[DAY 15 OF THE DEEP END PROJECT]
I woke last night to pee and a train of thought entered my being. When Ikshan (My older son), was in kindergarten (he is 10 now!), his teacher Mrs Miller, read a book in class.
Mrs Miller was the best kindergarten teacher any parent could ask for. Bless her. We don’t realize but teachers have such a huge impact on kids and their parents.
Mrs Miller picked the best books and activities for them. Books on diversity, equality and so many other great topics.
The book that I thought about at 2 am last night is called Beautiful Oops. It’s written by Barney Saltzberg (He has also authored The Good Egg, another of our favorites. A story of an egg that heals it’s cracks through mindfulness, meditation and self love!)
Back in kindergarten when Ikshan told me about the book, I had to buy it so that we could go through it together. Both my kids love it even to this date.
Here’s the synopsis of the book : “ Beautiful Oops teaches kids that It’s OK to make a mistake. In fact, hooray for mistakes! A mistake is an adventure in creativity, a portal of discovery.”
it shows that even the worst of mistakes can be an opportunity for something new. Infact, when you do make a mistake, that’s the exact moment that your creativity can skyrocket. It has illustrations of how a spill, a smudge or a tear can be turned into something beautiful. Such a great concept. I am sure you agree.
We all want our kids to learn that right? We tell our kids “it’s okay darling, that’s how you learn!”
Why do we forget that as adults? At what age mistakes start feeling like doom?
This exact train of thought made me stop for half a second somewhere between the bathroom and my bed.
My last thought before going drifting back to sleep was “this isn’t okay. There needs to be something like Beautiful Oops for adults too.”
In the business world, we only hear stories of successful launches and high revenue months. Why aren’t we talking about our mistakes and things that failed? What about the flopped launches, the missed revenue goals and rejected proposals? What about effin’ up and owning it?
There are very few entrepreneurs, like Tarzan Kay and Laura Belgary, who openly talk about making mistakes and owning them up.
We need to normalize this.
Ofcourse, we need to tell our stories from our scar, not from the gaping, throbbing wound.
I know I am guilty of this too. This is definitely for me as much as it is for you.
Not only do we need to give ourselves lots and I mean lots of grace when we make mistakes but we also need to talk about our mistakes in a safe manner, so as to give other people permission to make mistakes. Yes?
In this hilarious video I found on YouTube, the author of Beautiful Oops teaches kindergartners that everytime you make an Oopsie, don’t chastise yourself. Look at it again, you’ll get some creative ideas you wouldn’t have thought of earlier.
There’s gold in that. Even for a 37 yr old mama of two. That’s me!
P.S – If you have a kid in your life, I highly recommend this book as a gift 🙂