Saying ‘sorry’ and offering forgiveness is something only the bravest of us are ready to give. Many times, we tend to stay mad and feel angry because the words and the actions of others hurt us deeply. But feeling this way only makes things worse and doesn’t allow us to experience the relief of forgiving.
I once read that the reason why young children don’t tend to stay mad at one another long after they fight is because their happiness is more important to them than being right. And when you think about it, they are completely right.
A 3-year-old reminds us of this and her wise words should serve as a lesson we should all learn from.
Mary Katherine Backstrom is a mother and a blogger who shared with us a tough bedtime hour with her sweet girl Holland. Well, I guess most parents can relate to the situation when they are exhausted and their little ones just won’t go to bed.
When she finally got her daughter to settle and was hoping to go to bed herself, Mary was left in awe by her daughter’s words.
“My daughter and I just had a knock-down, drag-out bedtime hour. Finally, about ten minutes ago, I put her to bed and through clinched teeth said ‘I love you, Holland, but not another word tonight. You are going to sleep now. I’m done fussing over stuffed animals,’” Mary wrote on Facebook.
But Holland had something else on her mind and wanted her mother to know that.
“I DO have one more thing to say,” Holland said.
“Of course she did. She was standing on the bed with her hands on her hips, too. Her hair was wild and she was using her arm to wipe her tears and snot away from her face,” wrote Mary.
“Mommy…I FORGIVE YOU!!! Then she laid down and cried and honest to goodness, for a hot minute, I didn’t know what to do. The way she said ‘I forgive you’, made it sound like cuss words.”
Mary then approached to Holland’s bed and asked her whether she knew what forgiveness really meant, to what the girl replied: “It means you were wrong, and I’m tired of being mad, and now I’m going to sleep and my heart won’t have a tummy ache.”
This mother had no other option but to lay in her girl’s bed and shower her with love.
“I was reminded by my toddler to never go to bed in anger. Because when you do, your heart will have a tummy ache. And you know what? I’ve been alive for 35 years, and I’ve got to give it to her: She’s not wrong ❤️”
Many fell in love with Holland’s action and more than 230,000 people commented on Mary’s post shared on her Facebook page, MomBabble.
Who knew such a young lady could be so smart as to teach us adults a thing or two about forgiveness and the real values in life?