How to foster positive self esteem in your child.

What do you want most for your kids? This might be different for each and every one of us. And that’s okay.

Some of the top things on my list are for my kids to always be happy, healthy, and have a healthy love of themselves. I want them to feel confident in the wonderfully unique people that they are. To feel that confidence will help launch them into the big wide world.

I want this because self-esteem is so important, and it doesn’t come naturally to all of us. It certainly never came naturally to me. It has been an ongoing work in progress.

One piece of good news is that parents play a big part in building self esteem in kids.

Want to know how we can do that?

When kids feel that they are loved unconditionally by us they begin to feel more confident in their own self-worth. They have more confidence in the wonderful, unique human being that they are.
Celebrate who our kids are and the unique things they bring to the family. “I love singing songs on the car ride home from school. I look forward to it every day.”
Recognize that failure is normal. “Oh no, I forgot to add the baking powder and the cake didn’t rise. I’ll remember it next time!” We can also let them their mistakes and failures don’t define them.
Teach them to be excited by mistakes so that they can see them as opportunities to learn. when they view mistakes as learning opportunities it helps them to build a sense of confidence, capability, and resilience. We can also role model this ourselves by handling mistakes and problems in the same way.
Encourage them through difficult tasks. “I know it is frustrating not knowing how to answer that homework question. How do you think we can work it out?” If we always fix things, like help them put that puzzle piece in properly, then they won’t get that feeling of mastery, that they have got this.
Celebrate effort, not their end results. “You worked so hard on that piano piece. I bet it feels good to have mastered it.”