Gifting a positive sense of self is one of the most precious gifts you can give your child. Once the children feel good about themselves, they succeed in every part—from home to school friends. Kids with high self-esteem tend to feel more valued, empowered, confident, prepared for day-to-day challenges, and think good things about themselves. On the contrary, a child with low self-esteem tends to feel self-critical, insecure and lacks confidence. Self-esteem develops over time. Here we are providing you with some of the effective ways to boost your child’s self-esteem.
Let your Child Make his/her own Choices
Letting your child make their choices can make them feel empowered. Provide your child with reasonable options and let them choose what they like. Once they learn to make the decisions, they can also take responsibility for the choices they make.
Do not Over-praise your Child
Overpraising your child may do more harm than good. If you keep on over-praising your child, he may no longer feel the need to push himself. As a parent, you need to understand that confidence usually comes from trying to do a task, failing in it, and trying it again.
Encourage your Child to Take Healthy Risks
Encourage your child to take healthy risks. Assure your child that you are always with him and he does not have to worry. Try to help your child to pursue his/her interests. Also, let your child know that no one is perfect and nobody expects him to be either.
Do not Compare your Children
If you have more than one child, try not to draw comparisons between them. Instead, you should appreciate their talents. Boosting self-esteem in daughters and grown-up sons is also very important, especially when they are approaching their teenage.
Assign Household Chores according to your Child’s Age
You can assign some of the age-appropriate household chores such as cleaning the mess on the bed, folding laundry, playing with a pet, setting the table, etc. This way you can promote your child’s sense of self-esteem in the home.
Let your Child Know that you love him/her Unconditionally
Try to spend time with your child. This not only provides you with a great opportunity to know what is going on in your mind but also helps in strengthening the bond. Let your child know that nothing is going to change your love for him, even if he makes wrong decisions or fails in a task.
Offer Praise and Rewards
Kids often give up due to frustration. Encourage them to try again and help them learn to overcome the obstacles. Once they reach their goal, offer them praise and give them rewards for sticking to a difficult task and not leaving it midway.
Ways Parents Unknowingly Destroy Their Child’s Self-Esteem
Raising a confident kid is no cakewalk. Parents want their children to grow up self-confident. However, there are times when we end up doing exactly the opposite without even realizing that our responses may lower our child’s self-esteem.
Do not Say ‘It’s Easy’-
When you find your children struggling with a task, you often say, “This is very easy, you should be able to do this”. It may sound motivating and encouraging to you, but may cause your child to think, “The task is quite difficult to me, therefore, I must be good for nothing, Am I dumb.” Instead, you can tell your child, “This can be difficult for you”. This helps your child know that he is doing something difficult to begin with. This kind of approach helps your kid to be motivated and encouraged. The task may seem easy for you, but it is not necessarily easy for your child as well. You need to think from your child’s perspective.
Do not Do too much for your Child:
Letting your child do their task on their own can provide them with a great sense of achievement and help them feel good about themselves. Doing too much for your children may lead them to think that they are not capable. If you find your child unable to do her work, you can break it into smaller tasks to help her understand better.
Do not Freak Out When your Child Make Mistakes:
It is a known fact that we learn from our mistakes. It is very important for you, as a parent, to analyze your responses. You should give your child the opportunity to rise to their mistakes, teach them to admit their mistakes and help them to amend them.
Children learn from imitating their parents. Try to be a good role model. As a responsible parent, you need to provide your child with opportunities for success. Try to help your child discover his/her strengths and qualities, value these qualities, and have pride in his/her accomplishments. You need to encourage your children to face challenges, take risks, and try new things in their unique way. These things would certainly boost your child’s self-esteem.
