We all fail at times; it’s a normal part of life, but luckily we also have a built-in ability to overcome failure. Just consider the little 12-month-old who is learning to walk. She falls often but will get right up and try again each time she stumbles.
According to Sophia Strydom, a Joburg-based psychologist, “If children don’t get the opportunity to handle failure, they could eventually lose the ability to persevere after failing altogether. If this happens, they become self-centred and dependent, or experience every failure as destructive. If your toddler experiences her disappointments, failures and mistakes as learning opportunities, they form and strengthen the brain patterns