delve into the highly personal details of so many aspects of their life and psyche.

She reads my blog and has encouraged me to share whatever I like. I think it allows her to vicariously get herself “out there.” I encouraged her to start her own blog as she loves to write. It’s been my experience thus far that people like YOU in the blogosphere are highly positive and supportive of one another, even when discussing a topic that is not akin to your personal taste. Maybe I’ve been fortunate? She seemed lukewarm to the idea. We’ll see.

Kayla stayed with us all day on Friday, having dinner with us and not leaving until the evening. Mike had us remain naked the entire time. Nothing sexual went on and she was never spanked. There were some opportunities where Mike could have given her one, or even just a play one, but Mike said he purposely wanted to avoid giving her one. He thinks that prolonging it as long as possible will build an anticipation within Kayla that will make it all the more positive and pleasurable for her.

CRYBABY
There was a point after lunch that Kayla stayed in the restroom quite a while. When she came out it is was clear she had been crying. She explained that nothing was wrong and that she cries a lot anytime she has been nervous or anxious for a period of time. “I can’t help it. I am a big crybaby. I am not sad, it just happens and I feel so much better when I am done. I had a lot of anxiety about this visit and I am anxious to move in here, not just because I want out from living with my mom, and not just because I love you all so much and feel so safe and happy when I am around you, but also because of this submission thing. It is all just overwhelming and exciting that I can’t wait.”

She went on to share that she rarely cries in the moment. She thinks she somehow trained herself to hold back in the moment, then burst out in tears when she is alone. She said sometimes these outbursts just happen out of nowhere, and other times she knows it is just there under the surface and she can hold it until she is ready to release it.   That got us talking about how she thinks she will take a punishment.

She said that she is crybaby when it comes to physical pain as well, but often in the same way as emotional stress. She recalled breaking her arm when she fell off a bike as a child and not crying much more than a whimper. Once they had gone to the hospital and she was home all comfy in bed, she cried as if she had just broken it.   It will be interesting to see how she reacts to a spanking.

KAYLAS DOCUMENT – WHAT SHE WANTS HELP WITH
She talked about the things she wants to emotionally improve about herself. She wants help in expressing her emotions in the moment. She knows she is calculating, even with her feelings, and she holds back a lot. She figures it can’t be healthy long term, and she believes it results in stunting her feelings…she misses out on feeling anything at times because she defers or defeats the emotion.

Not sure exactly how we best deal with that, other than encourage her to express herself in the moment. I can tell this will be easier said than done as it will take really challenging her on what she is truly feeling. I already know she has a tendency of identifying an emotion that is clearly just the veneer of what she is truly feeling. As I said before, any emotions come with an entourage of associates.

She also wants help in not drinking. Her mom drinks too much and Kayla has slowly seen a tendency towards drinking too much in herself.   What was just a social thing, rarely drinking to excess, has turned into more occasions of excess. She said the real awakening for her was when she drank alone for the first time, just because she wanted it. She said this scared her and she wants to stop now before “she turns into her mother.”

Lastly, the most surprising thing she asked for help in is in being more empathetic.
She shared that in some ways she feels her compassion is an act. In her mind, it’s brought about as an act of contrition to balance out the negative things she feels about herself. She said that her desire to help or to try to understand the pain of another does not come from love, but from self-pity.  She says there are times she feels she can’t relate at all to someone’s dilemma and feels like giving them a bop on the head and saying, “get it together.” She suppresses that urge and feigns compassion.   Then, although she did something kind for the person, she feels bad because her motivations were not pure.

I would have thought of her as one of the most compassionate people I know – no, let me rephrase that.  She is the most compassionate person I know, even if it comes from a not so loving place.  Not sure how we can help with this one.  Clearly this and all of her other issues she wants help with are tied to her self-esteem.

Does being submissive and being spanked help or hurt that? I came into DD from a foundation of self-assuredness. Kayla believes submission will help her. She approaches things like she would approach a math problem, you just have to solve it. She thinks the accountability and pure vulnerability will allow her to let go and feel in the moment. While I can relate to that, I just don’t know if it will do that for her. Several times we reminded her that there was no expectation that she do anything of this. She is free to live here and not be submissive. She is determined to give submission a try. She actually used the word “craves” when describing submission.

On the next post I’ll talk about the framework we collectively came up with regarding a D/s contract for Kayla. It is fairly consistent with the framework of my Contract.  She is writing it this week – and yes – it includes Kayla’s submission to me, at least to some extent. More on that on the next post.

NEXT: 94. Kayla’s Contract: Defining her Submission.

92.The Inspection. Defining Necessary.

