Alice Zahn was a stay at home Mom, but that did not mean she did not have a job. She worked from home part time as a reservation specialist for a chain of resorts. The job met her needs. It allowed her to bring in some money while being a stay at home parent. Feeling like she contributed economically to the household and having a parent whose primary focus was the kids were important to Alice.

Today was a hectic day at home and work. Instead of working her normal 4 hour shift, Alice worked two hours overtime. This led Alice to feel like she was in a rush to get everything done around the house. The pressure of doing what was on her agenda came from within. None of the housework which was on Alice’s list was urgent. Also, her husband Fred would be more than happy to help get anything off the list done which his wife deemed too important to wait.

Alice was still finishing her own to-do list, when the frantic energy of her home increased with the kids arriving home from school. Her son and daughter, Luke and Lori, were seven-year old twins. Kids that age were not known to be a calming force, and those two brought more energy wherever they were compared to the average kids their age. They also bickered with each other.

Bickering and fighting between siblings so close in age was normal. Alice would have been able to handle hearing those two act like normal 7 year olds if only the bickering and fighting was normal. The issue with the bickering was exacerbated by how Lori reacted. Alice’s daughter would always end up bawling her eyes out. Luke's sister was sensitive when it came to her brother. Luke seemed to know exactly how to push her buttons and Lori would end up crying.

Today’s debate between Luke and Lori was about who rules, boys or girls. Lori started the dialogue with the strong opening statement of “Baseball caps were stupid”. Luke quickly retorted with “No, dresses are stupid because boys rule, girls drool”. Lori found Luke’s statement to be against the protocol of the discussion. He was not allowed to put her down. Lori went running to get the moderator to file a grievance. Seeing the tears forming in Lori’s eyes added to Alice’s stress and as the arbitrator of the dispute, she wanted to diffuse the situation.

When Alice got into the living room she was not happy with how nonchalant Luke was about the situation. His sister was hurt by his words and her son was acting like he did not have a care in the world. If Luke’s heart was not going to be in the discussion, then Alice was going to end it. The twin’s mother made a ruling that Luke would drop the subject.

Lori smiled, once again, she got her way. The ruling was to her advantage. There was the added bonus of her mom not telling her to quit. Once their mother left the room Lori was going to continue the debate. This time the dispute would go how she wanted, one sided, with her winning.

When Lori stated her new opening statement of “Girls rule, boys drool”. Luke took this as a start of a new dispute. In his eyes, how could it not be? Luke responded with “No”. Lori said “Yes, because dresses were better than baseball caps”. Luke disagreed with that statement. “If dresses were better than baseball caps then some boys would also wear them, just like girls also wore baseball caps”.

Lori getting her mom to come back into the living room flustered Alice. She needed time to get the work done. She blamed the interruption on Luke for not following orders. The twin’s mother was really not in the mood to be called back in the living room once more. To put a stop on Luke and Lori’s debate she made a new ruling. If Luke started to fight with his sister again Alice was going to put him in a dress to prove Lori right.

Alice was not in the mood to be called into the living room every five minutes by her daughter. The mother went for the easy solution instead of the right one. This ruling was supposed to stop the constant interruptions. If Luke stopped joining in the bickering Lori would also. Alice should have gave both of her children a reason to stop.

With this ruling, Lori not only had free reign to continue the debate, but now she had too many incentives to goad Luke into bickering. Getting Luke into a dress would let her get one up on him. Lori loved when her brother got into trouble and she did not. That reaffirmed in her eyes that she was their mom’s favorite child. Luke’s sister thought it would be so funny to see him in a dress. Plus, she could tease him about wearing a dress at school. There was too much to gain for Lori not to get Luke to start bickering again.

After their mom went back to finishing her household chores Lori went upstairs. The conniving girl was going to have an outfit picked out for her mom to put Luke in. She went to her closet and picked out a blue and white jersey dress. She chose this one, because it was the most grown up dress she had. After Luke was in the dress Lori could easily remind her dear brother by pointing one out. Then after laying the dress on her bed Lori finished off the outfit with white cotton panties with unicorns on them, white lace ankle socks and black Mary Jane shoes.

After getting the punishment ready Lori went back downstairs to enact the next part of her plan. This phase of getting Luke to start bickering with her was harder than Lori thought it would be. Luke was not taking the bait. His mom made a threat and he knew she would carry it out if her orders were not followed. Alice and Fred knew the power of keeping their word, good or bad. Luke and Lori knew they could trust their parents and understood Mom and Dad meant what they said.

