Johnny comes home late from school with a scratch on his face and you yell at him for being late and then tell him that hes grounded for being late and hes not to have a snack as punishment as well. Johnny runs up the stairs to his room, huffing and puffing as he pulls off his uniform. The tears slowly rolling down his cherubic cheek, burning the scratch he got today in school from kids that were teasing him about being overweight.

Changing into his after school clothes he pulls out a hidden chocolate bar from the drawer and tears the wrapper off and eats it without hardly even realizing what hes doing.sadness, a sense of not belonging and anger fills his little heart and soul.

Johnny is only 9 years old. A variety of things can happen to Johnnyhe can grow into a sullen teen and join a gang in order to get a sense of belonging or perhaps grow up thinking that whatever he wants to do, he cannot.because of his lack of self worth.

The biggest gift you can give your child is self esteem. We grew up in a world where self esteem never even came up until we were so much older and by then we had to take the time to undo what had been done.Today as parents you have the knowledge, so why not give your child the biggest gift of all: Self worth which will enable them to grow up to be the person they are meant to be!

The scenario above would have been a little different if the parent would have asked Johnny what happenedhave him explain that through the teasing of his weight, he got angry and hit the other boy and in return got a scratch. This scenario now gives you, the parent an opportunity to discuss a variety of things.from hitting other kids, to explaining that children like to tease others on physical differences as well as other differences that could be ones religion, social status, who their parents are, ethnic background and other things that people think can be different.

This type of conversation will bring awareness which is vital to a childs development and hopefully you will have an adult on your hands 10 years from now that appreciates people for who they are as human beings.

So next time youre getting angry and want to shout out a myriad of things that range from your stupid you are worthless you wont amount to anything you cant do that or the old go to your room take a deep breath..tell your child that you will speak with him/her in 10 minutes and to think about what just happened. This will allow your child to thinkand for you to regain composure.

Discipline is a vital part of being an exceptional parent.this takes more time than most other things as its repetitive and has to be done on an ongoing basis.but do it in private, dont humiliate your child. This is when the most damage to a childs self worth is occurs because youre angryand spouting words that you promised yourself when you were growing up youd never sayand you see yourself repeating a similar pattern to that of your parents.

Encourage in public! This will lift your childs spirits and allow others to see how proud you are of your child, whether its from a finger painting to hang on the fridge or scoring the final homerun at the game. Your children look up to you, youre their coach, parent, role model and your behavior makes a mark on how they view adults and relationships in the future, remember dont look at being a parent as youre raising kids: but raising future adults.

Self Esteem is boosted with your encouragement. Encourage your child into doing what he/she wants to do, not some old fantasy you had growing upyoure not raising a mini version of yourself you are raising a person who although may have characteristics and physical resemblances to youthey are not you.

Encouragement is better than praise. Also, take the words like you could do better out of your litany, as this leads to a child feeling that no matter what they did its not just good enough.

Failure.a word I despised as a child.That word should not even be uttered. Whatever your child is doing, from piano lessons, coloring in their book, ballet or writing for the school paperteach them that every endeavor they take on is a road. On any road they will be faced with yellow lights a stop sign, traffic and any other analogies you wish to make.and on that road at times temporary setbacks can be met along the way.Encourage your child with words like be persistent perseverance. Never tell a child he/she has failed or cannot succeed.

Tell them that everyone takes their own time on the road (which means dont compare siblings or your child to others)the journey of life is one that can be filled with such joy if we are taught that every setback is just a learning experience for us to grow. This instilled at a very early age will allow your child to grow up knowing that life is a journey, with choices to make and that each one will allow them to get further alongon their Journey!

And rememberwhen stuck with not knowing what to say.a hug speaks louder than most words you could ever say!

Terri Giosia, motivational speaker, lifestyles-singles coach and writer, whose vision, passion and spirit will captivate and motivate you to be the "best" you can be! An ongoing student of human behavior; previous to finding my niche I was paving the path to this career, which includes over 20 years in training, business development, consulting, and management. Enhance and enrich your life today! Visit: http://www.teralunaenterprises.com

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