Bear with me. Really, there is a point here. Let me give you a mental image of my school morning routine: We get the boys out of bed at 0645, usually using the lights-on-everybody-up!-let’s-be-uber-chipper-and-cooperative Method. Once all three are up, they go downstairs, and get their clothes. My eldest will get them on right away, then go and find his book, curl up and start reading. My middle will wander around, comment on this or that, usually not like his shirt, and

As parents, the majority of us probably feel that we must, as part of the job description of being a parent, protect our children from experiencing pain or disappointment. We don’t want our kids to feel sadness or rejection, right? We want them to live happily and at peace with the world. Unfortunately, it turns out we might actually be doing them more harm than good. Apparently, the boo-boos and bad guys actually teach our kids that you can’t win them all, and that it’s