Found this on my facebook feed:
http://www.education.com/magazine/article/perfectionism/#9 is a huge:
"Find activities for your child where she will not be the best. Help her learn how to handle being in such a situation. Do not let her discontinue the activity because it is difficult or uncomfortable."
I've really tried to do this with DD10. We're making progress:
My DD10 started a new level of figure skating today. It's a small group - only five skaters were there today - and the other four were above my DD in ability. The level is like... advanced regular skating but beginning figure skating (like they do backwards, one foot turns - that kind of thing).
So my DD is a) on her first day, b) the youngest one, and c) only skates once a week (you don't learn much skating only once per week). She got her BUTT KICKED. The other four were quite strong, and DD needed help from the coach when the others didn't.
If she had been put in that position even a year ago, she would have dropped her head and dissolved into tears (they know this about her at our club and at one point one of the supervisors skated by the group to check on her).
Not only did she persist in trying, she came off the ice with a smile on her face. I was stunned, amazed, and to say I was PROUD is the biggest understatement of the year.
(LOL they think they're teaching her skating, but they don't realize they're actually providing her with anxiety/ocd/perfectionism therapy ;p )
