Mistakes are inevitable in parenting and those mistakes do not categorize you as a bad parent. The representation of bad parenting is not asking your children’s forgiveness when you mess up.

Early this week, Victoria was explaining to Kayla what letters were vowels on her worksheet. Kayla began to disagree and raise her voice, which only fueled Victoria to raise her voice even louder than Kayla’s. Quickly, the loud speaking became screaming. At this point I turned around and blurted out the words, “that’s enough, shut up!” (Sigh) Yes, shut up, the two words that I don’t use in my vocabulary, somehow popped out. Victoria immediately started crying. I was in shock, I couldn’t believe I allowed such harsh words to come out of my mouth. I calmly walked over to Victoria and apologized. I told her I was very sorry and I should have not used those words. Victoria graciously accepted and her tears stopped.

Contrary to what many parents think, apologizing to your child won’t cause the them to disrespect you; it actually will bring you closer in the long run. I am not perfect and neither are you, so when we blow it, we must be quick to admit it. That’s the kind of role model our kids need.