The two greatest pieces of advice I can give are:

1) Love them unconditionally and make sure they know that you always have their back. This means don’t show severe disappointment if they don’t do something well, rather praise the effort (if they really did their best) and guide them on how best to improve. For example, my daughter struggled with writing outlines in 3rd grade and would not do well when she was assessed. I worked with her on the weekends and every opportunity to help her think in outline form. I helped turn a weakness into a strength.

2) Help your children find their superpower.  Everyone is good at something and finding and operating from a place of strength will do wonders for self-esteem. It may take years, but it is worth doing. I feel that this is one of the  greatest gifts I can give my children.   Practically speaking , this means exposing your children early to a variety of activities, even those that may be unfamiliar to you.  Also, expose them to a variety of career options and people who are involved in these careers. Have dinner with someone who might have an interesting career or hobby.  My goal is to help my children uncover their natural strengths and guide them towards finding out how to use their strengths in their life’s work.

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