If your child’s learning to win the approval of others doesn’t seem like much of a problem, wait till he grows up and marries someone he thinks he should marry, works in a job she hates because it’s expected of her, gets in debt buying a house or car that makes him seem more successful than he really is, or is on a perpetual diet and hates her body because women are supposed to be thin. You can stop this negative conditioning! As a parent (when you’re not caught up in your own insecurities), you instinctively know that your child is good enough. Your child, every child, was born with a spark of divinity — or love — within. And it is enough!

Here are five ways to reinforce that positive message.

• Be there for him. Let your child have his true feelings — sadness or fear, for example. Show him with your support, reassurance, and presence that it’s okay to have emotions, and that you’ll stay with him through all those feelings, without judging.

• Teach her not to personalize rejection. If someone tells her she’s ugly or too brainy, for example, remind her that someone else’s words aren’t the truth.… More

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I admit it! I love being lifted higher. It takes two, though.

I have to participate. I have to position myself, get consent, and take the leap. That means making myself vulnerable. It means trusting myself to jump high enough. Sam’s a foot taller than I am. And it means trusting Sam to catch me.

Relationships are always two-sided.… More