April 21, 2009

Apology Accepted

Yesterday, Camber told me that she absolutely did NOT chase her brother around the backyard with a garden rake when in fact I watched her do it through the back window.

I responded to the lie by telling my daughter that spending a few minutes in the quiet solitude of one's bedroom usually helps one remember the difference between fiction and reality.

A few minutes later, I found an apology note (written on toilet paper) and two peace offerings on my desk; a plastic poodle and an assortment of coins which my daughter had retrieved from my wallet.



"Apology accepted," I told the offender and leaned in for a hug.

"Good!" she snapped. "Now give me my dog back."

***
What's the craziest/funniest way that your child has apologized?

49 comments

Jeanette said...

It was actually me that had to apologize to my mom for breaking a window. I was so scared that I wrote an apology note and decided to run away before she could read it. About halfway down the street I realized running away was not such a good idea and tried to hurry home to tear up the note and try to fix the window myself. When I walked in the door, there was my mom and brothers reading my note. I got a hug for apologizing, and a spanking for trying to run away! haha!

Tiffany said...

Getting an apology is like pulling teeth here. I have had kids sit in one place for over an hour because they wouldn't apologize. One child held a bite of tuna in their mouth for almost two hours because they wouldn't swallow it to tell a sibling sorry at the dinner table.
My husband shakes his head and wonders where they get it from...

Lin said...

well, we are potty training right now and he has the first part down but #2 is a big problem (how long does this part take?????), anyhow. he had an accident (#2) and when i was changing his pants he looked at me and said "daddy did it!" i asked him if he was telling a fib, and he said "i sorry".

Anonymous said...

My son and our neighbor's son got in a little scuffle while playing in the front yard at our home. They were probably oh...7 yrs old. My son comes in the house along with his older brother~told me that while playing football in the yard the younger had become angry and literally 'kicked the neighbor in the butt'. The youngest son burst into tears from sadness. I said, well, lets walk next door and you can say you are sorry for doing that. Here we go~both parents were home, the boys were just getting out of the shower from playing in our yard. I explained that they had a little 'fight' and my son wanted to apologize. Mom brought both boys in, my youngest son got embarrassed and yelled 'i hate you and i will kick your butt again' and ran out the front door to our house. I, along with his brother stood there with our mouths open. Good thing we were friends, I said I was sorry and hugged the little boy. And went home and dealt with my son. Gee.

Melissa said...

My four year old got sent to his room for bashing his brother in the head with a toy. He apologized to his brother easily enough, but when I sent him to his room he sat in there and screamed hysterically, "I said I was sorry momma, I said I was sorry!"

Viv said...

My eldest always writes me a note. Even though he is the offender, he always makes sure to include the words, "I'm sorry you hate me." He has it in his mind that trying to make me feel guilty is the ticket to getting out of punishment. Sadly, taking responsibility for their actions is really the ticket for getting a break around here. His younger sister has figured this out...but she isn't telling!

Anonymous said...

when i was at home, i would wait for my mom to apologize 1st...wait long enough she would.

April said...

my two year old will apologize for things his little (1yo) brother does... and this has included when the 1yo hits him! he understands you're supposed to apologize when you do something wrong, but he seems to think EVERYONE is supposed to apologize, not just the wrong-doer. :-)

Mach Momma said...

My oldest who is now married and gone has taught her brothers now 16 and 13 that "cleaning-the-house-makes-everything-all-better". So when ever there is a get together at our house. Someone always seems to get in trouble...

Amber said...

Whenever my three year old apologizes, he says, "I'm sorry mommy. I forgive you!" How could I not forgive him after that?!

Unknown said...

I always felt guilty "lib"ing to my mom.
When I was little I threw tantrums when my mom would send me to my room. She would tell me I had to go to my room until I was happy and I was determined to show her that I was, in fact, not happy. I'd scream and cry and kick the walls until I wore myself out. Then, with tears streaming down my cheeks I'd go out to my mom and say in a weepy voice, "I... happy... now..." My mom tells me about this now while laughing at me. When I think about it, I remember her laughing at me at the time too.

