Your child just won a chess game – telling them “I’m proud of you” is a pretty common parenting response. But what if we told you there are ways you can celebrate your child’s achievements that go beyond the simple saying of “I’m proud of you”. These alternative responses not only cultivate conversations, but also celebrate your child’s achievements by helping them develop a healthy self-awareness and self-trust.
So the next time your child does something that makes you feel proud, which is undeniably one of the best feelings in the world – try one of these 9 variations to saying “I’m proud of you!”
“You did a great job _____!”
This is a much more personalized response to acknowledging your child’s accomplishment.
“I know that was hard, but you did it!”
This recognizes a challenge your child faced and that you see how their perseverance paid off.
“It makes me so proud to say ‘that’s my son/daughter!’”
This response lets your child know how you feel while making their moment of glory even more special.
“That was a tough situation, but you handled it really well!”
This is a good one to use when your child does something that requires a lot of maturity. Saying this acknowledges the difficulty of the situation and your child’s ability to overcome it.
“How did you know that answer, that’s amazing!”
This gives your child an opportunity to be the expert and teach you something new.
“You must be so proud of yourself!”
This response helps your child take more ownership of their accomplishment while boosting their self-esteem.
“Tell me more about _____ .”
This shows that you are invested in their accomplishment and have an interest in hearing their thoughts and feelings about it.
“Look at how much you’ve improved! That must have taken a lot of work.”
This helps your child recognize their progress and encourages them to keep working hard.
“I believe in you!”
This reminds your child that you will always be there rooting for them no matter what.
Tell your child often how proud of them you are, and make it a point to catch them doing good things! Be on the lookout when your child is playing sports, learning a new instrument, taking a math test, or interacting with their siblings or friends. The more you search for something, the more likely you are to find it – so look for reasons daily to say, “I’m proud of you…” in one way or another.
