Out for a walk with my pups the other day, I observed two boys involved in an attempted tightrope walk with a long hunk of rope.

One end was tied about six feet up a telephone pole. About 10 yards away, the older boy–maybe 9–tugged on the rope. He faced away from the telephone pole, with the rope over his shoulder, leaning forward, feet planted firm, pulling with all his might.

The younger boy–around 6–attempted to climb up on the rope. Each attempt at pulling himself up threw his playmate off balance and caused the rope to slack. Then the bigger boy would reposition himself, call upon all his strength, pull the rope tight, and call for his buddy to try again.

I’m sure this is what they envisioned:

The dogs and I moved past pretty quickly, but it’s safe to say they probably never successfully walked the rope.

And that’s OK. Not every attempted tightrope walk succeeds.

The boys were joyfully playing outside on a beautiful autumn afternoon, unencumbered by adult oversight, interference, lesson plans, learning goals, and fears. They failed to create a functioning tightrope, but their Play succeeded. In fact, their failure was a success:

Attempted Tightrope Walk Wrap Up

Knowing that a bit of failure doesn’t end the world, learning to rebound after experiencing a setback, and understanding what doesn’t work is a step toward figuring out what will work–these are all valuable bits of information that will serve those boys throughout their lives.

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