When Perfect Backfires

A parent chasing perfect teaches a hidden lesson: mistakes are unacceptable, the score matters more than the try, and approval has to be earned by getting it right. Kids absorb that fast.

Good-enough parents model the opposite, and it is far more useful: resilience. Your child watches you spill the coffee, mutter, take a breath, and clean it up without the day ending. They watch you snap, then come back and make it right. That is the live demo.