Subs:

What do you do when you feel you need to "make up" for being bad?
I really don't know to be honest. There's only one serious incident for me so far that comes to mind and I so wanted to make up for it and had no idea how to do that. My reaction was to fall into the trap that his_pita described

However, beating yourself up for doing wrong is not your responsibility.
Mind you, not a good idea. He was so sweet about the actual mistakes I made but not too pleased with my taking my punishment into my own hands...got a much needed lecture on how this is his job, not mine. And he's right, too. (lol, I hate when I have to say that)

If it were to happen again I think I'd just try to show him that I see where I've gone wrong and really show him that I'm sorry and I'm working on this never happening again. Not only saying it but proving it with my actions. While making up through being extra nice, coming up with special treats and the like sounds tempting, I don't think it should be linked to the punishment/mistakes/feeling bad thing...if I've done a mistake it won't help to cover it up by making gifts - those are things I choose to do to make him happy, and not because I need some relief from feeling guilty.

What I got out of this one major fuck up on my part (at least that's what I'd call it...he didn't ) is that things go wrong sometimes, but once it's dealt with, there's no need to feel bad about it anymore - just make sure to do your best in the future to avoid doing it over and over again. It worked for me...