In a recent study, it found that girls as young as six believed that brilliance was a male trait. They also found that girls also steered themselves away from activities that were perceived to be very smart people. It is so important to raise a strong confident daughter. Teach them they can become anything they want.
These stereotypes being placed on women are impacting our children. They see and hear what is being said, and it makes them weary of being the best that they can be, because they believe males are smarter.
Help break these stereotypes and teach your daughter that she can be anyone she wants. Whether that is a doctor, scientist, lawyer, or anything else her heart desires. Teach her to be confident in who she is, and strong. Most importantly teach her that she is beautiful!
6 Ways to Raise a Strong and Confident Daughter
Career Choices: Take a seat and let your child find who they are as a person. Let them decide what passions they might have. When your daughter is three she might want to be a teacher, then by five a dancer and the goals might change over time. Don’t ever tell her what she should be. Nurture her ideas, and let her decide, and always stand behind her choices. Even by a simple gesture of a different career, can influence your child greatly, especially in girls.
Be an Individual: Teach your daughter that it is okay in anything that she chooses. Even if she is not a big fan of wearing super girly clothes, that is okay. Teach your daughter to wear what she wants, fix her hair how she wants and so on. Letting your child be themselves will help boost self-confidence. Raising a confident daughter is all about allowing their individuality.
Beautiful Inside and Out: Did you know that between the age of elementary to high school, a girls self-confidence drops 3.5 times more than boys. Your daughter needs to be told how beautiful she is inside and out. Teach her that beauty comes from the inside, it is not only on the outside. Yes, you can be beautiful on the outside, but inner beauty is far more important. Any shape, size, hair color, are all beautiful in everyone’s eyes.
Confidence: Teach your daughter that it is okay to mess up because you learn from it. Sometimes your child can take messing up as not being smart, but teach her it is important to mess up so you can learn from your mistakes. It can make you grow stronger as an individual. When you instill confidence in your child, it will go a long way. Tell her she can do and be anything she wants to be. That it is okay if she wants to dress a little different than everyone at school, as long as she is true to herself that is what matters. Teaching her that it doesn’t matter what everyone else says, she knows who she is as a person and that is important.
Show Love: Love your daughter with your whole heart. Tell her how special she is, and let her know how smart she is. A daughter can be very influenced by her mom, so it is important to show that love and affection. We all want love, and to make sure your daughter receives that from her parents is a great foundation. It teaches her she is special and worth loving. A lot of struggles can come from the parents if they don’t voice their love and affection to their children.
Believe In Her: Another major one is believing in your daughter. Every child will face ups and downs, successes and failures. Through it all, you just have to believe in her, and be a cheerleader and shoulder to cry on. Encourage her to follow her dreams, and support her along the way. That is the best thing you can do. Never tell your daughter that the dream is not worth going for.
Most importantly just love and support your daughter. Be an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, and her biggest cheerleader. You know that growing up, you face a lot of challenges and struggles along the way, and knowing you have an amazing support system makes it so much better! Raising a confident daughter is easier to manage than you may think!
More Parenting Tips:
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- 5 Common Mistakes Parents Make with Preschoolers
- Ways for Teens to Earn Money
