I agree with you Pongo, we are too scared to let our children fail.
IMO the greatest wisdom comes from failure, I can look back on the litany of failure which is my life and say I don't regret any of it, it's made me who I am, and I am a better man for having learned so many hard lessons.
It's important, that we let our kids make their own mistakes, decisions and opinions imo. It's tough on them at the time they fail but otherwise the real world literally "eats them alive" when they try to make it on their own.
Perhaps this is true.
Hard times create strong men (people), strong men (people) create good times, good times create weak men (people) and weak men (people) create hard times?
And now, his end is near;
And so he faces the final curtain.
My friend, I'll say it clear,
I'll state his case, of which he's certain.
He's lived a life that's full.
He's traveled each and every highway;
And more, much more than this,
He did it his way.
Regrets, he's had a few;
But then again, too few to mention.
He did what he had to do
And saw it through without exemption.
He planned each charted course;
Each careful step along the byway,
And more, much more than this,
He did it his way.
Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When he bit off more than he could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
He ate it up and spit it out.
He faced it all and he stood tall;
And did it his way.
He's loved, he's laughed and cried.
He's had his fill; his share of losing.
And now, as tears subside,
He finds it all so amusing.
To think he did all that;
And may I say - not in a shy way,
"Oh no, oh no not him,
He did it his way".
For what is disputeone, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels;
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows he took the blows -
And did it his way!
Yes, it was his way.