Unknown said...

That is so funny, where did she get the idea to use tp for the note? And to use your money. Kids are so funny! I truly enjoyed reading all these child apology stories. My son hasn't done anything to crazy yet, but whenever I can get him to say he's sorry he always tilts his head down, and slightly to the side, bats his long eyelashes at me (why do the boys get the long eyelashes all the time?!) and says "I sorry mommy, I try to do better" . How can you be mad at that?

jen said...

Once I paddled my 3yo's behind after I discovered a crime scene involving scissors and some irreplaceable clothing items. She denied it, but she had been scissor happy lately and my 6yo is usually a reliable witness. I could tell how furious my 3yo was about getting spanked--she would let me hug her, then push me away and start crying harder, and always maintained her innocence. That made me suspicious so I called to my 6yo, "Do you promise that she did all of it by herself." "Oh, no" was the reply (she knew she was in trouble). Turned out my 6yo had done all of the cutting except one little slice done by her sister. I felt horrible and tried to make it up to my 3yo. She cheered up instantly when she discovered I knew she was innocent and spent the rest of the day saying, "I so sorry, mama, I never cut again" in the sweetest voice, always giving me a hug and kiss with each apology. I felt HORRIBLE!

Anonymous said...

http://1momjustsaying.blogspot.com/2009/02/apology.html

I had written a post on this. You got to go to it and listen to the audible apology. Sometimes the kid is just too cute.

HW said...

Apologies from a 15-year-old girl are really thoughtful and sweet.

"SOOOORRREEEE!" with much eye rolling and door slamming on her part.

When my son was five I sent him to his room for some offense and he stood in his doorway and said "I'm calling the FBI on you!" No apology though.

Mindi said...

My son gets a bit over dramatic and says, while "crying", "I'm sorry mama how can you ever forgive me?" This is for all offenses... no matter how big or small!

Testing said...

While potty training our son, I caught him peeing in the tub instead of the toilet. We had a talk about where he should go and later on I heard him apologize to the bathtub.

Holly said...

My then 3 year-old was in BIG trouble. She said sorry to me and I said I forgave her.

"And now we give each others a hug" she said.

That's gonna do it, every time.

Blythe said...

Haha I love these stories! I nanny for two children, and if the 9 year old gets in trouble, she just glares at me like it's MY fault. She does apologise sometimes, but she really doesn't like getting in trouble and hates to admit that she is wrong. on the other hand, the 6 year old will apologise easily and has even been known to put HIMSELF in time out when he knows he's done something wrong!

Jaclynn_kyuss said...

That's adorable. How could you stay mad? :)

Mrs. B said...

My 15yr old always writes me a LONG (like 2 pages worth) of an apology. The last time though, he folded it into 3rds and tied the holes shut with red yard. Inside, he thought up many different adjectives (like forgiveness, repentence, love, etc) that had to do with being sorry, and under each word, he had Biblical scripture for each one, as well as a quote from some famous person (like MLK, Mother Teresa, Ghandi, etc) where they were quoted using that particular word. Then he went into great detail about how sorry he was and the lesson he learned from it.

How can I not forgive him for something like that?!?

Karen said...

Isn't it amazing how long a child will hold out? Kids are so stubborn!

Melissa said...

Apologizing around my house is usually a two step process: 1. they say their sorry (after I tell them to); 2. then they relate a story about how the event is actually my fault.

Save Me A Seat said...

Oh, that is so cute. Before I was a mom and I was teaching, I had a little innocent first grader in my class who decided it would be a good idea to use the classroom markers to write on the play structure outside. When I realized this, my aide watched the class, and the offender and I walked out to the playground to survey the damage. She had huge tears in her eyes and she was choking them back. She looked me in the eye and used sign language to say "sorry." I almost cried myself!

The Mother said...

When my teenage boys apologize, it's usually accompanied by spitting and throwing the closest object.

Needless to say, they tend not to be the big hits we parents had hoped for.

Sigh.

Maree said...

