Handling Making a Mistake in Front of Others: Building Resilience in Children

Last Wednesday during a family game night, my 8-year-old made a move that everyone could see was wrong. She immediately looked embarrassed and wanted to take it back. Instead of immediately helping her fix it or minimizing the mistake, I remembered our family’s commitment to the Life-Ready approach. I said, “Mistakes happen to everyone. What matters is how we handle them.” The look of embarrassment mixed with growing acceptance on her face told me we had a perfect opportunity to practice handling public mistakes in a low-stakes environment. ...

February 27, 2026 · 9 min · 1903 words · Ojakee Team