Chapter 6 - I Had To Explain The Slap To Sadie
Before anything legal happened, I needed to address what Sadie had seen me do.
She had watched me slap Celeste.
Later, she asked:
“Did you hit her because she was mean to me?”
I sat beside her.
“Yes.”
“Was she bad?”
“What she did was bad.”
“So you can hit bad people?”
There it was.
I hated how easily children turn adult actions into rules.
“No.”
Sadie frowned.
“But you did.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I got very angry and made a bad decision.”
“She dumped my backpack.”
“I know.”
“She was mean.”
“I know.”
“Then why is it bad?”
“Because once I was between you and her, you were safe. I didn’t need to hit her.”
Sadie thought carefully.
Then:
“So saying stop was good?”
“Yes.”
“Taking me away is good?”
“Yes.”
“Hitting was bad?”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
Simple.
I later sent Celeste a formal written apology for the slap.
No reconciliation.
No excuse.
I should not have struck you. I accept responsibility for that. It does not alter my position regarding your conduct toward Sadie or Emily.
Owning my mistake without pretending the situations were equivalent became important.
Celeste attacked a child emotionally and physically humiliated her.
I retaliated after the immediate danger had passed.
Both wrong.
Different context.
Different responsibility.
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Children deserve adults who can hold more than one truth at once.
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