Repair after rupture — rehearsing the apology dance
Parent and child practise the repair dance — what to do after a conflict. Role-play, real repair, or processing of an earlier rupture. Agent coaches the parent to model humility and specificity. Observations track the child's growing capacity for repair language.
Opens a guided voice session in TogetherTime.
What you'll need
A calm moment — not during an active conflict. Sit eye-to-eye with your child.
How it works
- 1~30s
Tell them: 'Sometimes we have hard moments. Sometimes I get grumpy with you, or you get grumpy with me. That's okay — what matters is what we do after.'
Watch for: parent_names_rupture_as_normal_human_experience
- 2~60s
Walk through what repair looks like. 'After a hard moment, we find each other again. We say what happened. We say sorry if we were sharp. We give a hug. We move on.' Model each step.
Watch for: parent_models_sequential_repair_steps
- 3~30s
If there was a rupture recently — between you two, or one they had with a sibling — name it. 'Remember yesterday when I got sharp? I'm sorry I was sharp. I was tired.' Let them respond.
Watch for: child_accepts_or_reciprocates_apology