First time in the principal's office

I picked up my 1st grader from after-school care on Friday, we went to music class, came home, all was normal. As I was sorting through the mail, he came up to me with a few sheets of paper folded in half, slid them in front of me, and mumbled "I need you to sign this."I asked him why, and he said he just needed me to sign it. I asked what it was, and he said it was private and he didn't want me to read it. I told him that if it needed my signature, I had to read it. That's when he broke down. "I made a VERY BAD DECISION today."So we sat down on the couch to talk (he needed a blanket and our cat for comfort) and he started telling me what happened. Halfway through, my husband walks in the door, and son immediately clams up. "I don't want to say it in front of dad."We reassure him that we love him, that he needs to be honest, etc. and got him talking again. Apparently he and another boy were tired of waiting for recess and decided to stand on toilets in the bathroom instead. (Boy logic!) They were sent to the principal's office, where he told us that he was honest about what they had been doing. They had to write lines, which were sent home to be signed.Hubs and I told him that everyone makes bad decisions sometimes, it's not the end of the world, and talked about taking responsibility for your bad decisions by being honest, accepting the consequences, and making better choices next time. We talked through what those better choices might be, and also told him we were proud of him for being honest and accepting responsibility.After we were done talking and had had a good cuddle, he said, "I was worried Dad was going to spank me." He has never been spanked in his life! I don't even know where that came from.I'll be honest, the whole shame-faced "I need you to sign this" was just adorable (though of course I didn't let him see my amusement). He's never been in trouble at school before, and I could just see the regret written all over his little face.We didn't scold him or give any consequences, thinking that (a) he had already had consequences at school, and (b) he was clearly very torn up and regretful about it. But, I also don't want to set up a dynamic where he feels free to get in trouble at school and then comes home to be comforted about it, you know? Did we handle this okay, or what would be a better way to approach it? via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2eb6iee