Parents are you aware of how important it is for your children’s self-esteem to be nourished and stroked on a daily basis? A lot of children in today’s society are suffering from "no" self-esteem or self-confidence whatsoever and they do not have a solid foundation to stand on to get through life without many problems. When this happens in a child’s life, they become weak, insecure, and afraid to face life without having doubts and fears. It is hard to survive in life without self-esteem and self-confidence because people don’t have the confidence to perform properly.
There are a lot of children who are suffering from parents being absent in their lives before and after school, and they may not get a chance to talk to either parent for weeks on end. They have no-one to stroke them on the head and to assure them they’re doing a great job and that they’re proud of them.
When this happens, the child is not getting the proper guidance and nourishing they require to survive successfully in life. They feel neglected, unloved, insecure, and that no-one cares about what they do or achieve in life.
There are a lot of parents who are bound by their own lives and they do not have the time to bond in their child’s life. In fact, some of them don’t know what grade their child is in, what their teacher’s name is or what time they’re supposed to be at school of the mornings. They’re hardly ever involved in anything their child does and the child gets by as best as they can from their own decision makings, and many times, their decisions are totally off mark.
The child has no-one to give them praise, no-one to nurture them when they’re in need, no-one to help them solve their problems and to assure them they can make it through a class year, no-one to go for teacher visits, and no-one who is interested in their classwork and projects. Don’t you know this plays havoc on a child’s mind?
It’s impossible for children to have any self-esteem or self-confidence if they’re not nourished and stroked by their parents. How can a child feel like they’re important if there’s no-one ever there for them? Many children who suffer from low self-esteem feel as though they’re losers and no-one cares about them and they give up in a sense. This is sad but it is a "fact" in a lot of children’s lives.
Parents’ children’s self-esteem is based on how their parents respond to their needs and how they express their actions, love, listen, show concern, and to take time to assist and care for their needs.
Self-esteem begins from the day a newborn is brought to the mother and it develops an attachment with its parent. When the newborn cries and requires attention and the parent(s) responds to its needs, self-esteem begins to develop at that point because the newborn feels secure and safe. It feels loved, valued, and secure as it is nourished and stroked, and as it matures, it feels an attachment to its parents because it knows they love and care about it.
Children learn early in life the importance of having someone who they know loves and cares for them. They know who assists them, who cares and encourages them, and who loves and makes them feel like they’re achievers and not losers.
Sole writer of this article is Barbara Kasey Smith.