Last summer, Ian went to
Supercamp, where he learned many useful academic and life skills. One of the techniques he learned is the four-part apology. So now, he's been equiped with a more effective alternative to such old teenage stand-bys as, "ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!! OK!?!? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW???"
Instead, with the four-part apology, you just remember that it's "All About My Relationships"... "AAMR", or "Acknowledge, Apologize, Make it better, Recommit". Here's what it looks like in practice:
Acknowledge: "OK, yes, I threw molten hot chocolate sauce all over the kitchen floor and let the dogs in to lick it up, creating an enormous mess and possibly poisoning them. That was wrong."
Apologize: "I'm sorry"
Make it Right: "Can I do anything to make it better?" (We reply, "Yes, take the dogs to the hospital, pay for their vet bills out of your allowance, and then come home and thoroughly scour all dried, nasty, dog-saliva-mixed-with-chocolate-sauce out the kitchen floor grout." He then agrees to do this and does, in fact, then do it.)
Recommit: "I promise that, in the future, I'll use better judgement about what, and how, I feed the dogs."
Well, we liked this so much, we decided to teach that to Emma right from the get-go as how we apologize. She's actually doing very well with it. Here's an example. Yesterday, I was feeding the dogs (dog food, in the dog room. See, I can learn!) Emma wandered in and, to appease her constant sense of curiousity, opened our spare refrigerator for a look-see. Deciding to take down a carton of cholesterol-free egg substitute for reasons known only to herself and Our Lord, she inadvertantly also knocked down an individual-serving-size can of Dole pineapple juice. Immediately she picked up the pineapple juice and said (to it): "Oh no! I dinnent mean to knock you onto da ground. Can I do anyfing to make it up? (as juice can) Yes, just put me back in da rifriderader! (as Emma) OK, dere you go. I won' do it again!"
What is it that they say? Charity begins at home? I guess now it should really be, "Charity begins in the rifriderader."
© Robert Nickel 2009