When my children were young, they would occasionally get into a battle of words. Physical wounds were never serious, but verbal damage could come quickly and cut deeply. After one of these episodes, I would make them each go to their rooms to contemplate the mess they had made, and to figure out how to make it right.
The answer always involved two steps. The first was an apology from the one who instigated the wrong doing. The second was to actively forgive the one who apologized. It was not optional for this to occur, and they would remain incarcerated in their rooms until they were ready to play the game, whether they meant it or not.
