The Gift That Keeps Giving.
Revised 7/14/2025
If money was no problem for you, what would you buy for your child? Would it be a new car? Would it be the latest gaming system? Would it be full tuition at a university?
The answer is,” probably whatever they wanted”.
What if one of the most important gifts that you can give your child cannot be bought?
Let’s talk about self-esteem.
We talk about this condition often while raising our children. Can we gift self-esteem? Some of the experts in the field of social psychology say that self-esteem is genetic and decided by age 5 years. Is that true, I don’t know. The gift that I want to talk about and cannot be bought, is self-confidence.
Here is what I do know, self-esteem and self confidence are two very different issues.
Self-confidence can be gifted. But,,,,,,
Self-Confidence cannot be wrapped in a box nor can it be ordered online.
Self-confidence cannot be gifted through a motivational speaker.
Sadly, self-confidence can’t be gifted by praise from parents.
Self-confidence is gained by overcoming obstacles that life presents to us.
Self-confidence is something that has to be taught hands on.
Self-confidence can negate the presence of low self-esteem.
This form of self-confidence builds a platform that supports the successful growth of our children in all the arenas of life. Do you wonder why our children struggle sometimes in school? Is it because the curriculum is so tough? Probably not the case in our schools.
Chances are your child has other issues on his or her mind while sitting in that classroom. Often that issue is another student or group. You as a parent can provide your child the opportunity to gain the self-confidence that is needed to keep their minds on the curriculum and not the problem student who is renting valuable space in your child’s head.
This disruptive, even fearful school atmosphere has spread all over our country. It’s not just in my home state of Florida. The atmosphere in my schooling of the 1960’s & 70’s was not as toxic as it is today. How the atmosphere in our schools today has gotten so bad, is a debate for another post. The current situation has given birth to government interaction in the form of this:
The main critical difference in policy between the 1970’s and today’s classroom is that we leave the problem children in the classroom and rely on verbal communication intervention between the staff and the problem child. The behavior issues that the problem child has, were not learned/found in the classroom at the beginning or the year. The behavior issues were learned at home. It’s not our job as as parents to raise or correct the behavior of someone else’s problem child.
But, it is our job as parents to teach our own children to handle the problem children that they encounter.
Our prisons are full of grown men and women who were problem children and our cemeteries are full of good children who were not given the ability to deal with their problem classmates.
“Give your child the ability to handle the problem child when that verbal intervention fails.”
“Give your child the gift of self-confidence by getting them trained in self-defense.”
Valente Brothers Self-Defense, North Miami Beach, Florida
The self-confidence obtained by training in a good self-defense program will follow your child for life, whether they are working in a factory or a boardroom. You invest so much in your child’s life. Your hopes for your child’s future is high and your love is eternal. Protect your child, get them trained.
I wrote about what to look for in a training facility, follow this link.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post.
“I believe the root of self-confidence is primal. I believe it comes from the ability to stand among men without the fear of aggression from any of them. This ability exists in all human beings, find it and develop it.”
