It happens in slow motion—you see your child standing alone while other kids walk away, or they announce, "No one wants to play with me." Every protective instinct fires, and you want to fix their social world immediately. But those painful moments aren't problems to be solved—they're how children learn to navigate relationships and build the resilience at the heart of healthy child social development.

Every August, parents wonder if their child is truly ready for school. While it's natural to focus on academic skills like letters and numbers, true kindergarten readiness has far more to do with emotional resilience than perfect penmanship. The children who thrive aren't those with the tidiest handwriting, but those who can bounce back from disappointment and adapt to new situations.