Confidence In Kids

How do you instill confidence in your kids? If someone knows the secret to successfully achieving this, please let me know!

Shane is so afraid to step out of the box and get out of his comfort zone. I suppose I could say it's a lack of confidence but that's really simplifying it. With him, it's more of a fact that he likes to analyze things and understand them completely before he is comfortable in a situation to participate.

His head is his biggest asset and his worst enemy.

This is nothing new. He's always been cautious. In Kindergarten, he balked at reading outloud until he was able to read the paragraph or sentence 100%. I distinctly remember having a conversation with his teacher about this and both of us having to tell him it was okay to be wrong. He doesn't like to make mistakes

It's been the story of his school-ing days. Until he is comfortable with something, he just can not settle down. I thought for sure that I was going to choke this child last year in the beginning of school. He had more visits to the nurse and guidance counselor at school than any other years combined. I humored him for a few weeks and then I came down on him and told him to straighten up and fly right. And he did. Finally.

Sometimes he just needs a kick in the pants. Tough love and all that.

So, he's been playing tennis for about a year and there was a tournament in the summer clinic today. And it's the same drill for him. He's got a good playing foundation but he gets intimidated by other kids. Plus, he's sensitive and doesn't want them to feel bad if he beats them. But then he feels bad if he loses.

Ugh. He's a headcase. lol.

Ken's Aunt Liz is a tennis pro and a sports psychologist so I had her talk with him a few days ago. Even though she told him exactly what I told him, he listened to her. He was kind of nervous last night but once he got on the court today, he thought about what Liz said and was fully in charge of himself.

He made good shots. His serves were in mostly (and that was what he was really nervous about). But he played well and he never gave in. Ever. Even against the 12 year old kid that he played. He played two matches and won the first but lost the second. But even in the match that he lost, he played really well.

And I was super proud of him because he didn't let his nerves get to him and he got in there and did his best. And he had good sportsmenship. And he had confidence in himself and it showed, which is a big step for him.

But best of all, he had fun. And that's what it's all about.