Dr. Chheda – How can you teach your kids resilience? Well, one of the first ways is when your child is, you know, about 15 months old, 15 to 18 months old. They’re starting to walk, they’re starting to fall down, they’re getting lots of bumps and bruises.

So instead of saying “Oh my poor sweetie, you got hurt! Oh let me pick you up, let me give you lots of hugs and kisses,” what you can say is “Oh no, you got hurt. Get up, brush it off, brush it off. You’ll be fine.”

That can teach your child from a very early age that falls happen, mistakes happen. It’s okay, you can get up and you can try again, and I will always be here to support you.

If your child is really sick, crying in pain, broken bone, lots of blood, please don’t tell them to just brush it off. That’s something that definitely needs attention. But for those minor “Oh I plopped on my butt and nothing really hurts, but I wanna cry cause it startled me,” it’s okay. “Brush it off, brush it off.” And then they’ll learn that you will always be there to support them, but it’s okay to get back up and try again. 💪