Your Child's Self Esteem and Confidence

Travis and I were at a Yard Sale a few weeks ago and he picked up this book.

He said we should get it and I was so excited that he wanted to read something like this! All things kids and psychology are my passion. So, when we were done parusing, I said "So, are you really going to read this?" He responded with "No, its for you." Dang! I asked him with my puppy dog wifey eyes if he would read it and he said yes. So, for 50 cents we bought 52 Simple Ways to Build Your Child's Self-Esteem and Confidence.
Travis mentioned that most of the things in the book are probably things that we already know. Like..."Don't belittle your children" or "Don't ignore them". This is probably true. BUT, don't we all need reminders of the right way to do things? I feel like I need a reminder every day. Basically every time I read my Bible, I feel like I am reminded of something that I know, but don't live out. The fruits of the spirit--love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Am I ever exerting all or most of these qualities? No. Do I fall short every day of being the wife, child of God, friend, sister, daughter, etc. that I want to be? Yes.
That is just one example of the many things we need to be reminded of on a daily basis.
Anyways, even though I haven't read this book yet, it has made me think a lot about children's self-esteem and confidence. I think that a lack of self-esteem and confidence in children is one of the biggest issues in parenting and our society. If children had high self-esteem and confidence, would there be so much bullying in schools? What about depression? Abusive relationships? Substance abuse? Childhood obesity--leading to obesity in adults? What about eating disorders? Juvenile criminal activity?
I think that a lot of these serious issues would be less prevalent in our society if children were raised with parents who encouraged them, listened to their questions, said please & thank you--both to and from your child, complimented them on their successes and were there to talk with them when they felt defeated, prayed with & for them, etc. (Yes, some of those things I pulled from the table of contents.)
I am looking forward to reading this book with my husband. We are both thankful to have had parents and people in our lives who were encouraging to us and built up our confidence as children.
I hope and pray that we can be the kind of parents who do the things listed above...and more. Obviously, like most parents, we will fall short of these things and we will not be perfect. But, in those moments, I hope we can explain to our children that no one is perfect and even your parents make mistakes. Modeling humility and being quick to say I'm sorry are things I want to add to my list of 'how to live'.
If you're a parent, I hope this encourages you to work harder--for the sake of your children.
If you aren't a parent yet, I hope this got you thinking about the parent you want to be.
I'll let you know how the book goes. Here are the table of contents do you can look at them. Even the titles of each of the 52 ways will help.

Thanks for following!