Apologizing to a few of us comes naturally but to many of us it is very hard to do. Most of us do not like to be wrong, let alone admit that we were wrong. Our family sees and knows us for who we are. They see us when we are stressed out, worried, sad, and upset. We tend to raise our voices when we are doing something we think is important (studying for an exam) while our children are screaming and running around the house. If we are not busy doing something that might stress us out then we are more likely to tell our children in a calm, yet firm voice that they need to stop running and screaming. We would then give them another activity to do such as clean up or do schoolwork.
If I raise my voice at my children due to my own stress I try to immediately apologize to them. I want them to know that it is not them but me. I also want them to know that I am not perfect and that no one is perfect. I still have to work on myself and some days are better than others but I never have the right to take it out on them. When we do not apologize to our children they tend to think that they did something wrong and that is why mommy is upset.
It is hard being an adult.
There are so many things going on and so many worries.
You want to have a smart child, there is such an emphasis on our children succeeding academically.
You want to be a good mom so you drive your child to every after school activity that is available, as a result you end up wearing yourself and your child out.
You want to have a clean house, this at times is nearly impossible, so you end up yelling at your child to clean their room.
What to apologize for?
* If you raise your voice.
* If you said something that you did not mean to say.
*If you are stressed out and you take it out on your child.
How to apologize to your child?
Tell your child that you love them very much and if appropriate let them know what is stressing you out. Let your child know that they did not do anything wrong and that you are sorry. You will be surprised by the reaction you might receive when you apologize to your child. They might even cry because they will understand that you care about their feelings. You will also feel a lot better after you have apologized to your child, I know I do. There will be no need to carry the guilt around because you have been forgiven by
someone very dear to you.
So don’t forget to love, love, and love the little people in your life. Our life is so short. Don’t stress over the little things in life because everything is little things.
This was featured on Huffington Post