I love watching a kid who will try something they are not sure about because they are not afraid of "getting it wrong" even if they do. There is a balance between my child being teachable and me trying to "over teach him" so that he get's it right. Spilling milk a few times is a better teacher than me doing it for him or correcting him again every time he spills.
One day, he said "mom I'll learn faster if I try".Yep.The best and hardest thing I trained myself to do when he would spill, or whatever mistake he was learning from, was to not react at all. I would just say "oh do you need a towel? " If needed I helped out a few times when he was little always making sure he could see it was no big deal.
Yesterday, after eating at Baja Fresh, he was cleaning up and spilled a container of Guacamole while trying to get it into the garbage. It splattered everywhere! He kept right on talking to his friends while getting some napkins, then bent down and cleaned it all up without missing a beat. He did not ask his friends to help or expect someone else to do it. One of the staff started to go over to help and I asked if he would please let my son continue on his own. He understood. I watched from the door way. He never looked for approval or disapproval. He just cleaned it up without a big deal. I really liked watching him take responsibility, but I also did not make a deal out of it, because it was the norm as it should be. He would have thought it weird if I had said “good job buddy”. He already knew it was his job.
