As we all know, making mistakes is one of the best ways to learn and grow. It’s a sure fire formula for growth as a kid and it’s just as effective as an adult. I teach my child that making mistakes is part of life. If you screw up, say so. Apologies are usually golden. It’s pretty difficult to argue one’s apology. Even if you try.
It all happened a few days ago. I have a nine-year old daughter. Labeling her as “high drama” is probably putting it mildly. It’s no surprise she sings, wants to act and tells me when she’s famous she’ll let me live with her in L.A. Yes, she’s a kind, loving, caring child, and with that comes emotions often bursting out of every pore in her little body.
Mornings are tough. I often feel I’ve worked a full day before ever leaving the house. We had one of those mornings just a few days ago. It was crazy socks day. You know, where you wear crazy socks to school, and if you’re really crazy you roll up your pants and show of your crazy socks. I know, pretty daring stuff. It actually makes getting ready easier, but it takes some work to pull together the outfit that goes with the crazy socks and that means it all must be planned the night before.
Piece of cake, you’d think. Except, it was also P.E. Tuesday so tennis shoes must replace the UGGs for a day. Here’s the deal. My kid has narrow feet that only feel right in certain shoes. Purchasing shoes and wearing shoes is always a challenge. That’s why, no matter how much those darn UGGs cost, they are worth every penny if it means my mornings are easier and I never have to think about taking anti-depressants to get through this particular growth stage.
Turns out her pair of tennies – the only pair she’ll wear these days – is NOT a pair on this particular morning because one of them got left at dance class the night before. A major, full-fledged shoe meltdown not only occurred but it sustained itself for a good 20 minutes. The clock ticked, my patience thinned, my appointment time grew closer and I had visions of why parents start leaving their kids alone when they are way too young. I eventually shuffled the still crying child with uncomfortable tennis shoes to the car, dumped her at daycare and sped off to shave time off my lateness. And while I had written my daughter the needed note to allow her to ride the bus home with her best friend, I failed to provide the additional signature on the daycare sheet, confirming that she did NOT need to be picked up in the van at the end of school.
I suppose it doesn’t matter I hadn’t yet had caffeine, that I’d already been up two hours and really hadn’t made it anywhere, and that my nerves were already shot before I encountered any adults in the workplace. What mattered is that I didn’t follow the rules and I wouldn’t remember until several hours later when I received the afternoon scolding call notifying me that the van was waiting and my daughter wasn’t there.
So what did I do? I apologized. I said I screwed up. I didn’t recount my morning saga. I didn’t make excuses. I didn’t remind them that by anybody’s calculation they take an exorbitant amount of money from us each month for “before and after care.”
The response back to me was something like, “So what are you going to do about this.” Oh, I don’t know, write ‘I will not repeat this action 100 times on the blackboard.’ I kept that response in my thought bubble and remembered I’m speaking to the daycare owner who’s used to reprimanding children. So, I said. “I’m sorry. I failed to sign her out. I’ll try to make sure it never happens again.” End of conversation. She again tried to say something back to me, and I again said, ‘I apologize. I’m sorry this happened.’
I really do believe that whether you’re a kid or an adult, eventually one cannot ignore or argue an apology.







