Let your child make mistakes : Failure is must for success

Why Letting Your Child Make Mistakes is the Best Thing You Can Do For Them?

You want your child to be happy, healthy and safe. No doubt about it! And yet, those are the exact same reasons why it can feel so hard to let go and allow your little one to make their own decisions and allow them to make mistakes.

Helicopter parenting might make you feel good and give you peace of mind, but it can actually work against your child’s development and their ability to make good decisions. Sometimes you have to let them decide for themselves what’s right or wrong and allow them to deal with the consequences.

Think of it this way. Letting your child make small mistakes while they’re young is like letting them wear a shirt on backward or letting them over toast their bagel, which can help prevent them from making big mistakes when they’re older. Like burning the house down.

Related : Teaching success from failures for kids

Here are some practical reasons why you should allow childhood mistakes into your parenting style :

1. It helps kids in Problem-Solving

One of the best parenting tips in favor of letting your child make mistakes is that it helps them to solve problems on their own.

As a loving parent, your instinct is probably to rush to your child’s protection and strive to make whatever is bothering them disappear. But that isn’t always the healthiest decision to make.

When children get themselves into sticky situations they will sometimes have to get themselves back out of it without help from others. It may take him or her a few tries to get it right, but your child will develop healthy self-confidence when you allow them to figure things out on their own.

2. It Builds Character and Life Experience

Not all mistakes your child makes are going to make you regret your parenting style. On the contrary, allowing your child to make decisions will build character and promote courage.

A child who is never exposed to failure or disappointment will be in for a world of hurt when they first make a mistake. This can lead them to act in unhealthy manner, a manner in which no parent would like to see their child. However, a child who has been allowed to make smaller mistakes early on in life will have a better idea of how to emotionally handle the aftermath.

3. It Eases Stress

Studies show that parent outlook has a direct effect on a child’s behaviour. Basically, if you’re a negative parent, your child may grow up with a negative outlook on the world. If you have a tendency to overreact to things, they may as well.

Alternatively, if you are a positive parent who looks for the good in people, your child may also pick up on these more admirable qualities.

This research makes it clear that the way you behave can have an impact on your child’s views.

A study done by the National University of Singapore found that helicopter parents are doing a major disservice to their children. Their research suggested that children of helicopter parents are more likely to experience anxiety and depression.

By changing your parenting style and allowing your child to think and act on their own, you contribute to their healthy sense of self.

4. It Opens the Lines of Communication

While you don’t want to be your child’s life-coach for the rest of their years, you do want them to know you’re there for them.

One of the best parenting tips for any occasion is to ensure your child knows they can talk to you. Communication is essential for any relationship in life. When your child makes mistakes, open the lines of communication by discussing mistakes you’ve made in the past. Doing this will reassure them that they are not alone and that everyone makes mistakes in life – but it is how you deal with your decisions moving forward that builds character.

5. Learning to Deal with Disappointment

Parenting tips about ceasing your helicopter ways will all say that in order to let your child grow, you have to let go. And part of letting go is letting your child make decisions that might disappoint them.

You never want your child to feel sad or let down, but you can help your child navigate such emotions by explaining that everybody experiences these feelings every once and a while. Remind them that such emotions are normal. 

Encourage your child to make a game-plan for the future so that they will not experience disappointment. Perhaps they are sad because they did poorly on a test. Remind them that they would be happier if they put in the effort to study beforehand. This helps reinforce action and consequence.

6. It Allows Your Child to Practice Decision-Making

Children won’t always have to learn from their mistakes in order to see the right decision – but sometimes, it helps! Once your child has made a mistake, they will quickly catch on that their actions have consequences.

By providing practical advice and allowing your child to live it for themselves, you can train your them to make good decisions.

7. Teaches YOU to Use Your Best Judgement

Allowing your child to make mistakes isn’t about hurting their feelings or being able to say “I told you so!” when they make the wrong choices. It’s about helping your child develop problem-solving skills and improve their powers of reasoning through a decision.

Of course, you would never want to allow your child to make a mistake that would cause real harm. Letting your little one wear a pair of shorts in the dead of winter is much different than allowing them to stick a fork in the toaster.

Use your best judgment when it comes to letting your child make decisions. Let them know that there are consequences for mistakes, but never let this lesson come at the cost of their personal harm or emotional scarring.

“Sometimes the right parenting tips are also the hardest ones. You want to protect your child, but you aren’t always going to be able to make decisions for them. By allowing your child to make their own mistakes, you are teaching them valuable life-lessons about making good decisions that they can take into adulthood.”

I would like to thank Rachael for this guest post, a post which has the same belief’s as what I, as a parent do!

[About Rachael : Rachael Pace is a relationship expert with years of experience in training and helping couples. She has helped countless individuals and organizations around the world, offering effective and efficient solutions for healthy and successful relationships. She is a featured writer for Marriage.com, a reliable resource to support healthy happy marriages]