What To Do When You Make A Mistake

Mornings are always rough for us. Yesterday especially. As always, my son got dressed last minute because he'd rather lay on the couch with our dog Bandit then get dressed. Lately, he's been wanting to pack his own lunch, which is fine with me as long as it's not a bunch of junk food. Before we left the house I checked it... all junk food. From a bowl of chips to maybe 8 packs of fruit snacks. I told him to pick two for snack or he wouldn't take anything.


So once we finally get to school, the bell is about to ring. As we were getting out of the car, I saw that Aiden still had his lunchbox, which I thought was still packed full of junk. We had an argument in front of the school, with parents and teachers around watching, as he wouldn't let me take away his lunchbox. Once I finally got it, he had to walk into school crying, and I left crying.

I had to run back to my house for my purse, and I saw a bunch of fruit snacks laying on the table. So I checked my son's lunchbox, and there it was: a kool-aid and small bowl of chips. I immediately felt so bad that this big argument was over nothing. Maybe for a second I thought about how I was going to be late to school, but then I thought about my child spending the whole day at school upset.


I took his lunchbox back to school and asked them if I could see Aiden. When he came out I apologized to him and gave him his snacks back. He was so happy and he also apologized.


The point is-- when you make a mistake like this, even with your kids, you need to fix it right away. If you had an argument with a co-worker or friend and realized you were wrong, you'd apologize, right? Kids are the same way! I couldn't stand the thought of Aiden being sad the rest of the day because of a mistake I made, so I fixed it.


Thankfully, I have an amazing son who just wanted an apology (and his snacks).