As adults living in this fast-changing and highly competitive world, it can sometimes be daunting and difficult to cope and maintain a fairly good sense of self-worth.
The very same, if not even more, can be said for our children as well.
Just imagine being half the size you are now and having limited amount of skills and resources and yet dealing with the same amount of frustrations and challenges of daily living.
Their self-esteem is most likely tested on several occasions, even with grown-ups to depend on for their basic necessities.
As parents we all want what is best for our children, and everyone agrees that a good amount of self-esteem can help a child cope with almost any situation without breaking down easily.
A child with a good sense of self-worth is one that does not easily get discouraged, knows how to channel their emotions, and breezes through life without getting into serious fallbacks later into adulthood.
Simply put, it is a great foundation for character-building and one that is an important tool to have to survive through life’s challenges.
Below are several tips, tricks, and even products that could help you boost your child’s self-esteem:
Time and Attention
Nothing says “you’re important to me” more than when a parent spends time and offers undivided attention to a child. The same is even true for other relationships.
Children feel valued when they are given enough time and attention and therefore their self-esteem is bolstered to optimal heights, knowing that their mom and dad spend time with them.
And what better way to give them time and attention than by playing with them?
This allows both parent and child to have fun, discover new skills, foster learning and increases your child’s tendency to grow up a happier person.
It is also a great way to ward of anxiety and depression among children which leads to bad behavior, social withdrawal, and the possibility of engaging in harmful activities.
One excellent idea on how to spend time with your child is by having a simple but fun picnic.
A classic wicker picnic basket is visually appealing and comes with everything that you need for a picnic for two or more: stainless steel cutlery, dinner plates, glasses, napkins, salt and pepper shakers, and even an all-in-one bottle opener.
You can bring sandwiches, fruits and toast grape juice at your local park, or you can do it all at the comforts of your backyard! Just make sure to have fun and be attentive at your picnic. You can let your kids help out preparing the food and setting up your place so they can get more involved.
Try holding a good conversation as well and have a good feedback loop going on by listening and responding appropriately. While this may be trickier for smaller children, bigger kids usually appreciate a fun conversation with mom and dad and also helps them destress from daily life and school.
Chores and Responsibilities
Another way you can bolster you child’s self esteem is to introduce them to certain simple responsibilities and chores that they can confidently do. This gives them a sense of daily accomplishment, especially if it is part of their routine.
Simple things like making their bed, tidying up their rooms, and cleaning up their place after dinner can be great starting points for chores. Don’t be too hard on them though by expecting your kids to perform their chores perfectly.
Anticipate some mishaps and mess along the way but praise them for their efforts anyway. It would be great to acknowledge the effort done rather than focusing on the results of their efforts so they are encouraged to try and try again.
It is also a good idea to tell your child that they will eventually get better with more practice.
You can help making your child more at ease with cleaning up by introducing kid-sized cleaning materials that come in fun colors to make cleaning more fun and accessible to your child.
This way, you would not have to worry about them reaching into the cabinet of cleaning materials which may hold some strong cleaning solutions, and at the same time your child will be less intimidated by the idea of holding a broom or a mop since it is the perfect size for their little hands.
What is great about this cleaning set is that it all neatly hangs on one stand so you can store them easily on a corner. They are also colorful and easy on the eyes so you don’t really have to hide them away.
It can easily be a fun part of your child’s playroom or bedroom. All parts of this mini cleaning set are built to last so you can count on it to witness your child’s rapidly evolving cleaning skills over a couple of years.
Confidence and Independence
Believe it or not, being a “helicopter parent” can be bad for your child’s self-confidence. Doing anything and everything for your child should gently and gradually ease up after babyhood since young kids are rapidly growing, learning new things, and being better on their own.
Fostering independence by allowing them to do things for themselves shows your child that you trust them and believe that the skills they have are good enough for the tasks at hand.
A great example are young school children from Japan aged five or six start commuting to school by walking or taking subways, buses, and other forms of public transportation.
