"Behind every young child who believes in himself is a parent who believed first" - Matthew Jacobson
Belief is a powerful emotion, far too capable of transforming self or someone dear to you. As a parent, one of the most important concerns is boosting your child’s self-esteem and helping them face the world confidently when they grow up. We just need to believe in our children and give them the right amount of life lessons to achieve the objectives.
While we may scratch our heads and try to tackle this issue in our own ways, believe us, it is no rocket science!
Explore this list of 15 simple tips that will help you raise strong and confident children.
1. Make them responsible
Families thrive the most when responsibilities are shared. This concept must be instituted quite early in your toddler’s life. Start with the most straightforward tasks and gradually increase the share of duties such as cleaning up their room, getting ready for school, household chores, grocery shopping, or even cooking.
2. Open up about your life experiences
What can be a better inspiration for kids than sharing anecdotes from your own life? Children relate better to their parents if they can talk about their vulnerable side and how they overcame certain hurdles in life. It also opens up the possibility of kids becoming more vocal about their own challenges and sharing their secrets.
3. Pay heed to their judgment
A widespread mistake in families is that the opinions of children are seldom heard. Parents perceive kids to be small and less experienced; therefore, their opinion would hardly be of value. However, we must not forget that mentally, they are evolving as well.
It is a good practice to involve your children in specific decision-making processes, such as finalizing their room decor, dressing that they ought to wear, type of stationery and school bags, online content consumption, etc. They will start feeling valued and more assertive in expressing themselves.
4. Let them take the fall at times
A bed of roses is not what your child will get when they grow up. It is vital to prepare them for the ups and downs of life since the early years, albeit in a measured manner. For example, guide them in their homework but do not solve the entire thing for them, allow them to experience the feeling of losing in sports and games.
5. Don’t heap excessive praises
Showering your children with undue praise at all times will only lead to building up arrogance and overconfidence. Maintain a balance between acknowledging their good work and being stern when the situation demands so. In this way, the child will remain level-headed and not get swayed away with momentary success.
6. Set achievable goals for measuring capability
Provide your child with goals, from time to time, to keep them motivated and engaged. However, you must ensure that the goals are practical and can be achieved with sufficient effort.
Setting a realistically impossible goal will only lead to dejection and reluctance to participate in any further activities.
7. Set the benchmark for them to emulate
For kids, parents are their first role models. They try to emulate the behavior of their parents. So, the onus is on you to shrug off your existing personality traits and appear visibly strong and confident in all the things that you do - be it talking to people, getting some work done, showing respect, or even dealing with unforeseen circumstances.
8. Involve them in activities
While distributing responsibilities is essential to build your child’s confidence, it also becomes essential to share certain fun activities with them - like baking, cleaning the car, going grocery shopping, etc. Over a while, they will develop their capabilities and will be able to perform the tasks independently.
9. Allow your positivity to rub off on them
A positive mindset is the harbinger of drastic changes. Allow the kids to peek into your positive side, and encourage them to adopt the same gradually.
10. Give them the freedom to decide
Some of the major conflicts between parents and children are over their food, clothes they wear, sleep timings, study schedule, etc. As parents, we need to give them a certain degree of freedom to decide how they want to manage their routine.
You can ask them to suggest alternatives to your proposals. With your consent, they can develop decision skills and realize what’s good and bad for them early on.
11. Invest in their enthusiasm
Childhood and exuberance go hand-in-hand. The free-spirited manner in which kids go about their usual activities is something to learn from. Parents can encourage their children to pursue their passions such as arts, sports, storytelling, etc.
When the child realizes the parents’ support, they can explore their passion and channelize creativity positively.
12. Acknowledge their small achievements
Just like adults celebrate their small achievements, kids also feel joyous and valued if the family celebrates their achievements. While this does not imply going overboard with celebrations, small gestures such as an ice-cream party, buying new school bags online, or even a warm hug can go a long way in building your child’s confidence in their abilities.
13. Support them during failures
Be the backbone on whom your child can fall back during their low phase. They will experience many discouraging events during their growing years, and you must support them to the fullest.
14. Encourage them to look beyond self
Our environment is a great learning place. Inspire the child to look beyond their issues and start doing something for society at large. This will help them understand the severity of their problems and be empathetic towards others.
15. Let go of your innate fears
Try to control your fears regarding your child’s present and future. They will chart their trajectory, and you just have to be their guiding light.
Conclusion
Becoming a parent is easier said than done. Each day is different, and the lessons learned are incomparable.
Give them a sense of responsibility along with sufficient freedom, invest time in their personal growth, and allow them to fall but with a safety net around. These acts will do wonders to self-confidence and let them imbibe an immeasurable strength to face life’s challenges.
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