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A child’s self esteem is one of the single most important things you can help your child to develop. A good self esteem helps a child to be confident, try new things, get along well with other children, do well in school and countless other things. The way a child feels about himself affects nearly every aspect of his life and children look to adults to learn about who they are. If a child is ignored, for example, he will feel unimportant and will act out in either two ways, he will behave badly to attract attention to himself or he will fade into the woodwork, believing that he is not important enough for anyone to take notice of him. Both examples show evidence of low self esteem.
If you want to build good self esteem in your child, you need to start when they are babies. Children begin to learn about themselves from the very beginning and if you start out right, the rest will be easy. Talk to your baby and praise her often, even for tiny victories like learning to drink from a cup, give your baby applause and let her know she is spectacular. When children see that they can accomplish things it boosts their esteem, especially if it is noticed and praised by adults.
Ask your child for his opinion on things: “What do you think of that movie we just saw?” “What restaurant do you like best?” If you ask for their opinion, they will feel important and valuable. Include your child on family decisions and always consider his input. Don’t ever ridicule your child or tell him that his idea is silly, instead, even if the idea is a little silly, you could say, “That’s a different way of looking at it!” or “How creative!”
Basically, you should treat your child with the respect that you would give to any other person and give plenty of praise and acknowledgement of his status as an important part of the family. Your child will gain friends more easily when he feels comfortable with himself and you will have the peace of mind of knowing he feels good about himself.
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