Thanksgiving
I hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as mine.  We spent time with all three of our kids and extended family as we went to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving.  They live about three hours away – a perfect distance for my liking.  Close enough for an easy visit, but far enough away that visits don’t have to be weekly or monthly – ha!

My eldest and his girlfriend left our festivities a bit early to spend time with her family, and my middle child left late in the afternoon to go camping with some friends.  My parents invited J to stay the weekend with them.  He loves staying with them – I mentioned before that typically he stays with them two full weeks out of the summer.  My parents are getting older and I am starting to have concerns about their ability to care for him.  He can be physically demanding at times.  Luckily my sister and her family said they were going to stay the weekend as well, so that meant not only more support to care for J, but more fun as he always enjoys his cousins.  That also meant was that Mike and I could be alone for the long weekend!

Kayla Visits
On Friday we invited Kayla over so we could have our long awaited talk.  She was ready to present “her document” (as mentioned in Post 91) where she wrote down her thoughts on what she wants out of a relationship with us.  She also asked Mike and me to prepare something as well regarding our thoughts on what we want.

She came over around 10 am, nervous, but eager to share.  I was not naked!  Kayla has seen me before in my submissive and naked state, but given that this was a time for us to focus on her without potential distraction or awkwardness, Mike asked me to get dressed as Kayla arrived.

I will use another post to talk about what Kayla put in her “document.”  For now I want to share something very surprising that occurred. 

Kayla handed us each a copy of the document she prepared.  As we were reading I could see that Kayla was very fidgety in her chair, biting her nails and looking down at the floor.  She asked, “What about the document you prepared for me?”

I responded that we didn’t prepare one for her.  She was clearly disappointed and annoyed.

“Hey guys, I really put a lot into this document and was looking forward to reading what you wanted from me.  I really poured out my soul here and I wanted to get your thoughts so I could consider your suggestions.”

Mike responded, “Kayla, what we want in a relationship with you is very simple.  We can sum it all up in one sentence, and tell you what, Jen will go ahead and write it out for you.   I grabbed a pen and pad, wrote it out, signed it, handed it to Mike and he signed it, and then I handed it to Kayla.

It read, “We want to help Kayla grow towards becoming the person SHE wants to become, whatever that person may be, not defined or limited by what we want or what anyone else wants.”

Kayla read the note and said, “Thank you, that’s so sweet, but still, I was hoping for some help so that I don’t make mistakes.”

Mike, knowing Kayla’s penchant for perfectionism, responded, “Kayla, that’s our point.  You have to discover what is and isn’t a mistake for you.  Mistakes not only should be expected, they must be welcomed as they are required as part of discovering yourself.  When you make a mistake, and you will, it means you are going about this correctly.  I am sure we will have some advice and guidance for you along the way, but it wouldn’t be right for us to limit something you want, or push something you don’t want.  There simply isn’t anything appropriate for us to suggest other than what Jen just wrote down for you.”

As Mike and I continued reading, Kayla was becoming more and more fidgety, pursing her lips and acting as if we were professors reading her dissertation.  With a lot of tentativeness in her delivery, she said, “I understand what you are saying, but, I know I’ll need your help and I was hoping for some constructive suggestions as to what some good acts of service and transgressions would be.”

At that point Mike put the paper down and looked at Kayla and said, “Okay, Kayla, do you really want some help in the details regarding your submission?”

“Yes,” Kayla responded.

“First, from now on it is ‘Yes, Sir’ when you speak to me,” Mike calmly stated.

“Yes, Sir, said Kayla.

“Secondly, stand up and take your clothes off,” Mike said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Kayla looked over at me with her eyes as big as saucers.  I felt like saying, “Mike, no, not now,” but I held back.

Kayla hesitated for a moment.  Mike didn’t repeat himself and just stared at her in silence.  It was probably all of five seconds but it felt like 60 when Kayla slowly stood up.  She looked at me, then at Mike, then at the floor.  She then began unbuttoning her shirt with a tremble in her hands.  Mike then told me to go get our full length pedestal mirror from our bedroom. I had no clue what he was planning, but I obeyed without question.

I quickly retrieved it and brought it into the room as Kayla was pulling off her panties and was now completely naked.  Surprisingly, Mike then told me to disrobe.  Whatever was on his mind wasn’t anything we discussed regarding what we would say to Kayla.  Of course, I continued to simply obey and I undressed.  He told me to stand by the chair I had been sitting in across the coffee table from where Kayla was standing.

