Building muscle takes struggle.

Ever heard the story of the gardener and the chrysalis? So overcome with sympathy was he for the butterfly labouring to free itself from the tight casing, that he thought he’d “help”. Using one of his tools to slice open the cocoon, the butterfly quickly emerged—but because the gardener had taken away the struggle, its wings were not strong enough to fly.

As parents, it can be difficult to watch our children struggle when our instincts might be to swoop in and make things better. But what if, like the gardener, we're doing them a disservice?

Got five minutes (or less)? In this episode of our podcast, Just give me 5 minutes, please!, find out how making the path too easy for our kids robs them of the opportunity to develop critical life skills that can only be gained from trying, falling, failing, struggling, learning…and eventually, flying.

Take a listen below, share or download if you like, and subscribe to the feed for more episodes as they become available.