Raising Confident Children

"Daddy, you need my help!" my three-year-old yells, as his daddy runs outside to mow the lawn. He knows the routine. When Daddy cuts the grass, he gets to use his toy lawn mower to help. Jaden says, "it's time to do some work," as he waits for me to get his jacket and shoes on, before running outside. He feels important. What a great confidence builder for a little guy! He is a part of the team, daddy's team.

Taking a second look at this example, it is clear that there was another approach I could have taken. I could have told Jaden that "actually Daddy does not need your help. He can do just fine on his own." Wow. Instead of building confidence in him, I would have totally left him feeling defeated, not important enough to be on daddy's team, and not happy at all. I would have been a complete jerk. Have you ever made that decision? Have you ever decided to choose personal convenience over your children's confidence and excitement for life? 

Raising confident children is not all about convenience. It is a choice, and it takes effort. It takes a lot of words of appreciation, a lot of thumbs up, a lot of smiles, and a lot of compliments. When you are in the habit of making these decisions, you will see a big difference in your children's attitudes. The ideas I will be presenting can be useful for parents of boys and girls. Praise them regularly, and they will give you more reason to give praise. If you criticize constantly, they will give you more reason to criticize. Teach them that they are highly skilled, intelligent, strong, kind, and great listeners. If you see it in them, they will see it in themselves. Watching our kids grow from birth onward, it is easy to see them as strong and smart, as we see God's amazing work first hand. 

Give your children confidence-building nicknames that they want to live up to. Let them speak words of encouragement in their own lives. Talk positively in your home. And, give your children boundaries of freedom. Boundaries of freedom involves giving your children freedom to have fun and make decisions within the boundaries that you set before him. For example, if your child wants to run around wild outside, you can give him a time frame and a location in which they can do so. 

Lastly, let your children have fun, teach the Word of God, and teach them to have compassion for others. Children, who love to have fun, who care for the people in their world, and who believe in the one true God, are likely to be confident children with much joy to offer the world around them. 

Yours Truly, 

~Melissa Seng