Simple Apology

“I am……….s….so…..sor…..sorr……sorry!”

Whew! Those three words are sometimes the hardest words I have ever uttered.
Truth?

I use to hate to admit when I was wrong. I was a “woman, hear me roar” kind of gal, and I never liked saying that I was sorry. Ask my husband of almost 35 years.

But something changed all that. One of those life incidents that forever changes a lot about a girl’s life. I had kids.

I had never really thought about it before. It wasn’t one of those “Sorry, Mommy did not mean to squish your finger in the door kind of apologies”. That is a given. I could say I was sorry about those type of things. Who couldn’t?

Mine was one day when I thought one of my little guys was lying. I just knew I had caught him in a dandy. He had taken a piece of candy off the counter. I couldn’t find it. I had laid it on the counter and specifically told him not to bother it, it was for his brother. He had already had his piece. But he wanted more.

So when I walked out of the room to gather the rest of the freshly folded clothes to put up, it was no where to be found. “Where is the piece of candy?” “I dunno Mommy” came the obvious answer.

Then came my accustations and his denials. I got angry, he cried, I sent him to his room. I couldn’t believe he would be that determined to lie to me!

I opened the dishcloth drawer to pull out a cloth for washing the dishes…yep. You guessed it.

That piece of candy
was laying
in between two washcloths.
I had inadvertently put it away as I put up the clean dishcloths.

Now I am sure I had apologized to one of my kids before, like I said..but this one was memorable. Although he really wasn’t interested in seeing me, I went in behind the closed bedroom door. “Son” I said sheepishly. “I am sorry”.

He abruptly quit crying and turned his little head over his shoulder. “Why Mommy?” “Because I know you didn’t take the candy. I found it.” Now it was my turn to cry.

Quicker than I could say his name, he was over hugging me and telling me that it was alright. “It is no big deal Mommy…I know you still love me and I love you…” It was that quick. No hurt, no grudges, just love. True forgiveness became a little more real that day.

Telling your kids you are sorry when you make a mistake is of the utmost importance in my opinion. It will teach them a lesson they will not forget…..nor will you.

Ephesians 4:32: Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

“Mommy, can I have another piece of candy now?” 🙂