I think, talk, and act compassionately at all times.

The ten minutes after you've been short with somebody is where most of this gets decided.

Going back is the whole skill. Not a full apology necessarily — often just reappearing in the doorway and saying the thing again in an ordinary voice. It takes fifteen seconds, and most people would rather do nearly anything else, because it means admitting the first version happened.

Steadiness, in practice, looks less like a flawless run than like a short gap between slipping and returning. A child raised around adults who come back learns something more useful than they would from adults who simply never raised their voice.