After my 6-year-old daughter won first place in an important competition, she ran to tell my parents, glowing with pride. But they crushed her with one sentence

morning assembly. Her teacher, Mrs. Alvarez, invited her to recite the winning poem for her classmates.

Lily was nervous. I could see it in the way she twisted the hem of her sweater.

“I don’t have to do it,” she whispered to me outside the classroom.

“No, you don’t,” I said. “But you can.”

“What if I mess up?”

“Then you start again.”

“What if someone laughs?continue reading …