All children need to be praised and complimented throughout their lives. They need to hear their parents say they love them every day. When children are placed in an atmosphere of praise and verbal affirmation, they bond to their parents and grow up believing in themselves. However, when there is an atmosphere of quietness or criticism, children will sense a lack of acceptance. Parents who spend time too much time at work, at church, with friends, or doing other things leave their children felling alone and unimportant.
Every child needs a sense of belonging and a sense of identity and individual expression.
A healthy person has a balanced sense of who he is and to whom he belongs. Therefore, as parents, we need to let our children know we respect their feelings, opinions, and individuality. Although we must teach our children to obey us and to confirm to certain standards, we must not overwhelm their individual identities with our own opinions or dominant personalities. Parents who try to overcontrol a child's life or make that child into something they want him to be are harming the child. Although parents should lead a child in the right direction, they should also give the child room to be an individual and to make certain personal choices.