Learn from your mistakes and so will your child
Everyone makes mistakes. Admittedly, some mistakes are more significant than others and harder to get over, but they are a part of life. How individuals deal with these errors is important for their self-esteem. Children who learn from an early age to admit their mistakes to understand that it is not a crime to make one, and they seem to have the ability to cope much better with them. They realize that a mistake was made and admit mistakes. Most importantly, these children also develop a strategy to change the mistake and not do the same again.
The process of making and learning from mistakes is an extremely valuable life skill for everyone because learning involves risking. Every time the children risk, they will not always succeed. But they tried something new and most likely learned of the result.
Children with low self-esteem deal with making a mistake quite differently. More often than not, these children use the experience to devalue themselves. Instead of looking at mistakes as an opportunity to learn, these children interpret the experience as a reason to quit and never try again. They see it as a devaluing and humiliating experience.
You can help your child cope with mistakes by first making sure that they understand that everyone makes mistakes, even you. Own up to your own mistakes to learn them there is no shame in making them. Make sure they understand that ‘s okay to make mistakes. This provides a great opportunity to tell your child what you have learned to do differently next time. Then, offer strategies to turn mistakes into learning opportunities. In the process, you can give your child an opportunity to improve their self esteem and take responsibility for the mistakes they make. Help your child to realize that the problem is the problem, not them. So help them develop a positive plan for the next time around, and what they will do differently next time to avoid making the same mistake again.
