A boy asked me repeatedly to make a paper airplane. I kept protesting because of my lack of skill. I finally relented, however, after more pleas. “I’ll try,” I said with little confidence. I folded the paper in half, then tried to make diagonal wings.
When the boy, who had waited patiently during my folding, looked at my finished product, tears appeared in his eyes. But not out of joy. After a moment, he said, “People don’t love those kind of airplanes.” In spite of his disappointment, he was trying to be tactful.
It seems helpful for children to watch adults attempt things that they don’t know how to do. We seem so supremely skilled that young children assume we can accomplish anything and that we never had to work at learning to ride a bike or read.
It’s human nature to hold back from attempting what we’re not good at, but it’s helpful to role-model trying and making mistakes: “l didn’t make a good airplane this time, but I’ll try again.” No apologies need accompany our lack of skill—just a demonstration of our persistence.
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