A few weeks ago I spoke with a parent about her child’s academic progress and she was greatly concerned about her daughters’ confidence and self-esteem. Since the beginning of 5th grade, she has noticed a decline in her daughter’s confidence level. Her daughter has been down on herself and hasn’t been feeling very positive; in fact mom described her daughter as being “very negative and down” towards her overall life and school skills.
Mom was distraught and overwhelmed with sadness and was not sure how to help her daughter. Mom asked me, “I always tell my kid how proud I am of her, do you have any suggestions on ways that I can praise her as to help build her confidence?” I gave her some ways to praise her child at home and gave her some ideas on how to help support her at home and how to get the school involved. However, this conversation really stayed with me over the past several weeks. I kept thinking, how many parents are going through the same struggles with their child? How can other parents help their children develop a sense of confidence and empowerment? How can parents help their children feel confident and help them believe in their abilities?
Here are 20 phrases we can tell our children to help them become more confident and help them believe in their abilities.
Don’t just say them, believe them and repeat it to them over and over. In time, they will really hear those words and slowly they too will believe in themselves.
20 phrases every parent should say to their children:
You make me proud.
I believe in YOU!
I love being your parent.
You are important.
You are valuable.
You can say no.
You can say YES.
I know you tried your best.
I accept who you are.
You are so generous.
You are so kind.
I love your creativity.
Let’s try your way.
You make me a better person.
I learn so much from you, thank you.
I appreciate your opinion.
I trust you.
That decision took a lot of courage.
I admire you.
I love how you said that.