Lori knew she had to trick her brother into saying something bad about girls or dresses. She feign sincerity as best as she could and asked Luke why he was stupid and thought baseball caps were better than dresses. Even with trying to be as nice as possible Lori could not resist calling Luke stupid. She was smart enough to know that, while just being nice would not get Luke to answer, the name calling might provoke him to respond. Also Luke would know something was up if Lori was too nice. His sister could never totally hid her contempt for him.

Luke fell into Lori’s trap. His sister would pester him but they would sometimes talk about why they liked something the other did not. Luke’s answer was “Because both boys and girls wore baseball caps and only girls wore dresses”. The answer was innocent, but was good enough for Lori. She started to cry and ran to the kitchen.

Alice was so mad at Luke when she saw Lori crying. The mother just wanted some peace in her house and was at a loss at what to do. She did not even think of the threat she made until Lori was nice enough to point out what she said. That gave Alice an idea. Repeat the threat and make sure that Luke understood he had to be nice to his sister. As soon as her son said it would not happen again she would relent on the punishment.

Luke was worried when he saw Lori running to the kitchen. He knew his mom was going to be madder at him than a teacher at an unruly class. As soon as Luke and his mom made eye contact she told him to go up to Lori’s room and put on the dress on the bed.

Lori added don’t forget the panties, socks and shoes. She taunted her brother to irk him. She knew that if Luke said he would stop her mom would relent. Lori wanted to see Luke in a dress too much to let that happen. She wanted something good to make fun about her brother. Plus, after Luke was in a dress he could never say only girls wore dresses. Lori would point out he did also.

Luke Zahn could not believe what his mother was doing. “Mom, Lori asked me a question and I answered it. She asked me why I was stupid and thought baseball caps are better than dresses. I was not bickering. This is so unfair.” He said in protest to the punishment which his mom was giving him for making his sister cry once again. If Lori was going to make fun of him she should be able to take the teasing back from him. That was fair and his mom taught him that everyone needed to be treated fairly.

Luke’s response was not what his mom wanted to hear. She wanted him to say sorry and it would not happen again. If the threat of being in a dress was not enough then Luke was going to be in one. Alice Zhan started the petticoat punishment by saying in a demanding voice. “Young man, I told you to stop it. I am sick of you making your baby sister cry. You should know better for you are older, so get upstairs right now and change. You will be wearing that dress for the rest of the day.”

Luke was dumbfounded and started to protest more. Yes he was the older sibling but it was only by 3 hours. He was quickly stopped by his mom when Lori started to cry louder. He marched upstairs and told his mom he would never forgive her for this.

Lori started to laugh and make fun of Luke as he stumped down the stairs in the outfit she picked out for him. When the boy in a dress tried to fight back his mom scolded him. His sister kept on saying demeaning remarks at him and his mom just sat back watching. Alice believed this punishment, along with bringing her peace in her household, was going to be an empowering moment for her daughter. Lori would learn how to stand up for herself instead of running to Alice all the time.

Luke was not going to cry. After a couple of minutes, Alice figured out that Lori’s words were not having the desired effect on Luke. The mom made a bad decision to help push Luke over the edge. She started to laugh at him. Her laughter hurt him but still he would not cry. Still Luke would not give Lori and his mom the pleasure of seeing him cry.

Finally, the pain from his mom, the woman Luke looked up to the most in the world, laughing at him broke Luke. A tear fell from his right eye. That moment when Luke showed weakness, was when his sister really went after him. Lori got her face right next to Luke’s and kept on calling him a sissy. Kept on calling him a sissy, that he looks so cute in that dress that maybe he was her sister not her brother. Luke’s mom was agreeing with Lori. Hearing his mom thought he was a sissy hurt Luke the most. Still he was not going to give Lori the pleasure of seeing him cry. He got up from the couch. Then as he was holding back the wailing he ran upstairs. Luke did not start bawling until after he slammed his bedroom door.

His mom was so relieved that he finally broke, she was tired of the same thing over and over again. Lori was sensitive and would cry when Luke would tease her. Luke should just put up with his sister teasing him some, instead of teasing her back. Little did Alice know protecting Lori from taking what she gave out would make Lori a self-centered person.

Luke heard the door of his room open and he asked to be left alone. His Mom did not like seeing how loud his crying was. To make herself feel better Alice lied. She said to herself Luke’s reaction was for her son’s own good. He had to learn to be the better person and turn the other cheek when dealing with people who were not as strong as him. She did not do this to teach him that lesson, she just wanted to have peace in her house. She did not think it would cause any lasting harm. Little did she know that Luke was not far from telling the truth when he said he would never forgive her for this punishment.