Kayla was very nervous and clearly embarrassed as she stared at the floor. Mike placed the mirror in front of Kayla and told Kayla to look at herself and then to look over at me.  He asked Kayla what differences she saw.  Kayla began to describe some physical differences and he stopped her.

“No, not in looks.  What difference do you see in your beauty compared to Jenny?”

WTF?  Wow, that seemed harsh.  He knows she is insecure. What was he doing?  I stayed silent.  Kayla’s eyes began to tear up and she was puzzled.  “What do you mean?

“What do you mean, Sir,” Mike corrected her.

That only made Kayla more nervous as her lower lip trembled as she fought to not start crying.

Mike responded, “Kayla, physically you are just as beautiful as Jen or any other woman.  Your face and your body is very attractive, beautiful, and sexy.  But, it isn’t your body where people see beauty, or lack thereof.  It is in your energy, and frankly Kayla, your energy is very unappealing.”

While Mike was talking very monotone with no anger or disgust in his voice, Kayla’s eyes teared up and tears slowly began to stream down her face.  I was so tempted to intervene and just hug her and tell her it is all okay and I told myself I’ll give it just another minute or two before I just had to react.

Mike continued, “Kayla, you have a hard time making eye contact with us for more than a second and you can barely look at the mirror without immediately looking back the floor.  Your elbows are pressed tightly against your torso, your hands are in a fist, your knees are touching, your shoulders are drooping down, your bottom lip is tucked under your top lip, and you are slouched over.  Physically you are amazingly beautiful, but you carry your beauty like a meek apology instead of as a bold statement.  That’s what I want to help you with.”

Mike continued, “Since you want suggestions, I have an idea for a requirement of your submission, in fact, I will include Jen in this requirement as well.  We are going to have inspections, and we will have the first one right now.”

The Inspection
Mike called Kayla over to him and Mike stood up.  He said the inspection consists of him inspecting our bodies.  He said this will be a practice run without any punishments and the grading would be simple.  He explained, “You start with an A, and for each infraction you drop a letter grade. Anything less than an A is a punishment for you, and anything less than a B results in BOTH of you being punished.  I want both of you to be accountable to each other for maintaining yourselves at my standards.  So if one of you gets a C or worse, then both of you are punished.  Understood?

“Yes Sir,” we both responded.

Mike looked at Kayla’s head and said, “Your hair is nice, still an A.  And your make-up, it doesn’t matter to me if you wear any or a little, but I don’t want to see a whole lot. No need to cover your lovely face.  What you have on right now looks nice, so, still an A.”

I noticed that with just those few sentences from Mike that Kayla’s physical demeanor already began to change. She was standing taller and she was making more eye contact with Mike.  She seemed eager to absorb every word of his and her body seemed more relaxed.

Mike then told Kayla to open up her mouth.  He stuck a finger in and stretched her mouth open a bit and looked closely at her teeth.  “Okay,” he said, “in fairness, you didn’t know this was coming and we were just snacking on some stuff, so, yeah, not so good.   You’ll have to get in the habit of brushing and flossing right after every meal or snack.  So, yeah, that takes you to a B.”  He said it so nicely and jokingly that Kayla continued to be put at ease and there was actually a small smile on her face.

“Okay,” said Mike, “now your posture.  You need to get those shoulders back and stand up straight with your chest out.  Get those arms unglued from the side of your body, open up your stance a little, stand tall and proud.  Next time, that will cost you a letter, but we’ll keep you at a B for now.  Now, let me see your hands.”

Kayla put out her hands and Mike looked them over and said, “I think you know the grade now.  You are down to a C as you need to work on not biting your nails.  Tell you what, Jenny will take you for a manicure and pedicure, on us, as a welcome gift.  How does that sound?”

“Great, Sir,” said Kayla.   Her eyes now showed a spark and enthusiasm that hadn’t been present before.

“Alright, now, your breasts,” said Mike.  Just so you know, I am making this up as I go.  I hadn’t given inspections any thought until you seemed desperate for some guidance from us.  Clearly, I need to have some requirements of presenting your breasts.”

Mike put his fingers on his chin as if this required deep contemplation as he stared at Kayla’s breasts.

He snapped his fingers and said, “I got it.  When I call inspection, I want you to quickly tweak or pull your nipples so that they are as erect as you can get them in say, 10 seconds. That should be enough to satisfy what I am looking for.  Please do that for me now.”

With that, Kayla raised each hand to one breast, pinched her nipples and twisted and pulled for about 10 seconds, just long enough to get them to protrude a bit.  This even prompted a giggle from Kayla and a smiling “How’s that, Sir?”  She seemed to be totally at ease now and appeared to like the fact that Mike was looking at her breasts so intently.

