this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2026
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Parenting
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My kid was very ashamed of making mistakes and was unreceptive to help. (Local culture where I am is fucked up). First I started to work on the "mistakes are okay if we safely experiment".
I play games where either I or a toy was a baby and my kid was a parent/teacher/sensei. Then I would make mistakes or not know how to do stuff, and then my kid teaches me how. Could be silly stuff like avatar airbending lessons or magic lessons.
I also told stories about penicillin and how it was a mistake that was really good. I'd teach cool things like chopping wood with an axe, but safely (wide legs, hand near the axe head). Also I would tell stories about where I made mistakes and was dumb as a kid. Like cutting with a knife towards myself, breaking a window, etc.
Now my kid is pretty okay with mistakes. Much less shame. Now I can just straight up say "can I show you a trick? It's a big tricky to do, but I think it's easier".
Working on fear of other kids next, but that'll take some time