One of the greatest lifetime gifts that a parent can give to their child is the gift of self knowledge. This gift will keep on giving for their children's entire lifetime. If your children have a solid grip and understanding of their very own unique selves, you will help prepare them to be stronger, more confident, and have greater self esteem.

Each person is born with a unique personality and their own set of personal interests. These characteristics are part of the package that we are all born with, but individual uniqueness is not always recognized or identified and developed in childhood. Some children seem to sense and know from a very early age just what they enjoy and want to do for the rest of their lives, while many others need some help and nudges along the way to find their uniqueness and their very own passion.

Children born to the same family and raised in a similar manner are each unique regardless of their upbringing. For instance, one child may show an avid interest in caring for animals, and this child will probably spend a lot of time with the family pet, and their reading preferences will be about engaging animal stories. Another child in the family may be extremely interested in exploring and finding out how everything works. This child will keep you constantly on your toes with their never ending questions about everything from wanting to know how your hair dryer heats up to how your car goes forward and backward. A third child may seem like a daydreamer at times, but they often surprise you by coming up with different ways of cleaning their room, walking the dog, or writing their name.

Those are the kinds of natural interests and abilities that wise parents will pay attention to. These parents will consciously and deliberately provide opportunities for their children to have experiences in which they can increase their knowledge and understanding in areas of natural interest to their children, and they will guide them in finding ways to express themselves in their special area of uniqueness. Using age appropriate materials and activities, they will encourage their children to further explore these unique interests. Each new experience will be a stepping stone into their self discovery and expand their awareness of what makes them feel good and what does not feel so good. With each unique interest or ability, there are hundreds of paths to step on where a child's inquisitive mind can develop, grow, and experience self discovery. As their self discovery is expanded, they will be able to make more pertinent focused choices.

As the child experiences successes from any of their small or large achievements while participating in an activity that holds a unique interest for them, these important building blocks of self knowledge and self esteem will take root. They will be truly excited from their heart level because this is a passion that resides within them naturally. Honing that passion with your recognition, appreciation, and guidance will serve as a great confidence booster.

As your children continue to learn and experience success in their unique area of interest or ability, they will find within that broad spectrum their very own niche that they will really excel in. Helping your children to not only learn and recognize what their unique interests are, but to enjoy personal successes in their area of uniqueness will go a long way in helping them to later develop a career or hobby that will provide a great deal of satisfaction and enjoyment for their entire life.

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