Alice tried to console her hurting son and he recoiled from her touch. She told him he needed to quit crying or else he would have to stay in that dress longer. He snapped at his mom “Fine keep me in a dress all you want and make me cry more. Why aren’t you going to get punished for making me cry? I did nothing wrong. Lori said boys look stupid in baseball caps so I just told her girls look stupid in dresses. She started it and you know it. Leave me alone, I hate you.”

Even with the knowledge of her son not meaning those words Alice was hurt hearing them. She also knew from hearing them she went too far with the punishment. She was going to have to make this up to him and also somehow get Lori not to be so sensitive. “Luke how about when your father gets home you and me go and get some ice cream.”

Luke was not in the mood for ice cream or to be with his mom. Luke said “Yeah, have me go outside in a dress. You are a meany. Leave me alone!”

Alice knew she messed up. She did tell him that he was going to be wearing a dress for the rest of the day if he kept crying. Luke believed her when she made that threat. Alice forgot that when someone always kept their word they needed to watch what they said. She did not mean that but Luke did not know. She corrected herself “Luke, you can change before we go.”

Luke said “No, you said I will be in this dress for the rest of the day if I kept crying. I am going to do so, so that you do not punish me again for not listening to you. You are a meany, leave me alone!”

Alice was lost at what to do. She went with his fear of getting into more trouble to try to get him out of the dress. “You know that your father is not going to like seeing his son in a dress, so you better change now mister.”

Luke was not fazed by that threat. Luke said “I will tell daddy it was punishment from you. You will be in trouble for this not me. You did this, not me. You are a meany, leave me alone!”

Now, Alice was not looking forward to her husband coming home. Fred was going to flip when he finds out what she did. Fred was not happy when his wife would try to protect Lori from taking what she dished out. Her husband wanted Lori to handle what she gave other people.

Alice pleaded with her son. “Please get out of the dress right now. Luke I messed up and I am sorry. I should have never done this. I should not have laughed at you and made fun of you. I just wanted you to feel how your sister felt for she is so sensitive. She is not as strong as you so you need to take her teasing.”

Luke said “No, I am staying in this dress. You were mean to me, so mean and I did nothing wrong. I stood up for myself. I do not like to be picked on and Lori was doing so. You should have stopped her instead of being mean to me. Now leave me alone, you are a meany!”

Alice knew right then it was useless to try to reason with Luke. Luke was stubborn. He might have only been seven years old but he stood his ground when he thought he was right. Alice resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have a huge fight with her husband.

Alice’s concern about messing up were lessened when she got downstairs. Lori was smiling and ran to hug her mom. As they embraced the Brat Princess thanked her. Lori’s mom thought the thanks was for helping her daughter find the strength to stand up for herself. But the thanks was for now, Lori had something to tease and torment her brother about.

**************

Fred felt relaxed and happy as soon as he saw his front door. Another day at work in the logistics department at Paulson Corp was over. The tired man was finally going to be able to spend time with his family. Being around those he loved was the best part of Fred’s day. There will be little chores to do, but they were for his family not a paycheck. He enjoyed being a good father by being involved with the household.

The endorphin high of coming home was gone before Fred fully enter his home. The man of the house was greeted by his daughter, Lori, gleefully announcing that Luke was in a dress. Then she added that she could not wait to tell everyone in school how much her brother liked being in a dress and how cute he was. The loving father was concerned about how happy Lori was. He swore part of the joy in his daughter’s voice came from true malice she had towards Luke.

Neither Alice nor Fred could believe what they heard, that she was happy about telling people at school something bad about her brother. Fred was also concerned that Lori was starting to lie. Before Fred said that, he knew he was going to be mad at his wife. This was, because before Fred could question what Lori was talking about, Alice started her explanation with “Don’t be mad”. In Fred’s eyes, don’t be mad meant you should be mad but the person saying it did not want you to be mad.

Fred heard the story and was livid, he just looked at his wife and said they would talk about that later. Before he went upstairs to comfort Luke, Fred told Lori she would not tell anyone at school about her mom putting her brother in a dress. He then went upstairs to comfort Luke. Luke was leery of his dad because of the threat that his mom made, and as soon as he saw him he started to cry more saying “Mommy made me do it.” Fred calmed down his son and got him to change. He promised his son that he would never have to wear a dress again and no one would know about it.

After they put the kids to bed, Fred and Alice had a talk. The discussion was one sided with Alice doing all the talking. Fred’s wife started the conversation by saying how wrong she was and that the petticoat punishment would never happen or be brought up again. She also agreed to the fact that she was going to have to do something extremely special for Luke to make this up to him. The way Alice came clean, and that she knew she had to rectify the situation and the cooling down period made it so there was no fighting between the Zahns.