“Great,” said Mike, “no change in your grade so you are still at a C, in fact, they look so nice maybe I’ll raise your grade to a B.”

Kayla laughed and said, “But Sir, when talking about my breasts I prefer to hear “C” and not “B.”  This was clearly a reference to her describing her breasts to me as “barely a C cup.”   Mike laughed and smiled and said, “Okay, then, you are still a C.”   All of this was even more evidence that Kayla had quickly become relaxed and comfortable.

He then gazed down between the stubble between her legs and said, “Now, tell me what you got going on down stairs?”

Kayla said, “Well sir, I normally keep it bare but I am a bit overdue for a shave.   I wasn’t expecting to be naked for anyone.”

“Fair enough,” Mike agreed, “but if you are going to be bare it needs to stay cleanly shaven at all times.  You’ll need to make a daily habit of shaving as anything less than totally smooth will decrease your grade.  So, if this were a real inspection, you would now be at D.

“And, now your toes.  I guess you can’t bite your toenails so they look nice.  So, there you have it, if this would have been a real inspection you would have a D and both you and Jen would be punished.  Again, I want the two of you to be accountable to each other to always be ready for an inspection at any time.

“Yes, Sir, but just so you know,” Kayla responded with a smile on her face, “I can bite my toenails, I just chose not to.”

“What?” Mike said a bit bewildered.

“Let me show you, Sir,” And with that, Kalya sat down and proceeded to put her toe in your mouth.  “Yes, I am very flexible” she proclaimed.

It was amazing how Kayla transformed in the span of a few minutes.  What had just been a bundle of nerves, shyness, and embarrassment was now comfortable, bubbly, and proud.  I couldn’t be more elated with what Mike was able to accomplish with this impromptu inspection idea.  It was unexpected and amazing, but wasn’t quite over.

Mike then said, “Oh, I almost forgot, the inspection isn’t quite over.  Kayla, please stand back up, turn around, and bend over.”

Kayla did so but was a bit befuddled.

“Okay, reach back and spread your ass cheeks,” commanded Mike.  Kayla did so and I could see once again she was pursing her lips.

Okay Kayla, sorry to say that you are now an F.  I expect your asshole to be clean as a whistle at all times, clean enough to eat, literally.  Okay, stand back up.”

Well, that was a buzzkill.  Mike then asked me to stand in front of him and he proceeded to inspect me.  It isn’t important to the story, but I got a B – hey, we had never done an inspection before so I wasn’t prepared.  I will be next time, as will Kayla.

With my inspection complete Mike asked Kayla if she had any questions or concerns about everything that had transpired thus far.

“Yes, Sir,” she said, “I just keep thinking about the inspection of my butt.  The mood was just getting so positive and then that.  Was that really necessary?”

Mike paused for a moment as he calculated his response.   “Necessary.  Necessary.  Humm… great word.”

Mike continued, “I think other than the lesson that mistakes should be welcomed as part of your growth, the next best lesson is actually about that word.  What is necessary?”   My mind jumped to a scene in the movie The Matrix as Morpheus discusses “What is real” with Neo, but I digress.

“Kayla, necessary to what?  Heck, Jen and I were married almost 25 years before Domestic Discipline.  Is it necessary for me to spank Jen or discipline her in any particular way?   Is it necessary to have an assortment of paddles, or use butt plugs, nipple clamps, or a tack bra?   Is submission itself even necessary?  The answer is simple.  No, it is not necessary.”

“In fact, Kayla, I think this takes our discussion full circle to where Jen and I started with you regarding our advice.  What is necessary is up to you.  My role is to help you find what is necessary to give you the level of submission and fulfillment that you want for yourself.  What is it that will give you the positive feelings that you want, that allows you to meet your commitments to yourself, and to allow you to become more like the person you strive to be?  I read enough in your paper to see that you want to become more confident in your body image.  I believe the best way to get comfortable in your skin is to, well, show more skin.  Through the continued acceptance and admiration that you will experience, the greater your confidence will grow.”  Laughingly, Mike then said, “Kayla, before long you’ll be willing to show anyone your asshole for no particular reason.”

We all laughed.  With that, Mike said, “Now let’s finish reading your document and talk about what’s next.”

Kayla asked, “Can we get dressed now, Sir.”

“No.  You might as well get used to both of you being naked around the house as long as the kids aren’t around.”

We completed reading her document and talking more about her vision for her submission and how the living arrangements would work.   I’ll share more about her document and our next steps in my next post.

Happy Thanksgiving!

NEXT: 93. Post Inspection.  Defining Needs.