Remember when your toddler fell, and you picked him up? And he fell again, and you picked him up? And then, it was time to stand back and watch while he learned to get up – and stand up on his own.

It’s really the same with our big boys. They really do need to pick themselves up after they stumble. That’s how they learn – how they learn to do it themselves, to stand up – and to carry on – on their own.

Whether it’s setting their own alarm; suffering the results of the lowered grade for the homework left on the counter; or missing practice because they didn’t manage their time well, we need to step back . . . let them fall . . . and allow them to pick themselves up and do it better the next time – on their own.

It’s not easy, and the stakes seem greater than the skinned knee when they were only two. But we taught them to walk and stand on their own, and now it’s our job to stand back as they do it now.

Letting them fall: Can you do it?