The Natural Sissy and the Gang

Sissy Sunday

"Is that really the Minister for Education?" Olivia whispered, leaning in close to Danielle to speak directly into her ear, unsure if she was supposed to be talking to her friends. She had not been given her pacifier, so technically she could, but she was also a child standing around outside a church with lots of adults, so she would be expected to behave accordingly, and be seen and not overly heard. Olivia and her family were not really churchgoers, but that Sunday morning was apparently a special occasion, important for the petticoating community, and her parents had decided to turn out to support the British Petticoating Association. As had just about everyone else from the look of things, as quite a large crowd was gathering for the enhanced morning service. Including the Right Honourable Kirsty Symonds MP, Minister for Education and champion of the Mixed Girls Schools programme rolling out across the whole country.

"She is acting more like the Queen of Sheba, but yes, I think so?" Danielle murmured back as she did not want to draw attention to herself either. They were standing just to one side of the main entrance, just behind her mother, who was meeting and greeting the great and the good in her role as a councillor of the British Petticoating Association. "And that must be her husband and her children following in her wake?"

"No mistaking that they are petticoated, is there?" Olivia sighed, glancing at the two boys and one girl in their long white dresses and white cloaks, and prissy bonnets tied under their chins with white silk ribbons. They did have pacifiers, she noted, and they were curtseying to every adult they were introduced to. "And we have television cameras too?"

"All I know is that Mrs Symonds is making a speech, during the service?" Danielle hissed before standing straighter, just as her mother turned around to draw her into the group she was talking to, which brought her face to face with Mrs Symonds

"This is my daughter...Danielle...she is head girl at Meadvale Mixed...say good morning to Mrs Symonds, Danielle?" Helen Morton said, squeezing her hand.

"Good morning...Ma'am," Danielle said as everyone seemed to look her up and down, as if she was an exhibit on public display. She was wearing a grey tweed coat with a faux fur pink collar, white tights and shiny black MaryJanes, her latest items from the One Love collection at Marks and Spencer.

"Good morning, little one...such a charming girl, Helen...but I am not at all sure about making a petticoatee head girl? Our perfect children should never be pressured into taking on responsibilities we know they are not ready for?" Mrs Symonds said imperiously, clearly not impressed with something Danielle was really quite proud of, and that her dear mother had been very pleased with, when the role was offered to her. "She still needs looking after herself, to reach her full potential, and allowing her to have authority over her peers at school is only going to confuse her, surely?"

"We decided to let her have a try, because she does set such a good example...but I was a little concerned that she might get a little carried away, so she is diaper-dependent...we feel that keeps her grounded, Kirsty?" Helen Morton replied, a little testily.

"In my view, all petticoatees should be diaper-dependent...my three certainly are...it is so incredibly important to regress them completely when we start formally petticoating our children...half-measures and modern thinking have no place in the process." Mrs Symonds continued, blatantly criticising Helen's parenting skills, but Danielle thought that she was more likely playing to her audience. Because of her mother's work for the British Petticoating Association, Danielle was aware of the politics surrounding the petticoating community. She had often overheard her parents talking about it, because the recent national introduction of educational petticoating in state schools was a controversial subject, with the Conservative Party eagerly supporting it and the Labour Party in opposition passionately against it. Within the nascent petticoating community, there was a constant ongoing debate about the traditional methodology and some more modern interpretations. Her parents were quite traditional, and reactive. That was why she was still in her punishment pants, because Arabella Sinclair's shocking behaviour had alarmed many traditionalists and they had a tendency to lock the stable door after the horse had bolted. But there was a big difference between enforcing the traditional principles and imposing extreme discipline on all petticoatees. Danielle had heard Mrs Blackstone arguing that one with her beloved mother, several times, because whilst Mrs Blackstone was quite conventional in many ways, and certainly respected the traditions, she was also a modernist and a realist. She wanted more parents to petticoat their children, and she did not much care if that was just for school, or if people casually picked and chose which principles of petticoating they put into practise. Helen Morton did not agree. She believed in standards and consistency, and she did not pick and choose which rules she followed when it came to petticoating her two children, but she was also not a rabid extremist, either. Mrs Symonds was suggesting that every petticoatee should be diapered all the time, and that was definitely extreme. "I fully intend to ensure that all our petticoating schools can offer proper facilities to all their pupils, which will enable those who cannot afford an expensive private education to be petticoated to a much higher standard than most people tolerate...we must set the bar far higher, Helen...we must not let anything dilute our principles!"