Six parenting habits that crush your child’s esteem

We all know that raising kids isn’t easy. As a parent, you do all you can to ensure that your child develops in a healthy way and appreciates all you’ve done for them.

Still, the way you choose to raise your kids has a direct effect on how they turn out. Certain parenting habits can actually cause them to suffer in silence and have confidence issues in future.

Here are some of the things parents need to stop doing for the sake of their children’s esteem.

Constantly criticizing everything your child does is a sure way to crush their esteem. Children absorb everything their parents tell them so those harsh words are likely to stick in their minds as they grow.

This behavior will affect your child by making them feel like they can’t do anything right. Kids need to learn from their own mistakes from time to time so always be patient and encouraging towards your kids. Just like you and everyone else, your kids are not perfect. So take it easy.

This is a form of emotional abuse that some parents use to punish their kids. The child will feel invisible and unloved, and this is very discouraging. Kids need to be shown more love when they make mistakes. No matter how upset you are with them and the consequences their actions bring, don’t take away your love. This is the time they need you most, to walk with them through their bad actions and teach them otherwise.

Never compare your kids with someone else’s kids. It’s even worse when you tell them directly that they need to be like another child in order to impress you. Every child has their own abilities and strengths so it’s very damaging to make them feel like they need to be different because they are not perfect enough. Instead, parents should pay more attention to their kids so they can appreciate everything about them.

Avoid insulting your kids at all costs. If you say something even when you don’t mean it, they will grow up believing they are stupid, crazy or any other derogatory term you might have called them. To make things worse, they might even start hurling those very same insults you’ve used on them right back at you. And guess who’s to blame? As a parent, don’t allow that toxic cycle of insults to begin or continue.

It’s important to know what your children are up to. Not paying enough attention to them could make you miss out on some of the warning signs right in front of you. At the same time, there is definitely something like too much monitoring. The hawk-eyed approach will quickly make your child feel inadequate and reliant on you. Allow them to gain their independence and develop skills on how to be responsible. When they go into the outside world, they’ll be more inclined to believe in themselves and handle challenges well.

We all make mistakes from time to time. If someone was to constantly remind you of all those mistakes you’ve made, your confidence would be affected right? The same happens when parents keep reminding their kids of their past flaws. It makes a child feel like their mistakes define their identity which isn’t true. Parents must help their children have a more positive outlook on life by letting go of their mistakes.