Every week my 3rd grader brings home a weekly progress report.
He’s a smart kid who is enrolled in an advanced learning program. Yet, he struggles to apply himself in the areas that don’t interest him (sound familiar – isn’t that all of us?).
Tonight, he came home with the first weekly progress report to show an “F.”
My wife had a meeting to be at tonight, so guess who got to have the “what is this grade all about” conversation? I waited until after bath time and when the younger kids were already in bed. And, then, I sprung the question on him. “Where’s your weekly report card?”
You would have thought his puppy died. My 8 year old did everything he could to keep me from looking at the paper with the “F” on it. He begged me not to look. He cried and pleaded. And, I insisted he hand it to me. He did, and then collapsed on the family room floor in tears.
Failure is such a tough topic.
And, yet, it’s such an essential part of growth.
