In commemoration of the International Day of the girl child every October 11, it is key to highlight the challenges and progress made in advancing the cause of the girl child. However, as parents, we can ensure that our daughters and girls build confidence to carry on with life’s journey.
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To help your girl child navigate through adulthood, grooming her to have a positive self-image, competent and super confident abilities is very crucial. Confidence comes from believing in oneself, and your daughter get a first dose of this from you. This means that your position as a parent provides you a powerful influence on how your girl child learn to view themselves. Hence, make it a point of duty to point out the strengths that you think makes your girl child unique and orient her to hone these qualities patiently.

Showering her with praises is another way to do this; find opportunities to praise her when she impresses you by finishing a demanding task, does something thoughtful from a place of empathy, or when she shows courage by performing in front of a crowd.

To build her Emotional Intelligence, teach her to validate her emotions and provide a safe space to express her feelings by withholding your judgment and responding in empathy. It will lay a great foundation of trust and give your girl child a sense of security; she knows she can always turn to you without reservations whatsoever.

This is especially important, as your girls enter the perturbing teenage years where they tend to keep their feelings to themselves, as they navigate rockier situations such as peer pressure, academic stress and relationship drama. It’s also important to build her empathy muscles to always see things from different perspectives.
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As a parent, you should be a confident role model, if you want your girl child to be confident. Keep in mind that your daughter is constantly observing you and looks to you to set an example, so you must always be aware of how you act and speak. She will notice when you bash your body, critique yourself or say things like “I can’t” or use inappropriate words. She’ll pick up on when you feel beautiful and feel proud of your accomplishments.

By all means, try not to talk down on yourself in your daughter’s presence. When she observes you are confident, she’s more likely to grow up confident herself.

Praise your daughter more than her looks; tell her she is beautiful and teach her that there’s much more to her than her appearance. Offer her precise, genuine praise on her math or problem-solving skills, her proactiveness, effort and determination, her good sportsmanship, empathy and more.

You should help your girl child find her interests and develop her talents. Children build confidence as they explore their unique interests and talents, particularly as they find activities they excel at. It is one powerful way to build a connection with your daughter – when you pay attention to her interests. Give your daughter the freedom to explore anything that sparks her interest, including activities – basketball, music, science projects and arts.
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