Allowing our Children to Make Mistakes

I listened to a talk by Tiffany Earl yesterday and something she said hit home. She had a corrected a child and later saw the child buried in the couch crying and saying she was in trouble. Tiffany went to the child and asked what was wrong. When the little girl said she was in trouble, Tiffany took her on her lap and said, let me tell you something. When you are at my house it is okay to make mistakes, you are not in trouble for making them, but I will help you to learn what you should do. It is a child's job to make mistakes and then learn what is right. I will be here to help you to learn how to act one million times if you need me to. That is what my job is. I loved this thought. It is a child's job to learn right and wrong, good and bad and true and false and it is my job to help them learn by talking to them about it, role playing, laying good examples before them and offering a million opportunities to learn. There is no shame in them making a mistake and I should never make them feel guilty for it, but I should reteach and reintroduce the correct concept.