Apologize for a wrong

Have you ever lost your temper with your kids?

Have you ever apologized about it?

Maybe they’re too young now to even understand an apology, much less appreciate how hard it is to apologize to someone you’ve wronged.

Or maybe they’re old enough, but it’s just really tough to do, especially when your outburst was more than well deserved.

(“YOU DON’T LIKE THE DINNER? YOU DIDN’T LIKE THE DINNER LAST NIGHT EITHER. HOW ABOUT YOU MAKE THE DINNER TOMORROW NIGHT!?!”)

If you haven’t apologized - or even if you already have - why not apologize in a written message to them?

I’ve found this to be a pretty cathartic exercise. Especially after I’ve yelled at one of my kids, and even as I was doing it, I knew that it was the wrong thing to be doing, and I felt terrible about it afterwards.

A written apology gives you a chance to take a beat, let things cool down, and collect your thoughts. And it will be a great reminder to them that we’re all just human here, and we’re bound to fuck up from time to time - even parents - and that’s OK, as long as we recognize how we should have behaved.