Tape it to the coffee jar. They'll reach the jar before they reach you, and they'll be half asleep, which helps.
Keep a sorry note to three lines, tops, in your own handwriting. A pillow works too, or a running shoe, or the bowl by the door where the keys get dropped.
Sorry notes you can leave in any room
Short beats clever on paper. Any of these fits on the back of a receipt.
Sign it, even if there's only one person it could be from.
- You were right about the turn-off, and I was loud about being wrong. Sorry.
- Sorry. Kettle's on. Come down when you like.
- Last night was me. All of it.
- This is a sorry note. The longer version is me, in the kitchen, whenever you want it.
- My fault. Toast's on me.
- Okay, I snapped at you on the stairs, and you'd done nothing to earn it.
- Too proud to say it out loud yet, so here it is in blue ink.
- I said I'd be home by eight and walked in at ten with a bag of excuses. The excuses are in the bin. Dinner's on me tomorrow, wherever you pick.
- Sorry for the door slam. The hinge and I both feel terrible.
- Still cross with myself. Stay cross with me as long as you need.
On the fridge door or the coffee jar
Before coffee, everyone reads the fridge door. Even on a bad morning.
Or tape the note round the coffee jar, so the lid won't come off without it.
- Under this foil is the last slice of cake. It's yours, and so is the apology.
- Coffee first, sorry second.
- I used the last of the beans. There's a new bag in the cupboard, and I'm sorry about the other thing too.
- Sorry I was so bitter yesterday. This jar is the only bitter thing allowed in the house now.
- Fridge rule: whoever was wrong buys the ice cream. Check the freezer.
- Your lunch is on the middle shelf. Fixing Tuesday is next on my list.
- It's 6:40 am and I've been sorry since 6:15.
- Two sugars and an apology, both stirred in. I'll do the washing up tonight as well.
Folded inside a lunchbox
"Eat the cookie first. The sorry's underneath."
Fold it twice and tuck it under the lunchbox lid, where it waits until noon. In a tiffin, use the top tier.
- I packed your favourite as a sorry. The apple is just an apple, though.
- Late for pick-up yesterday. Early today, promise.
- There's extra pickle in the corner and an extra sorry under the lid.
- Sorry I hurried you out the door with one shoe on. Eat slowly. Nobody's rushing you now.
- Grumpy at breakfast, sorry by lunch. There's a brownie to prove it.
- The umbrella was your idea, and you were right. Sorry I argued.
For a girlfriend or a boyfriend
Obvious, yes, but the pillow works, mostly because they can't miss it.
The car's sun visor is sneakier. They'll find it the first time the sun gets in their eyes.
- Hi from the sun visor. Sorry about the car ride home. Drive safe, and text me when you're parked.
- I said "fine" four times at dinner, and none of them were. Sorry.
- Your side of the bed is made, which I know is a first. Sorry, love.
- Sorry. Still yours.
- Inside your left shoe, because you always put the left one on first. I'm sorry about Sunday.
- Take your time being cross. I'll be by the toaster with the good jam.
- Miss you, and you're only in the next room. Come out when you're ready, and if you're not ready, that's fine too. I'll be the one on the sofa with two mugs.
- Open the laptop after you've read this. Sorry I called your job "just emails". It isn't.
- Your boyfriend is an idiot. He's made pancakes about it.
- Sorry I made your night about me. Tell me about the interview again, properly, and I'll listen this time.
- Girlfriend, reporting for apology duty. The parking thing was all me.
For a bigger fight, pair the note with a sorry card for your girlfriend or a sorry card for your boyfriend.
Cute sorry quotes for the book they're reading
Nobody keeps a quote longer than a bookmark. Slip one into the book they're reading, right at the page they stopped on.
- "Sorry weighs less than a grudge."
- "Some apologies fit on a sticky note. This one needed both sides of an envelope."
- "Pride went out with the recycling this morning."
- "Being right felt great for about four minutes. Then I missed you laughing at my jokes, and I'd rather have that back."
