Eight Ways to Raise More Confident Kids

Confidence is the appreciation of ones own abilities. A person who appreciates their abilities is more likely to use them. Let's learn ways to help our kids be really good at things that they actually do.

Find something they do better than you, and help them get even better at it

There is something that makes you feel good on the inside about being able to do something better than your parents.

My daughter is better at creating graphics, and photo shopping than I am. She helps me upload pictures, and asks me to please let her update things on my blog (like my steemit blog graphic that I thought was really cool, yet she noticed looked awful on a desktop).

She now realizes that everybody isn't able to work on graphics just because some of her classmates can.

Let your children do things for themselves

My 30th birthday cake was crunchy with eggshells, raw in the center, and topped with droopy strawberries. My then 5 year old had told my husband that Mom let her do the baking, and he believed her. Why wouldn't he? I let my kids do lots for themselves.

I can still remember their goofy smiles as a pregnant me ate a bite of Birthday Cake so my baby wouldn't be crushed (over me not liking the cake).

Now just a few years later, I have the best baker available in my home. She makes cookies, and cakes, and has grown her skills significantly. She can feed her brother and sister lunch, and can make a light dinner for the whole family.

This would not have happened if we would have limited her kitchen time.

You don't have to let kids bake, but you can: make them sort their own socks, put away their own laundry, pick out their own clothes, get their own backpacks ready, choose their own haircuts and reading materials. Let them leave without jackets every once in a while and wear too hot pants in the summer, and turn in a messy homework assignments.

They need space to learn how to do things for themselves so that they can gain the confidence they need to get good at doing things for themselves.

Let them be in service

Who can your child help do what?

This can be both in the home and out of the home.

Have them organize bookshelves, or the silverware drawer. Let them help grandma do the grocery shopping. Does last years teacher need help grading papers or putting up posters? Let them stay after school and help the cleaning crew or get to a party early and set up some chairs.

Whatever it is, let them be in service. Being needed is a great confidence builder.

Teach them to be mentors

I don't have to be a crypto-currency expert to be able to explain to any of my cousins the difference between owning a wallet, and holding crypto at an exchange. I can teach them how to open a steemit account, how to get free basic income, and how to look up coin values at exchanges. Just last year, I didn't even know this knowledge existed.

Learning curves are much them same for children. A high schooler can help a middle schooler adjust to a new schedule. A middle schooler can walk with an elementary school kid to help them feel more safe. A 5th grader can read to a 2nd grader, and that second grader can teach a kindergartner the alphabet.

Let your child be a mentor to a younger child and watch a more comfortable person emerge.

Teach them to prepare a meal

My 3 year old peels his own cuties, my five year old can toast bread, spread it with jelly and serve some milk. Together, they can make themselves a simple breakfast.

Find the most simple meal and teach them how to do it themselves. It can be as simple as having them mix three different types of cereals together in order to make their own very special cereal mix.

Let your child learn to scramble an egg and toast some bread as soon as you sense they can handle it. Confident people can take care of themselves, and keep themselves healthy.

Compliment them

Every time you remember, as often as your remember, as long as you are feeling sincere.

Compliment their hair, their smile, their breakfast, their outfit. Tell them they make you happy, let them know how special you feel to be able to spend time with them. Remind them of how great they are.

Let them know how lucky you are to be their parents.

Be confident in yourself

If you're always downplaying yourself then complimenting your child wont be as effective.

If you are always talking about how awful you look, your child is not going to feel confident about their looks no matter how many times you tell them they are beautiful. They see themselves in you, so please keep your best foot forward regarding your self worth and your self love.

Surround them with people who genuinely like them

Sometimes our friends and family are not the most loving people, and just because someone loves us does not mean that someone will love our children.

Also, there are certain relations we have in which "you know they love you even if they don't show it." Don't let your child have to wait until they are adults to "realize that so and so loved them." Let them be surrounded by people who love them and know how to show it now.

That cousin who makes fun of their hair, or mentions that their toes look like (insert mean-ish comment here), makes snide remarks about their clothes or other etc, may not need to be a part of your child's every day life.

Im not saying you have to cut people off, but if you are spending a lot of time with a person who is not so nice, your children will grow up with not being treated so well, and their confidence will be affected.

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Thank you for taking the time to read my opinion today. Do you have any other choices you make to help your children be more confident?

Id love it if you shared in the comments.