The Importance of Admitting When You're Wrong to Your Kids

Can we just talk about the awful way we condition young kids to never question adults ever? Like, adults are wrong. A lot. But, adults almost never admit they're wrong or don't know something to young kids and this definitely starts with the parents. We need to take responsibility for the times we are wrong. We need to apologize when we mess up and admit that sometimes we do not, in fact, know better. We need to accept looking human in the eyes of children. You'd think it's cute when a kid's eyes get wide in amazement after I made a mistake and admit it to them that "Whoops, I was wrong. My bad." But honestly it kinda sucks because I know that child's parents probably never apologize to them and give them speeches about how adults are always right and their kids should blindly trust their information. That is dangerous and leads to not only kids getting the wrong impression, but kids also having their experiences invalidated because "This adult didn't believe me and adults are never wrong. So it doesn't matter how I think or feel." It leads to kids growing up with wrong information. It leads to the same stubbornness that parents demonize even though YOU taught them that. You expect humility from your child when apparently you're never wrong? Apologize to your kids. Admit you did/said/thought something wrong BEFORE they don't trust information with you. Your kids already think you hung the moon if you're doing your job correctly. Letting them in on the fact that you are just as human as they are isn't going to change that. In fact, it will make them respect you more.