My daughter has a crush on her cousin's cousin. Whenever we go visit, she hounds Zach relentlessly! So she wrote an apology note: "I'm sorry that you don't like me (written in creative spelling)," and taped it up to their sliding glass door. So funny!

Sticky said...

my gosh, your daughter cracks me up!

CSIowa said...

My son was about three when we went to the indoor play place at the mall. I watched another boy shove him down from the top of the tractor. I had my eye on the mom, too, and she completely missed the incident. My son was annoyed, but unharmed, so I let it go. The kid was a bit of a preschool bully, oblivious that those things in his way were actually other children. A couple of minutes later my son had enough of him and very suddenly--so I didn't see it coming--hauled off and decked the kid.

What to do? What to do? The kid really deserved it. Of course, his mother was oblivious to all of the preamble and was outraged by my son's violence. I didn't want him to grow up to be a serial killer, so I made him apologize. In a rather snotty voice, he declared, "Sorry, Bonky-Heady!" Inside my head I said, "Way to go, son!" Aloud I told him to try again.

Quoizel said...

You know yah try to be tuff to your kids but they know how to pull at your heart strings. So it makes you feel like your a bad parent. It is kind of like the cookie that falls on the floor. You tell your child to throw it away. But in the back of your mind your thinking that cookie is just fine.

Stephanie said...

Just last night my son Tommy (7) got in trouble for ruining a birthday surprise for his brother. Before bed, he came out with a bag full of presents for me. Included was:

*a note: to mom love tommy I hope you like this gift. if you don't like it give it to dad.
*a starbucks card that came from my drawer.
*$3.00 in change
*leftover Easter candy
*my ipod
*and a tiny ring that his cousin had given to him.

musingwoman said...

One time my son, I guess he was six or seven at the time, gave me a picture of a horse. I oo'd and ah'd over it, put it on the frig, and pointed it out to everyone who visited.

Many months later, maybe even a year or more, we're sitting at the table and out of the blue he says, "Mom, I didn't draw the horse."

"What horse?" I say.

He points to the now faded picture.

Come to find out he'd traced it from a book, and when I assumed he'd done it didn't correct me.

He was SO relieved to finally tell the truth! and to this day he's one of the most honest people I know (he's twenty-three, now).

P.S. Camber's apology almost made me choke on my drink from laughter.

Beth said...

My youngest child had to be taught not to lie. And he had to be taught to apologize. He had no sense of humor with it.

My oldest child has always been painfully honest. He is the one I go to when in doubt about what I am wearing because I know he'll really tell me if my butt looks the size of Texas.

Kathleen said...

why it was just today...we were at the park and i was sitting on the grass when my daughter (4 yr old) ran by and stepped on my hand. i said, "ouch! sweetie, you just stepped on my hand!" she looked at me like i had lobsters crawling out of my ears and didn't seem to give it a second thought...
well, about 5 min later she comes over so sweetly and says, "oh, mommy, i'm so sorry that i stepped on your hand. are you okay, sweetie??" and gives me a big hug! this is from a little girl who is not a snuggler and is a bit on the sassy side! needless to say, it was very unexpected and very sweet!

Amber said...

My Mom made me give my sister her Quarter back when I was about 7, she was 3. My Mom over heard me telling her she owed me "Sister Tax" and it happened to be the same amount as her allowance. I just wanted money for the ice cream truck.

Ethington Family said...

I've gotten notes from my daughter and they usually have a picture of her crying, with the words "sorry" and that "your the best mom, please forgive me." Like I wouldn't forgive her, but it doesn't hurt to be called the best mom either. My favorite is when they shove it under the door because they have been sent to their room.
What really comes to mind though is the time I had a fight with my sister and made her toast as a peace offering. I made the mistake of putting the toast on her freshly made bed. She walked in the room, saw the toast (missing my glowing face) and threw it in the trash, complaining how somebody put a piece of old bread on her bed. I cried telling her that it was friendship toast and then we both laughed it all off.

Marie said...

