Self-esteem: how to reinforce the children's confidence in themselves
One of the best ways to face the lack of trust in ourselves of our children is developing in them from small a high self esteem. The first years of their lives are fundamental for the child to acquire security, to learn to value himself and to see himself as someone capable of overcoming any challenge.
In this sense, there are numerous attitudes and small remedies that will help us to reinforce self esteem today. Thus, for example, at home we can try to avoid phrases and comments that contribute to deteriorate the self-image of our child. Look at their strengths trying to look for their qualities to recognize and praise them publicly.
Praise to reinforce the children's confidence in themselves
A good trick that usually has good effect is to speak well of the child when listening to us. Thus, when we meet a friend, for example, we can comment out loud on her many qualities, making us realize that we do not realize that he is listening to us. In this way, we will be reinforcing your confidence.
We can also pretend that we are mistaken in his presence so that he himself has the opportunity to correct us.
Another idea to boost your self-esteem is to let yourself win in a game or make some deliberate mistakes at home, offering you the satisfaction of feeling more skilled than your own parents.
Offering you the opportunity to excel in something compared to your siblings can also help. Maybe our son is an expert doing manual work. Let's encourage him, therefore, to do some housework at home, reminding him that he is the best person to do it.
Finally, try to teach your child to congratulate himself for his little or big successes in life.
A daily job: improve your self-esteem
Every day, we should try to look for opportunities to praise him for the things he does well. If we propose it to him, even if we propose it to his older brothers, surely among all we find an endless number of occasions to congratulate him for his more diverse qualities.
- Try not to demand your child more than he is capable of giving. Our children need us to demand them but no more than they are capable of doing.
- It is good that we propose goals that are able to obtain but that, in turn, require some effort to improve. Thus, for example, we can start by asking for easy things and, depending on how they are met, increase the level of difficulty.
- And if what really worries our son is some physical defect let's not try to hide it by pretending not to see it. On the contrary, let's try to speak about it openly and with all naturalness, offering it its just importance. We must try to teach him that he must learn to know how to behave well. Moreover, it is important that we make him see that people who know how to accept their faults have much merit and should be proud of it.
Tips to strengthen children's self-esteem and confidence
· If you are concerned about a defect in particular try to make him see that the physical aspect is not the most important thing of the people. The complexes are the enemies of self-esteem.
- Avoid comparisons with other children of your age. This type of attitude tends to make boys feel bad, especially if they do not have a lot of self-confidence.
- Do not put your child's goals too high for your age or ability. With this we would only get the boy to feel frustrated when he did not get them.
- Think for a moment if we really have confidence in ourselves. Sometimes the lack of self-esteem of the children is only a reflection of the insecurity of their parents.
- Values daily their efforts and not only the results. In this way our son will understand that we value him reach or not success in their activities. If the other members of the family have the age and maturity to grasp the situation, let's talk to each one of them alone and ask them for their help in solving the problem.
If we have found that our son is somewhat insecure, let's try to prepare situations in which we know for sure that he will be successful. Are your strengths math? Let's do a competition at home with his brothers so that he can show everyone how well he knows how to calculate.
Marisa Vallejo
Advice: Teresa Artola. PhD in Psychology and Master in Family Education.
