Like everyone else, you made your share of mistakes in parenting. But you weren’t so horrible that you deserve to be treated like a criminal. Although child abuse is a cause of many estrangements, you didn’t necessarily abuse your child.

So why won’t your adult child cut you some slack? Why is she demanding that you apologize?

(If you or your spouse or partner ever abused your child, then a series of sincere apologies is obviously called for. I also recommend therapy to help you understand and heal from your part in the legacy of abuse.)

It can be galling to be asked to apologize for imperfect but non-abusive parenting. This episode explores the question of whether to apologize if you’re not actually guilty of anything out of the ordinary.

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