Recently I saw the sweetest video of a mother brushing her daughter’s hair and telling her all the things she was, Flawless, Beautiful, etc. and the daughter would repeat these affirmations with gusto. As the mother of a one and a half-year-old, I thought my daughter was too young, but I was WRONG. So whether you have a toddler or a teenager (or a toddler that thinks they are a teenager) I encourage you to incorporate these into your daily routine.
First, let me hop on my soapbox and say don’t make your affirmations gender-specific or based on outward appearance alone. After all, it’s what’s on the inside that counts right? I realized that too often I focus on my daughter’s appearance as her most valued attributes. Although, I think she is cute as a button I want to teach my daughter that her value is not in what she looks like, but in how she acts and treats those around her.
I posed my affirmations as questions, so my toddler could easily answer YES! Feel free to pose yours as statements!
Are you going to be BRAVE today?
Are you going to be KIND today?
Are you going to be PATIENT today?
Are you going to be HELPFUL today?
Are you going to be SMART today?
What I didn’t expect is that my daughter began saying these affirmative words back to me rather than just saying yes. She even started to grasp what they meant. For example, when we ask her to be patient we usually follow it by, “Remember what patient means? It means to wait.” and we pair it with the sign so she then repeats the word patient and the sign.
It doesn’t take long, I do it on the ride to and from daycare. I have no doubt the impact will last a lifetime.