Chapter 6 - Heather Had Slapped the Wrong Lesson Into the Room
Heather also had to face what she had done.
She walked into a frightening scene.
Toby injured.
Broken ceramic everywhere.
Brielle identified as the person who caused it.
Then Heather slapped her daughter.
Immediately.
Without asking what happened before.
Without regulating herself.
Without modeling anything better than the violence she was condemning.
Brielle said in family counseling:
“You hit me because I hit him.”
Heather had no defense.
“Yes.”
“So why is yours different?”
That question stayed in the room.
Heather answered honestly.
“It shouldn’t have happened.”
Brielle looked surprised.
Heather continued:
“I was scared and furious, and I reacted badly. Being your mother doesn’t make that okay.”
She did not say:
But you deserved it.
She did not say:
Look what you made me do.
She apologized without asking Brielle to comfort her.
That mattered.
Because Heather wanted both children to understand the same rule.
May you like
Violence did not become acceptable because the person using it was angrier, older, or morally right about something else.
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