March 3, 2008

One of the first things that a child needs to learn is to accept responsibility for his behavior. By nature, children and adults tend to shift responsibility. For example, the child breaks a cookie and says, “It broke. It broke. I didn’t have anything to do with it." The wise parent will say, “Let’s say that in a different way. ‘I broke the cookie.’” So hopefully the child says, “I broke the cookie.”

There is nothing sinful about breaking a cookie. You are simply teaching a child to accept responsibility for his behavior. If you don’t teach this important lesson, you hamper the social development of your child. An adult who shifts blame will have trouble in marriage. “I broke the cookie.” It’s a big lesson.

Today's A Growing Marriage Daily content has been written by Dr. Gary Chapman and is based on the book The Five Languages of Apology by Dr. Gary Chapman and Dr. Jennifer Thomas. Published by Northfield Publishers, copyright 2006. Used by permission.