Turtlelicious!

Every time I get the opportunity to mediate a dispute or help solve a problem, I stress the importance of following up a wrong with a sincere apology. Authors Gary Chapman and Jennifer Thomas wrote a wonderful tool for helping with this called The Five Languages of Apology that we actually studied with our staff last year. We made a Give Me Five! so that we could handily recall the five Rs that the book talks us through, then we posted them as a reminder of the critical components of a genuine apology. When we're truly sorry for what we've done, we regret what happened, we take responsibility for it, there may be some restitution to make it right, we need to repent to the person we've wronged, and we request forgiveness. One forgiveness piece that I add for my students is to replace the glib response "It's okay" when they're receiving an apology with "I accept your apology and I forgive you."

In the book Franklin Forgives, the hard-headed big brother is far from willing to say "It's okay" much less "I forgive you" when his little sister loses his gold fish on a family outing. He worries that forgiving means forgetting and he finds out just how hard it is to accept an apology and forgive. He also discovers why it's ever-so-important for both the giver and the recipient of that forgiveness.


Speaking of turtles, here's a kid-friendly recipe for the pecan cluster TURTLES that I make with my kids.

Turtles

1 bag of caramels (I use Kraft but Brach's work, too)

About 96 large pecan halves (two for each caramel)

1 1/2 lb. melting chocolate or almond bark

A few slivers of Gulf canning wax (optional)

Aluminum Foil

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Lay two pecan halves side-by-side, flat-size down to make turtle clusters on a cookie sheet. Unwrap the caramels and place one on top of each pecan cluster. Place in warmed oven for 4 or 5 minutes to slightly soften the caramels.  While caramels are softening, put chocolate into bowl for melting, adding a few slivers of wax to thin it out a bit if desired. Melt chocolate on high in the microwave for one and a half minutes, stirring after the first minute so it doesn't burn. Dip the pecan clusters into the chocolate and let them dry on a piece of aluminum foil before enjoying these turtlelicious treats!  (Yield: 4 dozen)

 Try This Turtle Tutorial:

Wait, did I say that this is our favorite thing to eat? I meant share!  

Happy apologizing, forgiving, and sharing!