Events...

[topthemonkey]

The monkey and I have a new slavegirl in our care. As you may have read in a previous entry, she's been fitted with a collar: it's a simple choke-chain collar from a pet store, with a padlock holding it on (it's not functioning as a choke chain -- but I wanted to stick with a pet-store chain as opposed to something from a hardware store because I know those are designed to get wet and be in contact with skin).

Much like the monkey was, we started with some pain -- she was given fifteen strokes with my NastyThing(tm). Her hair's been shorn. Her jewelry's been taken away, and while she and the monkey had played most jubilantly during last week, now that she's got her collar on, her permission to get off may be a bit more limited.

So, here's the points where I see room for improvement:

• Communications: She needs to learn to do what the monkey does: tell me "I'm not okay" or "I'm in trouble" as soon as she realizes it. We already discovered one (digestive) problem that we took steps to correct (it was communicated to the monkey, who in turn made it clear to me). We've had other occurences where she spoke to my slavegirl before speaking to me about a problem.

• Self confidence and self-esteem. We've already had a couple of fits where we've found her crying, feeling worthless or feeling like a failure.
  This is something the monkey took a LONG time learning.

• Learning the protocol. This is going to sound major for those of you who don't understand it, but she's regularly cuddling up to me, rubbing her hands across my back, or taking my hand in her own. I've told her outright: "If you want affection, you can ask for it, and I'll give it to you. I care about you and have no problems showing it if you need it." She's also got the annoying habit of gawking at whatever it is I'm doing on-screen when she has her own tasks to be doing.

There's no shame in any of the above, mind -- it's behaviors she needs to learn, and it reminds me how far the monkey has come in this time.