In today’s modern generation, it is widespread that many youths face a lot of issues with themselves, such as lack of confidence and demotivation; this is because they lack self-love. Society is responsible for this somehow. From education to the job and even marriage, we are compared with people around us in every life path. There is a pressure to do better in whatever we do, and in this process of constant competition, we end up losing our true identity. The criticism from society, including our friends and family, make us forget our real worth. We are all so focused on the race to be better than others that we end up going on the wrong track, getting distracted from what we actually desire our life to be like. And if something goes wrong, we get so sunken in sadness that we start hating ourselves.
To overcome this feeling and learn the key to life’s happiness, we need to be aware of self-love and self-care. We need to learn the act of valuing ourselves, accepting ourselves, learning to love ourselves. It is about feeling abundant and feeling enough, showing compassion and feeling worthy of our own time. It does not cause anything, but it takes us forever to get used to it. It is a decision to invest in ourselves.
Here are some tips on teaching your children to love themselves and to take care of proper care of themselves.
1. Be patient to our child:
Every parent has a busy daily schedule that makes it really difficult to spend quality time with their family and children. But once in a while, we need to listen to what they want to express to us to get a feeling and assurance that they are being heard, seen, understood and accepted. If they are struggling to express themselves, we need not pressurise them and instead help them use their own pace to open up and process things in a different perspective. In this way, children feel the presence, patience, attention, acceptance, and love they need — we have already written the Safe and Healthy Parenting Guidelines which does not require any special skills or qualities.
2. Love yourself:
Children are in the prime age where they learn what they see, so you need to be an excellent example of self-love as a parent or guardian. No parents are perfect, and there is no need to be perfect. As parents to, we must learn to love ourselves when having flaws. When we make a mistake, we must accept and move forward rather than demotivate and give up. In this way, children will learn that it is okay to make mistakes and still get back up.
3. Letting them do things that make them happy:
They need to understand that it is perfectly normal to break and do things that really make them happy or bring joy to their souls. They need to relax their minds to get energised mentally and feel refreshed from their regular routines such as school or home-works. These can include following their hobbies of cooking, sports or arts, playing with their friends, or visiting grandparents.
4. Hygiene:
Maintaining proper hygiene is an essential aspect of self-care. They must be taught that practising proper hygiene or a clean environment is a way of loving oneself. This practice of keeping oneself clean makes them feel good and keeps them in good health and away from germs. For instance, after working hard helping dad in gardening, they can treat themselves to a nice hot bath.
5. Rewarding them in their achievements:
Whether their achievements are significant or even a small success in their walk of life, they must be rewarded. The reward does not necessarily have to be big; it can be just a little chocolate or kind words such as “I am proud of you” or “You have done great”. This way they feel appreciated and are motivated to do better in future. As they grow, they will learn to appreciate themselves and pamper themselves by gifting something once in a while when they achieve their goals. They will learn to be proud of their achievement. Also, don’t forget to pamper yourself even if you are old.
6. Being vocal when they are mistreated:
They must be taught from a very young age about being vocal when they are being treated disrespectfully. They must be taught to cherish and value their souls and bodies by not letting people way over them and take advantage of them. If they are forced to do anything, they must speak out loud and reject it. Voicing one’s feelings when a person hurts you physically or mentally is a way of looking after oneself. Through this, they learn the act of protecting themselves.
7. Eating good nutrition:
They must be explained taught the consequence of not taking proper care of their body. Nurturing our bodies with good food shows our appreciation for ourselves. This encourages them to build a healthy lifestyle and also helps in the process of growth and development. Also, read How to make a diet plan for yourself without a nutritionist.
8. Gratitude:
The act of gratitude has a great deal of significance in every ones’ life. It teaches us to be grateful to the littlest things that life offers us and be content and satisfied. Children learn to be thankful for all they have while they pursue all they want.
Gratitude will shift you to a higher frequency, and you will attract much better things
— Rhonda Byrne.
9. Positive affirmations:
A habit must be developed by them where they repeat the daily positive affirmations. This helps have a bright start of the day or helps them get over a bad day. It also assists in building up their self-esteem.
Some of the daily positive affirmations are:
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- I am so happy and grateful for the life I have.
- I am grateful for all the loving people I have in my life.
- I am grateful for this loving, beautiful, healthy body I have that continues to get stronger every day.
- I am brave, and I won’t give up.
- I am special, and I have a purpose.
- I am enough.
- I can do better next time.
- I believe in myself.
- Today, I will do my best.
- I choose happiness.
- I am brave
- I am proud of myself.
- I am kind
- Being me is great.
- I love me.
- My opinions matter.
- I am beautiful inside and out.
- I am going to get through this.
- I forgive myself for my mistakes.
Thus, we need to make it clear to them that the one person they are going to spend their entire life with is why it is essential for them to know themselves and love themselves. God made each one of them special for a reason because everyone is built unique so that they can contribute something special of their own to the world. There is no need to compare with the other kids to feel enough. The world is a big puzzle, and they are a tiny but essential part that completes the puzzle. All that one needs to do is be true to oneself and firmly believe themselves.
Some books that will inspire your kids to love themselves are:
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- I am a warrior goddess By Jennifer Adams.
- We are different, we are the same, and we are all wonderful By sesame street.
- Dear Girl by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Paris Rosenthal
- Not so small at all
- Just the way I am by Sean Covey.
- Wonderful me, I love all of me by Lorie Ann Grover.
- Pink is for Boys by Robb Pearlman
- I love myself by Karen Beaumont
