My 8yo wrote an apology letter to his sister completely unprompted

Dec 11 min read

I don't even know what to do with this. They had a fight over something dumb (aren't they always?) and he went to his room. 20 minutes later he comes down with this letter. Said he was wrong and that he didn't mean to be mean. His handwriting was sloppy and he spelled 'sorry' as 'sory' but I'm keeping this forever. My wife and I just looked at each other like... did we actually do something right as parents??

11 comments449 views

Comments(11)

MMatt D.Regular1d ago

Did you like... reward this moment or acknowledge it specifically? Because I feel like that's the kind of thing you want to reinforce without making it weird.

NNate H.Regular21h ago

My 9yo did this once too and I made a HUGE deal about it (good way) - like told her how proud I was, showed grandma, etc. She's been way better about apologies since

GGreg M.Regular18h ago

Keep that letter forever. Frame it or put it in a safe place. He'll love seeing it when he's older and also it's proof that he's got empathy even at 8

CChris P.Regularjust now

The sloppy handwriting and misspelled 'sory' somehow makes it better. He wasn't trying to be perfect, just genuine

CChris R.Regular9h ago

The sory spelling is actually perfect. It shows it was genuine and from him, not you helping him craft some perfect apology. The imperfection makes it way more meaningful.

LLarry P.Regular2h ago

Keep that letter forever. Seriously. Frame it, put it in a box, whatever. That moment where he realized he messed up and CARED enough to apologize unprompted? That's the stuff that matters.

NNoah B.New Dadjust now

This is the win right here. Sibling fights are normal but kids who apologize unprompted are going places

TTyler K.Regularjust now

The fact that he felt bad on his own and tried to fix it unprompted is actually huge. That's real development happening right there

RRon D.New Dadjust now

This is such a wholesome flex. Like yeah you can't control what kids do but when they figure out empathy on their own that's huge. That's parenting actually working.

DDwayne S.Regular20h ago

My 8yo literally told me to 'stop being dramatic' when I tried to congratulate him for being nice lol. How did you handle acknowledging this without embarrassing him?

JJames H.Regularjust now

This right here is the whole point. Not the fancy moments but the random 'he actually gets it' moments that prove something's sticking in there.