I don’t think it was premeditated but a few weeks ago it seems hubby stumbled upon a winner of an idea.
When the kids (8 and 5) have wronged one another in some way we always insist on an apology – a complete one “I’m sorry for (fill in the blank).” The other one offers forgiveness.
Last week he added the post-apology hug. This sent my 8 year old son into fits (while sissy is just holding out her arms) but dad stood his ground. After a minute he finally relented and gave his sister a hug.
It started out half-hearted but he couldn’t resist picking her up off the ground and then they got silly. It totally defused the situation, got them laughing and all the anger was forgotten.
I tried it again tonight (when they were both at fault) and it happened again. I think we may have a winner.
We do that too. Works wonders…lots of giggles!
hmmmm…. we’ll have to try that! Thanks for a good idea!
I do the hug thing too, I think it’s a lot easier to implement if you start when the kids are little. My mom tried it with us when we were in our teens, and we’d rather sit on the couch and starve for all eternity than so much as poke each other.
Sounds like it’s working out well. We do that around our house, too! Just sorta lightens the mood for everyone :o)
Hey, we do that at my house too, and we don’t even have kids! My wife wants a hug after we end an argument. It really does seem to put some closure on things, rather than allowing us to pout at each other the rest of the evening.
Great that you’re doing this. Having six kids with six wills can make for a long night of moanin’ and groanin’. We instituted the hugs early on as a point of contact with former “enemies” in the household! Just gotta watch the half-hearted hug which is kinda like the half-hearted apology…JB