Why being perfect isn’t really worth it

I must congratulate Moya Sarner for accepting that being less than perfect is OK (I’m a recovering perfectionist. Here’s how I embraced the joy of ‘good enough’, 3 June). I was one of the lucky mums who read Bruno Bettelheim’s book A Good Enough Parent when I had my first child. It made me a much more relaxed mum.

However, I think there is a new influence to be “perfect” in schools, where there is never the idea of good enough. Teachers want every single bit of work the child does to be perfect. Please could someone find me a teacher somewhere who thinks what a kid does is OK, even though they know that it isn’t 100% what they might be capable of on a good day?
Annie Hall
East Preston, West Sussex

• I can relate to this because I work on our hospital’s quarterly newsletter. I used to get quite upset if it carried a mistake, but after some time I realised that no matter how many times I proofread it, or however many people did, it won’t make everyone happy. The possibility of a mistake remains because it is an inherent part of the process. It’s a product made by humans, and to err is very human. The important thing is to be able to touch hearts with the stories inside and to be able to inspire others. Everything else is forgivable.
Mariam Khan
Lahore, Pakistan

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