Okay I want to followup a little more with this idea. Yesterday my 6 year old was trying to decide what to do with his free time and in our conversation I said "don't worry, you'll have other opportunities to do *xyz* in the future, so whatever you choose will be a good choice." But with what you're saying I don't know if that is the right way to approach his anxiety about decision making-what would my response look like instead?
May be the basic idea is to call a spade a spade.
And not try to put it too rose when the first thing to acknowledge is that something was not as expected.
Learning how to cope with difficulties? Could be.
May be for a child to feel (for a little while) that something went wrong is a way to appreciate when it goes well.
But yeah, words are easy. The difficult part is being there as a parent.
True!
I was hoping you could clarify this sentence:
"Don’t immediately fix problems or reassure them that everything will be “okay” if something goes wrong."
The way I read it I hear "Don’t immediately fix problems or *don't* reassure them that everything will be “okay” if something goes wrong."
Is that correct? That part of not fixing the problem is also not saying it's going to be okay if they mess up?
Yes the way you read it is correct! Thank you for asking for clarification!
Okay I want to followup a little more with this idea. Yesterday my 6 year old was trying to decide what to do with his free time and in our conversation I said "don't worry, you'll have other opportunities to do *xyz* in the future, so whatever you choose will be a good choice." But with what you're saying I don't know if that is the right way to approach his anxiety about decision making-what would my response look like instead?