Welcome back to our sneak peeks at Doctor Hammond’s soon to be titled book on raising emotionally healthy children. This week we’re discussing another critical element for the emotional and mental health of kids – self-esteem.
With things like cyber bullying, face to face bullying, negativity and judgment running rampant these days it’s easy to understand why so many kids feel low self worth and like they will never be good enough. How then, can we as parents and caregivers boost our children’s self-esteem so that when they encounter the inevitable negativity in the world they will be firm in their belief that they are good enough and have value? Below are some simple self-esteem boosters you can use with your children.
– Spend one-on-one time with them: One-on-one time is crucial to showing your children that you want to spend time with them. It just takes a simple act of communication or doing an activity together. Scheduling quality time with them instill in them that someone wants to hang out with them and values their company.
– Tell them they are important: From an early age you need to tell your children they matter
– Explain that no one is perfect: When a child is feeling down about themselves and nitpicking every little thing, it helps to remind them that no one is perfect. Not even the celebrities in the magazines. Perhaps you could show them websites that have images of celebrities before and after photoshopping just to prove your point. Everyone has flaws, but it’s how you embrace and react to those flaws that determine your character.
– Let them pick out their own clothes, and don’t judge them about it: Sometimes all children need to feel high self-esteem is the chance to make their own decisions. Making choices about things like what to wear and how to style their hair can instill a confidence in them unlike anything a word of praise could ever provide. Speaking of praise…
– Praise your children and let them know you are proud of them: Even if you don’t always agree with their choices, let them know that you are proud of them. Praise wins such as good grades and praise them for a job well done on projects and in sports.
There you have it! Simple self-esteem boosters that can show your children they do matter and have a significant value in the world. Use these boosters often and make sure they know how much you love them!
Now, we want to hear from you! Do your children have self esteem issues? If so, what kinds of things do you do to boost their self esteem? Leave a comment below and tell us about it! Then, be sure to keep checking back as we continue our sneak peaks into Doctor Hammond’s book!