The Butterfly Method For Boosting Self Esteem In Kids

Boosting your child's self-esteem takes some intentional effort, patience, and consistency. And we’ve all run short on some of those at one point or another!

Here’s a few tips to help out.

Unconditional Love and Acceptance
This one's huge. Our kiddos need to know we love them no matter what - whether they aced that spelling test or accidentally dyed the dog blue (true story from my niece!).

It's about separating their actions from their worth as a person.

Praise
But not just any praise - we're talking specific, effort-based kudos.

Instead of a generic "good job," try something like, 

"I love how you kept trying different strategies to solve that math problem!"

It's like the difference between a participation trophy and an MVP award - one feels meaningless, the other feels earned.

Setting realistic expectations 
I remember when my son went up for his first at bat ever. He looked at me and said, “What if I hit a homerun?”. Little man had only swung a bat about 3 times in his life.

While it's great to encourage dreams, it's also important to help kids set achievable goals. We broke it down into smaller steps - first, learn to swing, then to make contact, then hit line drives.

Fostering Independence
I know it's tempting to swoop in and save the day every time your child faces a challenge.

I still fight the urge to help them do all kinds of things!

But letting kids make age-appropriate decisions and solve problems on their own is like a self-esteem supercharger.

Remember, building self-esteem is a marathon, not a sprint.

There will be good days and bad days. The key is consistency and patience. And hey, cut yourself some slack too!

We're all learning and growing alongside our kids.

So take a deep breath, practice “landing like a butterfly” next to your child for support, and let them work on problems on their own!

Sometimes all they need to know is that you’re there if they need you.