LETTING OUR KIDS FAIL
We can give our children a gift: failure. While many parents scoff at this idea; it's true. What the parents are ultimately teaching is that failure is not an option. Now, I'm no sadist, and I hate to see my own children experience the pain of failure, but failure will come to everyone at some point. As parents, we have the opportunity to teach our children that failure can be a master teacher - if only we let it.These days, however, it seems more parents are choosing to protect their children from failure. While they may think they are protecting them - in the end more harm may come than good. A common term for parents who hover over their children's every move is a "helicopter parent." These are the parents who are overly involved in their child's education - sometimes even doing the work for them. Some of these parents have even gotten involved in their child's salary negotiations - after their child has received a college degree.Recently Jessica Lahey wrote a wonderful, insightful piece for The Atlantic titled, "Why Parents Need to Let Their Children Fail." It's well worth the read, and teaches us that there are worse things than failure ... namely, not allowing our children to fail.