I was raised by "June & Ward"! Seriously, while my Mom would say "don't do a job half-assed" it was about my chores, not anything I created or school work. My Dad just said "you can do anything you set your mind to"--so basically we were encouraged to try everything and if it worked great, if not, oh well! So fortunate that they loved each other and us and showed it. My DH and I 've tried to be the same way, although must say with my intellectually gifted, but VERY ADHD son (who did school work but lost it, etc) getting him though HS was a challenge and I wasn't always as encouraging as I could/should have been.