Claire would say, "I'm sorry" audibly and then under her breath whisper, "I'm not sorry." I'd catch her and we'd go through this several times before she would just say, "I'm sorry."

I guess Satan's way of force never worked well, but I sure have tried it out.

Anonymous said...

My 2 yr old dd used to put herself on time out... happily. The novelty has worn off now...!

Berg said...

One of my students wrote me an apology letter that said "I am so sorry for lying. Now, My mom is going to sell my PS2 on Ebay..."

☽❍☾ EƔE ☽❍☾ said...

My 20 month old apologizes for everything for example ....

this morning she ran into door then yelled while holding her head " Sorry Sorry oHhhhhhh sorry" lol

Kara and Theo said...

When my son was almost 3 I was due to have my 2nd child, a daughter, any day. At the same time I was potty training him. One morning we were both in the kitchen making some eggs and my water breaks sending fluid down my leg. At the same time my son looks at me and says, "I'm sorry Mama.". I didn't understand why he was sorry until I saw his wet pants. I tell people we broke our water at the same time.

Tiffany said...

It is my first time to visit your blog and I love it. I am a mom of 3 darling completely innocent children. So, I have no idea what you are talking about with these apologies...

Jill said...

I was at a family gathering, and my cousin, who's youngest is three and very articulate, was misbehaving. After a few minutes of her daughter whining, my cousin said, "Julia, I don't like this behavior" (she never yells), to which her daughter replies, very matter-of-factly, "I'm sorry, Mommy. I'll behave better now." All of us around the table burst out laughing.

The Mommy Chef said...

When my son was about 2, he gave his Dad a huge head butt to the back. I told him to march over to his Dad, look him right in the eye and apologize. Well, 2 year olds can be pretty literal. He walked over to Daddy and climbed onto his lap. He then reached over with his tiny thumb and forefinger to open his dad's eye VERY wide and put his face EYE to EYE with him and said, "I'm sowwy daddy!" We laughed until we cried!

Anonymous said...

My daughter once wrote 'I'm sorry for being a nickel head' 10 times on a sheet of paper. I asked her later what she meant by 'nickel head' and she looked at me like the tard that I am and said 'mom, I didn't say nickel head, I said knuckle head'.

Mykidzmakmecraze said...

I too have received a i'm sorry mom note shoved under the bathroom door as i was trying to use the bathroom... saying they were sorry for being bad and making me sad.... silly kids... gotta love em!

Finnskimo said...

Coincedentally, I found this piece of paper on the counter before I left for work this morning:

To Koy, Love Kaisa
I am sorree that I am not obayning, I jest kudint help myself. I love you brother, do you stil love me?

(She turned six a few weeks ago!)

I have wondered all day what she wasn't obeying... Hmm...

Anonymous said...

And many find that taking Viagra with something to eat lessens minor stomach discomfort that may result from taking Viagra UK . However, it is recommended that you avoid alcohol when taking blue pill , as drinking may increase the likelihood of some of the side effects.

Anonymous said...

http://luxuryjewellery.casinoblogsonline.com/
http://luxuryjewellery.centerblog.net/
http://www.flixya.com/blog/luxuryjewellery
http://tiffany1.blog.friendster.com/
http://lujewellery.insanejournal.com/
http://luxuryjewellery.lah.cc/
http://tiffanyjewellery1985.spaces.live.com/
http://tiffanyuk.livejournal.com/
http://luxuryjewellery.microbloghost.com/
http://www.mtaafm.com/luxuryjewellery//

Unknown said...

http://onlytoywatch.21classes.com/
http://onlytoywatch.3steps.com/
http://onlytoywatch.3xblog.ro/
http://blog.bbs-haarentor.de/wp-admin/
http://www.blogamat.com/wp-admin/
http://www.azcentral.com/members/User/onlytoywatch
http://onlytoywatch.livesexbook.com/
http://www.blog-gratuit.com/manager/view_entries.php
http://onlytoywatch.blogstreet.co.uk/
http://www.blogtoowoomba.com/?w=onlytoywatch
&_&