- "The bravest thing I did today was write this down."
- "You're my favourite person to make up with, which is lucky, because I keep needing to."
- "A sorry in pencil can be rubbed out, so this one's in pen."
- "I'm sorry the way a dog is sorry, ears down and tail still going."
- "If sorry were a snack, you'd have the whole packet."
- "Hugs fix half. This note's for the rest."
- "Every fight we've had has ended with us splitting a pizza. Let's keep the streak going."
- "Sorry, in my neatest handwriting, which is still awful."
Notes for a flatmate or a friend
"Sorry about the music at 2 am. Earplugs are on your pillow."
Leave flatmate notes on the bedroom door or the hook where the keys hang. Coat pockets work for friends.
- Bins were my job this week. They're out now, four days late. Sorry.
- Hung this on your keys so you'd see it on the way out. Sorry I used all the hot water.
- Should've listened to you about him. Sorry I got snippy instead.
- Missed your birthday dinner. No excuse is worth the ink. Brunch, my treat?
- Borrowed your good scissors and lost them. The new ones are in the drawer, and they're sharper, which seemed like the least I could do.
- Sorry I cancelled twice. Third time, I'm turning up early with doughnuts.
- Hey. That joke at the party was about you, and it wasn't funny. I'm sorry.
- Ate your yoghurt. Owe you two. Your flatmate, the thief
Between parents and kids, both ways
Cereal boxes are a kid's morning paper, so lean the note against one.
For a parent, the steering wheel. They'll read it before the seatbelt clicks, and probably again at the first red light.
- Dear Mum, sorry I was rude about the sweater. I'll wear it on Sunday. Love, me (the grumpy one)
- I shouted about the shoes, and it was never about the shoes. Sorry, kiddo. Pizza on Saturday.
- Papa, I broke your sunglasses and then hid them behind the sofa cushion. That's two wrong things. Sorry for both.
- Your science model was great, and I was on my phone the whole time you explained it. Tell me again tonight? The phone's going in the fruit bowl.
- Sorry I said you never listen. You do.
- I skipped three pages of your bedtime story. You noticed. I'm sorry.
- Mummy, sorry about the crayon on the wall. I'll help scrub it off after school.
Small enough for the bathroom mirror
Toothbrush in one hand, they've got nowhere to look but the mirror.
Stick it at eye level. Their eye level, if one of you is much taller.
Prop it against the toothbrush cup if the glass is too steamy for paper.
No paper at all? Write in the steam after your shower, and the words come back the next time it fogs.
- Morning. Still sorry.
- Cap's back on the toothpaste. Sorry it took a fight.
- You look nice. Also, I'm sorry.
- Brush first. Forgive me later, if you like.
- I was wrong. You can tell everyone.
- Hi, I'm the sorry. The person who wrote me is making breakfast.
- Last night's me says sorry, and this morning's me agrees.
- Sorry for hogging the bathroom. It's all yours till 8.
- Stuck on you, even when I'm grumpy. Sorry for the grumpy.
Too big for a sticky note
"There's a letter on your desk. No rush on reading it."
That note only has to point.
For a broken promise or something cruel said in a fight, write the full apology letter first. Then leave it where the note says.
A small gift beside it is fine, and these sorry gift ideas are a good place to look.
If they're travelling, a sorry card opens on their phone from a private link.
Pick the Sweet design for small stuff. When it's serious, Romantic puts your letter in an envelope.
Frequently asked questions
Should a sorry note be handwritten or typed?
Handwritten, if you share a fridge. If they're far away, type it, and start from one of these I'm sorry messages.
Can I leave a sorry note for a teacher?
Yes, on their desk before class, folded once. Two lines on what happened (the missing homework, say), then your full name and class.
What if they throw the note away?
Let them. It's been read, so hold off on a second note until tomorrow.
Do I still need to say sorry in person?
You do, later the same day, after coffee and a few hours with the note. Out loud, it can be even shorter.