Self esteem and children’s performance

Back from Lagos and settling back into the daily grind. The IELTS exam went swimmingly. I was a little nervous even though my English is very good. It was an interesting experience. I think you need to get at least a 6 out of 9 to have the scores considered. I think I should be able to get more than that. In fact, I shall be mortified if I get less than 7. My brothers will die of laughter if I get less than that.
They asked me quite a lot of questions which were quite interesting in the listening exam. I was praying hard that they wouldn’t ask me about sports which would have been a disaster. They asked me how important clothes are to me. I had to think hard about that one.
My kids are starting their end of term exams tomorrow and I’m a little bit nervous. I haven’t given them as much attention as I used to because I spend more time on housework now my maid is gone.
I had to ask myself a few questions. If my kids don’t do well in their exams do I feel for them, or do I think in terms of myself - ie their doing well means that I’ve been a good mother and if they don’t do well, that means I’m a failure.
Sometimes we push our children for the sake of our own pride so that we can feel good about ourselves. We should encourage our children to be the best they can be for themselves.