I have heard some people say that they don't think you should apologize to your children.  I think that we should apologize to them, when we have wronged them in some way.  How will they ever learn to apologize sincerely for things if we do not show them how by our example?

Yesterday, on my way to town, Caleb was acting up very badly.  He would not stop picking fights with Bonnie and he disobeyed me several times as I was telling him not to do it anymore. I got more and more frustrated, and started yelling at him.  He tried backtalking me and it got me angry and I just kept yelling. I was so stressed. I stopped the car finally after yelling for about 10 minutes and then after disciplining him I realized I had made a mistake. Not in disciplining him but in yelling and fighting with him for 10 minutes before actually enforcing what I had said.

After a moment to reflect on what had transpired, I felt ashamed of myself and apologized to him for shouting and getting so angry. I told him I had been stressed out but that was no excuse to fly off the handle and just make things worse by yelling. I told him what he had done was wrong, but what I had done was wrong too.

He immediately forgave me, and he acted better the whole ride to town and back.    And  I felt better for having apologized and made things right.