This does not necessarily mean that you have to send off your five year old on their own tomorrow morning though. This practice is purely cultural, and the safety standards in Japanese communities are fairly high.
It only goes to show that given the chance and the right environment, children can actually step up and be independent.
If your child feels ready for that solo commute to school but you don’t like the idea of now knowing where they are or whether they’ve arrived safely, a smartwatch might be able to easily close that gap.
It has the right technology to be able to give you real-time accurate location of your child as long as he or she is wearing it. It can even act as an emergency phone as it is capable of sending or receiving calls, texts, or voice messages.
On top of that, comes with an SOS button which enables your child to call three emergency numbers simultaneously with just one press.
It is also waterproof so you don’t have to worry about it malfunctioning if it gets wet with rain or splashes.
This is also a great feature if your child is attending a pool party or going to a water park so it does not need to be removed.
Creativity and Workmanship
Another way a child’s self-esteem is uplifted is when they are able to make something and show it off. It can be anything from arts and crafts, science projects, simple construction, and even food.
The key is to acknowledge the effort that went into the creation so your child also learns to enjoy the process.
It is a good idea to let your child present the work to you by asking questions about it like what he loves best about the creation or what he enjoyed most when making it.
If your cild is into art, a wooden art easel is a classic way to encourage creativity and give your child a chance to show off his work in a fancy way that would make it more enticing for him to create and present.
This particular one comes with two sides -a black chalkboard and a white magnetic dry erase board to give your child some variety in his artwork.
A handy tray underneath can be allocated for art supplies, and a clip on top allows you to fasten a paper sheet for some extra work space.
Unconditional Love
This is perhaps the simplest but most effective way to boost your child’s self esteem.
There is nothing that can make a person feel more valued and more secure than unconditional love.
Most of us have fond memories of how our parents showed us unconditional love and so it is our mission this time around to impart the same love to our children.
Anything from a good night kiss to a goodbye hug can signify love to a child. It is natural for babies to crave for touch and affection, so it is only natural that as they grow, they will continue to associate affectionate touch with love.
It is important to do this on a daily basis and with enough consistency for your child to be able to remember it fondly.
Showing your child love everyday, regardless of how their behavior has been, displays that your love and acceptance of them is unconditional.
It gives them a great sense of self-importance in such a way that they have a fundamental circle of love from their parents.
This will later on influence how they deal with other social circles outside of the home such as those in school, in church, in clubs or even sports teams.
It is likely that children with parents who love them unconditionally do not succumb easily into peer pressure, knowing that no matter what happens, they have their parents to fall back into.
That being said, there are actually a couple of things that can harm your child’s self-esteem:
Spending too much time on your phone. In case you may not have noticed, it is easy to get lost in time when you’re scrolling through your phone.
Whether you’re playing games, going through social media, or chatting with someone else, it shows your child that you would rather pay attention to a gadget than them.
It undermines their presence and easily makes them feel unimportant.
Comparing your child to their peers or siblings. If you have multiple children, be prepared for huge differences in character, skills, and interests.
Acknowledge that every child will have unique talents and their own individual strengths, so it would be ill-advised to compare one from the other, or determining that one child is better than the other with one characteristic or skill as a basis.
Emphasizing mistakes as failures. Everyone makes mistakes. Adults make just as many mistakes as children do, and often with bigger consequences.
It is important that you do not berate or belittle your child or label them according to their mistakes.
Mistakes should always be viewed as an opportunity to grow rather than a setback.
This way, you are teaching your child to be more optimistic and resilient in the face of adversity.
Conclusion
Self-esteem is a vital tool for survival these days.
With the presence of social media and the pressure coming from shows and other forms of media, it is easier for children to lose their confidence and sense of self-worth and later possibly fall into bad company and exhibit bad behavior.
As parents, it is our moral duty to arm them with enough love to fend off negative pressure from the outside world.