As a kid, I was never taught, by word or example, that it’s okay to fail sometimes, that nobody’s perfect, and that the important things are to get back up, try again, and do your best. As a result, I’m a pretty messed up adult whose lifelong reaction to failure has been “Well, my best is obviously not good enough. Now I’ve failed, and I wish I could disappear. Definitely never going to try that again.”

I don’t have kids, but I honestly believe the most important things parents can teach their children is that everybody fails sometimes, that they only have to try their best, and as long as they try their best, you’ll always be proud of them and they should always be proud of themselves. And if you, as a parent, try for a promotion at work and fail to get it (or experience some other failure), you should share that with your children. Tell them you tried your best and didn’t reach your goal, and you’re hurt and disappointed, but you know this single failure doesn’t define you as a failure.

Just frickin’ teach your children that everybody fucks up, and it always feels terrible, but it’s not a measure of their value as people.

(And definitely don’t teach them that, if they f*** up, it’s really always someone else’s fault.)