Dear parents and/or guardians…
Forgiveness Is When Someone Hurts You, And You Still Choose To Say, “It’s Okay; I Will Be Okay And I Forgive You.”
This month, we are learning about forgiveness. This can be a difficult value for young children to learn, especially while their emotional intelligence is still developing. It is important to keep three key points in mind as your children learn forgiveness:
- Forgiveness is not conditional (“I’ll only forgive you if you do my chores for a week!”).
- Someone does not have to ask for an apology in order to be forgiven – you can forgive someone internally, for your own peace, even if you will never see them again.
- Forgiveness helps us emotionally as much or more as it does the person we forgive.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
- When your child is mad about something, have him or her write that thing down on a piece of paper, say, “I forgive you,” to the person they are mad at, then tear the paper up.
- Forgive your children for their mistakes. Take disciplinary action as needed, but after the punishment is complete, do not continue to mention the mistake.
- Apologize to them when you make mistakes.
NOTE: Forgiveness does not mean letting the same person hurt us again and again. If you or your child are dealing with a situation in your lives where the risk of being hurt is too great if you continue to associate with a certain person, explain that it is possible to forgive someone for a serious wrongdoing without letting them back into your life in the same capacity as before, or at all.