The other night I was watching Grown Ups 2 and while laughing at the parenting scene in the video below, I also started thinking about self-confidence and how I have been building this character strength in my children.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say I am probably not the only parent out there who gets super-excited when my child answers a question correctly or presents an excellent report card.  If my child is happy, I am happy – if they feel good, I feel good – it’s win-win, right?!  Well, not exactly, because self-confidence and self-esteem are not the same thing.

The difference between the two is this:

Self-confidence is our view of our abilities. It’s built through achievement and external recognition when we overcome obstacles.

Self-esteem is how we feel about ourselves and our comfort level being exactly who we are. It’s what we believe ourselves to be internally, regardless of social norms.

#Mommyfail here: I have been treating self-confidence (external experience) and self-esteem (internal experience) like they are one and the same, when in reality they are unique traits that both need to be nurtured in children.  In knowing this I move onto the next logical question: is one more important than the other?  The truth is that we don’t need to be confident about everything and in every situation…but we do need to love who we are every minute, all the time.  And studies say high-levels of self-esteem can often act as a buffer when we are, dare I say it…not so confident.

So in an attempt to right my “mommyfail” assumption that high confidence means a high level of self-esteem, I have made a conscious effort to focus on building up my children’s self-esteem, in addition to recognizing the accomplishments which contribute to building up their confidence.

Here are a few tips to help frame you approach to building self-esteem:

1. Stay connected to your children. Love for oneself grows from feeling love and security. Be the safe place when life gets crazy.
2. Be a positive role-model when goal setting and when talking about your abilities.
3. Let your child take healthy risks – allow them to take chances and figure things out as they go. Be there for support but not to rescue them from the learning that comes when things don’t go just right.
4. Encourage your children to pursue their unique interests and enjoy the journey of discovery.
5. Make your child feel special by helping them to understand their unique strengths. Redirect the inaccurate messages about perfection all too often seen in the media.

How do you help your child feel good about themselves? Share your words of wisdom with us here:

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