Radio Commentary
Building self-esteem in children can be the most lasting gift an adult can give.
Take a tip from Thomas Edison, who had thousands of failed experiments when trying to invent the light bulb.
With each failure, Edison said he learned something that didn’t work, so he was one step closer to finding something that did.
That attitude can be found in most successful people. They don’t seem to think in terms of the word ‘failure.’ They talk about a ‘glitch,’ a ‘problem,’ or a ‘snag.’
And even when something doesn’t work as planned, they try to learn from the experience.
We can all help teach this mind-set to our children.
When they don’t succeed, we should help them find something to learn from the experience.
A good question to ask is: “What would you do differently next time?”
Sometimes that lesson is more important than the task that didn’t get accomplished.
We should always let our children know we’re proud of them for trying. That support gives them the confidence to try again.
