Embarrassment starts early...

So my precious, darling handsome boy came home with a note from the teacher....not a good note. It accompanied a letter that he had written to a little girl in his class. It said" Dear GirlinMyClassWhoseNameHasBeenChanged, You are meen...you are meen. " Teacher wrote in note that she talked to him about writing only nice things and left it for me to deal with, since she knows that I will handle things appropriately.
So, I asked Ryan why he would write the note. What on earth could make my son, who has been such a good friend with note recipient.
Ryan: I wrote her a note that said "I like you...You are nice" but she wasn't supposed to read it until she got home. But she read it at school in front of everyone."
Me: Well, why did that make you mad?
Ryan: Because she read it at school...it made me fill all "wiggly" inside and then I got mad!
Me: So you said she was mean?
Ryan: Yes.
So, we talked about being embarrassed, about how it is not nice to strike out at someone when we are mad at them and how we should take time to think about what we want to say rather than just getting mad. And then he got a spanking, as a consequence for his actions and for hurting the Little Girl's feelings. Later, at open house, he talked to Little Girl and apologized.