Julie Jay: Lessons in resilience from my personal parenting guru 

My 'paediatrician' — aka a friend with four children — told me that as much as my children will have to become resilient in the face of rejection by their peers, I need to be resilient for them too

When rejection and exclusion do happen, as they inevitably will, I will remind them there will always be other kids to play with, and that our worth is not dependent on being picked first for football teams or being at the centre of things all the time. Picture: iStock

Parents are essentially a buffer between their children and the world. As such, it’s so important to give them skills to deal with rejection and disappointment, because they will inevitably be rejected at some point. Unless, of course, the child you are rearing is Olivia Dean.

Recently, in the playground, I was worried Number One had been left out. There was a game of chase going on where the bigger kids were playing with one another. As much as Number One wanted to get involved, it was clear the other kids weren’t sold on the idea. My heart broke a little for him, and not just because I worried how this would affect his chances of becoming a professional chase player one day. No, I was sad because in that moment, he was sad.