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How To Teach Kids Confidence
Times are rapidly changing and somehow it seems that children are growing up too fast. Nowadays, with all the technological advancements, millennials are growing up influenced by not only social but other media as well. The unrealistic portrayals of beauty standards in the media are only a part of the problem. Children are growing up insecure, self-conscious and full of self-doubt. Parents have an obligation to help their children overcome these obstacles and teach them how to become more self-confident and aware of themselves.
An Early Start
One thing that could make this process much easier is the fact that self-confidence can be thought from the first stages of a child’s life. The best solution is to start implementing healthy thoughts into the child’s life from the minute they are born. It is really important for children to grow up being positively influenced. The key is in practicing so-called attachment parenting which is a form of nurturing connection between a parent and his child. The goal is to provide constant loving care and to form a tight bond with children from an early age. This will result in raising strong, independent and secure children as they will never feel like they were deprived of love, attention or care while they were growing up.
Set a Good Example
When children are still quite young, they observe their environment and the people who surround them. Naturally, parents have a role of leaders in children’s lives; they are supposed to guide them and show them the right path. Children look up to their parents and wish to follow their steps. This is why it is important to set a good example and be a good role model, especially while children are still very young. This means nurturing healthy habits and working on your own self-confidence. Also, it is important not to cross the line, as it is a thin line between being confident and arrogant. Make sure to reflect only the best traits onto your children as that will surely contribute to their development.
Play With Your Children
Organize a Party
Another useful trick that could serve as a great confidence builder is organizing a kid’s party that will allow your child to be the center of attention. Theme parties always make a good choice. For instance, organizing a superhero party is a wonderful way to boost children’s confidence and make them feel like a superhero at least for a day. Children look up to their favorite characters, admire their strength, bravery, and fearlessness and always try to identify themselves with their heroes. Allowing them to become superheroes for one day can greatly contribute to their self-esteem and make them courageous and daring just like their idols.
No child is born impeccable with high self-confidence and great personality traits. These things are thought from an early start. They are also mimicked and learned in different stages in life. What is important is for children to learn to praise their good qualities and to refine their talents. It is crucial for them to learn that self-worth is something that is gained through a lot of hard work and that people should always strive to be the best possible versions of themselves. But just like that, they should know that they should never compare themselves with others, as every child is different and every child has a set of wonderful traits that makes them unique and special.
Tracey Clayton is a full time mom of three girls. She loves cooking, baking, sewing, spending quality time with her daughters and she’s passionate in writing. She is contributor on High Style Life and her motto is: “Live the life you love, love the life you live.”
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A useful reminder to parents about hwo their behavior affects their children. Especially when children are small it is easy to think that what you do, say or even just think is not making a difference but it does and you bring up some good examples of how.
Yes, I think us parents forget about our behavior sometimes. We try our best though.
Self confidence is important as a child. I did not have very much but my two children have ample.
My son can be over confident at times whilst my daughter can be sensitive. As their parents we raise them to ask questions and to value themselves.
I didn’t have much as a child or as an adult. My kid’s are pretty confident but can be weary, unsure of somethings.
Great advice. I love that you included parties. When I was a kid, the party stopped when I was a teen. And to top it off, my parents would travel on my birthday without me. When I had my kids, I didn’t want to do this. So to this day, I give parties for my teens for their birthdays and sometimes end of school year parties. The kids love it and enjoy having all their friends around. I hope this helps with self confidence. Thanks for sharing.
I don’t remember having any parties as a child but my kids sure do love it. I wonder if they will continue to do so in their teens.
Hi Krystle, with all the peer pressure and bullying you hear about in the news today, I think one if the most important things you can do for a kid is help him build up some self esteem. Great points u make.
I know what you mean. School can be an awful, scary place for some kids. Hopefully we can build their self esteem enough to get them through.
This is a very interesting subject. I’d never thought about parties making children more self-confident but when I think about it, it makes sense. I loved having parties for my kids and, now that I reflect on them, they did increase their self-confidence.
It’s one those ah-ha moments that really don’t click till you really think about.
Here’s one thing you shouldn’t do: don’t be a “helicopter parent” and try to micromanage your children’s lives. Children should be given the freedom to generally be their own persons, develop their own interests, and make their own decisions as often as is practical – that’s the way to boost self-esteem.
I try to let my kids make their own decisions within a realm I am comfortable with. They like having the choice of options.