What does resilience mean to you?

The other day, in the midst of cooking/hearing my daughter read/tidying kitchen/stopping the puppy from chewing the skirting board (the usual parenting chaos) I was also struggling to realign the shelf in my dishwasher. Whatever I tried it would not sit back on the runners and, consequently, the door wouldn't shut. I huffed and puffed (maybe uttered an inappropriate word) and decided to ignore the problem. Then I re-thought and tried again. And again. Finally I sorted it. My youngest then came up to me, patted me on my shoulder and said 'Well done mummy, you showed resilience then because you didn't give up'. Resilience is the 'value of the term' at my children's school and it seems to have permeated his consciousness. Such a small thing - and such a first world problem - but I was touched that he had noticed and I even felt a bit proud of myself that I hadn't just left it to my husband to fix.

It's important that children see us struggle and persevere so that they can do the same. In my classes, I always tell my students that we learn together - there are some things that I find difficult too - and finding a solution to the problem together can often result in a much better outcome. As adults/teachers, we don't have all the answers and I am very honest when I don't! I really feel it creates a more collaborative learning environment and, therefore, builds confidence.

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