Special Selection: "It's Okay, It's Not Okay"

"No, it's okay."

My daughter had been expressing her concern that she wouldn't be able to dance well during the cheer competition, which is held in mixed-age teams.

I was trying to encourage her by saying, "It's okay if you fail!" but she replied, "Why would you say that? Do you want me to fail?" and I was taken aback.

I'm sure my daughter just wanted a push.
I just wanted someone to tell me, "It's okay! You can do it!" But I was the one who was more worried about what would happen after I failed than anyone else. Big failure.

Just before the cheering competition began, I went behind the tent to see what was going on, and he looked at me with a face that looked like he was about to cry.
When I showed her a fist pump and said, "Good luck!" she shook her head, but when my second daughter showed me her butt shaking, she laughed in amazement. My second daughter won by a landslide.

My parenting has been full of failures. There is no right answer, so I worry and hesitate, but my children are by my side and they are my teachers.