Let them make mistakes – Tell your kids, it is totally okay!

I remember vividly, when I was in my under graduation, when we had to do experiments in labs, we were supplied with very limited sources. Say, a few micro-liters of samples, few milliliters of solutions and one pipette from each volume capacity for a batch of 4 to 5 people. We were instructed on day one that every equipment in the lab was worth a few hundred thousands and if some one caused damage, the students should bear the repair and replacement charges.

These limited supply of resources for performing an experiment, the fear of making a mistake and damaging the lab machines was predominant in me than the zeal to learn something. The idea of learning from mistakes was unknown to me until I started my post-graduation. I refrained myself from operating those pricey equipment sometimes and I had just watched others conduct experiments several days. Yes, I am not very proud of my younger-self.

That’s gawky-looking me from my under-grad days posing in the biochemistry lab! I had to give myself several pep talks to post this pic here!

Looking back at those days, I realize just one thing. The fear we incorporate in our kids, can account for their low self-esteem and they may stop learning. There may be thousand external factors conveying them to be afraid of many things. Our responsibility here is to tell them to be confident and face it instead of holding back.

Let us make sure that our little one is not scared of doing something new and different. Let us assure them that it is okay to try new things and it is definitely okay to fail. The way we shape them in their initial years is going to play a major role when they are grown up. The important duty of parents is to teach kids to learn from their mistakes and how to convert it into a positive learning experience.

My little one – There were days when my little one was scared to even look at water falls. Now here in this pic, she couldn’t take her eyes off from it!

When our children are exposed to different situations and ideas at a very young age, they wouldn’t be afraid to try new stuffs in later stages and they would know how to handle things and how to learn from mistakes.

At the pictured rocks!

What if I had not really worried about those stupid equipment back then? What if I had been more assertive and performed the research with that limited supply? I asked myself these questions and when I found the answer, I knew how to bring my daughter up.

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