September was always an exciting time of year – almost seems like a new year – even more so than January for me.
My favorite part was always THE NEW CLOTHES!!! We were never the kids who had designer clothes let alone even brand name clothes but we ALWAYS had a couple new outfits for the start o the school year. Even if it was from Zellers, Kmart or Arm and Navy, new clothes always made me feel more confidant! Now that I am a mom – I sure can appreciate getting what we got I can remember laying the outfit out the night before the first day and getting up extra early to get ready.
In particular, remember my grade 7 year. The start of junior high!!We had moved over the summer and were now walking distance to my school. Grade 7 was a big one – a scary one. Going from the leader of the pack in grade 6 to the newbie. eeeeek.
I asked my dad if he could walk me to school that first day and not giving a care in the world what other people thought of that. I am certain that a strong family foundation plays a huge role in self esteem, my dad was one of my rocks and I thought he was pretty cool 😉
Ends up a lot of kids though that was pretty cool too and my dad ended up walking a bunch of us in and helped shake out a bunch of those newbie nerves. 🙂
Another confidence booster for me was the little notes from my mom in my lunch. Reading ones of those just gives you that little reminder of how much you are loved!
YOU are CRUCIAL to the self esteem of your child. Have you checked in with them on how they feel about themselves? Have you watched their body language or little messages they give off…. How is YOUR self esteem? Children live what they see and what they learn.
Be your best!
Leanne Power
Author
National Facilitator of EmPOWERed Esteem