Week 19: Relationship Skills: Apologizing:
“I’m sorry.”
“I forgive you.”
These are powerful words! We all make mistakes and can hurt others in the process. Teaching our children how to make an authentic apology and ask for forgiveness is an important skill to maintain healthy, trusting relationships. A genuine apology can help to de-escalate conflicts and soothe hurt feelings.
A sincere apology will do the following:
- involve some self-examination to change behavior in the future
- give the other person time and space to calm down and process hurt feelings
- make amends when appropriate
- ask for forgiveness
Asking forgiveness puts some responsibility on the other person too. We commonly say, “It’s okay” when someone hurts us. It is not okay, but we can still forgive. When we forgive someone who has wronged us, we are agreeing to let it go and move forward.
This week the Puppet Pals learn to apologize and forgive like leaders. When kids watch these scenarios, they can learn some words to say when they need to make their own apologies.
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