Having a Friendship Go Cold Temporarily: Building Social Resilience in Children
Last Thursday, my 7-year-old came home from school with tears in her eyes. “Emma doesn’t want to play with me anymore,” she sobbed. It turned out that Emma had been playing with other kids during recess and hadn’t included my daughter. The friendship felt suddenly distant, and my child was devastated. I knelt beside her and whispered, “Life-Ready Parenting means your child won’t face this for the first time at age 25—with rent due and no safety net.” In that moment, I realized we had a perfect opportunity to practice navigating temporary friendship distance in a low-stakes environment. ...