Parenting is the most all-encompassing, complex, overwhelming, and demanding job that has ever existed. Moms and dads are ultimately responsible for shaping tiny humans into socially acceptable beings that understand, behave, accept, share, and grow harmoniously with the people around them.
One of the biggest challenges for parents is finding ways to instill self-confidence in their kids. This task is a very delicate balance, because too much praise can lead to entitlement, pride, and egoism, while failing to give affirmation and compliments regularly can leave your kids wondering if they are enough.
Confidence is a critical character that every parent hankers for their children to have.
Dream big. Never give up. You can do it!
But at what point should parents mix in a little healthy reality? What are the best ways to teach and show kids real life examples of accomplishment and how to attain it? How do you mix in the right amount of applause with just enough real world sensibility so that your children understand practical goals rather than living with unrealistic or inflated expectations?
At surface level, building self-confidence in your kids seems so simplistic, but when you really take the time to think about it, it’s a bigger picture that is far more complicated and involved.
Luckily for parents, there are plenty of opportunities right around your own house for allowing your children to experience accomplishment and develop a healthy and productive level of self-confidence.
Plant a garden
Not only will gardening tasks teach kids about scientific basics, but after the planting process, maintenance is crucial for optimized growth and a prosperous harvest. There are many life concepts that kids are likely to experience when dealing with the unpredictable weather, unfortunate setbacks, and the end results.
In order to deal with unforeseen issues like garden bugs, hungry critters, or drought, kids must problem solve and think creatively to protect their plants from harm. Although some plants are low maintenance, failing to tend to weeds, necessary pruning, and nutrient needs will not yield much fruit.
Although it’s difficult to dish out failure to our kids, an untended or ignored garden will clearly indicate to your kids that their lack of effort produced a poor outcome. Much like life, a garden can be somewhat unpredictable, but is much more manageable with forethought and careful planning. A garden is the perfect example that with hard work and persistence, kids can attain a very abundant harvest.
Supervised kid-cooked dinners
Make kid-cooked dinners a regular activity in your household. With minimal help but utmost supervision, allow your children to plan and prepare a meal for the entire family. Activities with a useful and commendable finished product will not only offer a visual achievement for your kids, but the entire family can join in on the gratitude and affirmation that the meal was a success.
Remember to have a backup plan in case your kids do not necessarily succeed with this particular task and your family still needs to eat. Even the most seasoned and successful chefs will experience a burnt dish every now and again. Life has a very strange way of throwing unexpected situations at us, so a major aspect of self-confidence is having the guts to admit defeat and move on to the plan B.
DIY tasks for kids
When possible, encourage kids to create rather than buying something from a store shelf. Use their imagination to put together thoughtful gifts, improvise, multi-task, and invent. Not only will kids develop the self-confidence to tackle projects independently, but they will develop self-reliance, ingenuity, and originality when they come up with something that is one-of-a-kind.
Although teaching the right balance of self-confidence is a challenge, the easiest and most effective way to start is right at home with simple and surprisingly affordable tasks at home. Do not forget to introduce environmentally friendly activities at an early age too; this will give them the confidence knowing they are doing something positive for the world that we live in.
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