Dd9 epitomizes someone who believes she is helpless. For that matter, dh does too. He's a huge pessimist who thinks that the world is out to get him, but dd is my focus at this point, not him.
Any ideas other than continuing to harp on the kid that effort and desire to learn is what matters here?
When my kids do something they thought they'd never do, I make a reasonably big deal out of it. The speech always goes something like, "Wow! You thought you'd never be able to do that and you did! See what can happen when you don't give up?!?"
Then, the next time they're feeling defeat before they've really tried, I remind them of the time(s) that.... It seems to help.
Val
