Don’t handicap your children by making their lives easy. Robert A. Heinlein
We love our children so much, and we certainly want them to have an easy life, to be joyful and happy…. BUT sometimes we control our children too much, and fix anything that isn’t “right”, we try to solve and help them with any hardship they encounter….
By doing all of this, we actually “handicap” them, and prevent them of acquiring vital life skills, like:
The ability to solve problems
Perseverance, grit and hard work
The possibility of also going through “negative” feelings, like sadness, anger or frustration
Trying again after a failure
Speaking up for oneself
Independence and self-sufficiency
Confidence in one’s competence
Dear parents, how can your children start believing in themselves (and develop high self-esteem), when you “fix” everything for them??
Allow your children:
To try.
To try again and again.
To fail (again and again).
To sometimes feel sad, angry or frustrated.
To do mistakes.
To be courageous enough to speak up for themselves.
To think for themselves.
To try and solve problems their own way.
To not be and do everything perfectly!!
Allow them to believe they can do anything by themselves.