Let Your Kids Scrape Their Knees

Scott and Chad sit down and discuss how letting your kids scrape their knees is key to their long-term success and overall resiliency in life. Find out why small struggles and overcoming difficult challenges is important to building confidence and how parents that coddle their children prevent them from growing into all they are meant to be. Kids need to run into small obstacles and challenges like scraping their knees. Scott tells the story of making mistakes as a new and exhausted father. Babies and children have no concept of their mortality and often attempt things that result in them getting hurt. The trick is in providing an environment where they can make mistakes, get some bumps and bruises, but while not risking anything really dangerous. The more you coddle your children, the harder it is going to be for them to learn on their own. Children will look to their parents in some situations to figure out how to respond to a situation. We have to be careful with our reactions. No parent wants their kid to get hurt, but if the kid can learn and succeed through the struggle, there is incredible capability and confidence on the other side. We tend to jump in as parents and fix our kid’s problems, but that doesn’t help them grow at the end of the day. The greater joy is seeing your children overcome and get back up. There is no losing as a kid, there is winning or learning. The resiliency that a kid builds by trying over and over again, and breaking through barriers, is the resiliency that creates success long-term. A great question at the dinner table is, "What have you learned today by trying something new?" Reward your kids for trying new things instead of just succeeding at something they’ve already done before. It’s better to make small mistakes when you’re young than big mistakes when you’re much older. Let your children go through the struggle and celebrate them when they get to the other side. Little mindset shifts as a parent make a big difference. Let’s let our kids fail, make mistakes, learn, get up, get better, and keep going. Praise the effort and their persistence.     Mentioned in This Episode: gravystack.com/smart smartmoneyparenting.com Grit by Angela Duckworth Smart, Not Spoiled: The 7 Money Skills Kids Must Master Before Leaving the Nest by Chad Willardson Value Creation Kid: The Healthy Struggles Your Children Need to Succeed by Scott Donnell and Lee Benson Scott Donnell on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnell-scott Chad Willardson on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadwillardson Scott Donnell on Instagram - @imscottdonnell Chad Willardson on Instagram - @chad.willardson Scott Donnell on TikTok - @imscottdonnell