You instinctively know that resilience can't happen without hardship. We can't grow without being stretched, challenged, tested, even bruised a bit. But parents can forget that their child's disappointments, rough patches, and skinned knees are for a greater good. They want their child to be resilient, of course, they just forgot how to get there.

Here's what you can do in practice:

In your visits this week, try promoting resilience by talking to parents about helping their children learn to overcome challenges without being constantly rescued. At every age! This doesn't mean that parents don't offer support, love, and attention, just that they don't fix problems that their children can manage. When we jump in to fix it, we rob our kids of the chance to do it themselves, and send the message that they may not be capable of it. Key phrases to recommend are, "we know how to do hard things," or, "I know you're going to figure this out." When parents show they can handle distress, they help their children learn to handle it too.