DEAR ABBY: My husband and I took our granddaughters, 16 and 13, on a two-week cruise to Europe this past summer. We had a wonderful time with them. To make a long story short, the 16-year-old, "Megan," confided to us that she's afraid of failing.
She's a straight-A student and a perfectionist when it comes to her classes. We want to make sure we use the correct words with her. These girls are precious to us, and we're very close. Megan sent us an emotional thank-you note for the trip, as did her sister. She seems to do all the right things. We just don't want her to put excessive pressure on herself.
We're almost 80, and they keep us young. Those girls rock our world. Could you tell us how to handle this? -- LOVING GRANDMA IN ARIZONA
DEAR GRANDMA: Tell Megan that you love her and she rocks your world. Then assure her your feelings about her will never change regardless of whether she succeeds or fails at whatever she does. Nobody wants to fail, but most successful people will tell you they learned more from their failures than they did from their successes. Tell her that worse than failure is being so afraid that she isn't willing to try. Then advise her to talk to her parents about her fears, or a counselor at school if she needs more help.