From the author: Regular author of the magazines “Happy Parents” and “Psychology” All parents of girls want their daughter to feel confident, beautiful and happy. To achieve this, we make a lot of efforts: we select charming outfits for her, beautifully braid her hair, help her realize her creative abilities, and express tenderness and admiration. But sometimes, despite the efforts of adults, a girl may feel dissatisfied with herself. For example, deciding that she is ugly or not capable enough, she may be upset because she has few friends or does not have such beautiful things as other girls. What is the reason for the emergence of such a critical attitude towards oneself? Already from the senior preschool age, the girl gradually develops ideas about herself. Previously, she perceived herself as a whole, because she could not look at herself “from the outside,” but now she studies and evaluates her character, appearance, and successes. To a greater extent, her identity consists of relationships with other people, and largely depends on the emotional reactions of close adults, peers, educators and teachers. The girl hears many value judgments about her appearance, behavior, and abilities. Gradually, like a mosaic, they form into a more or less complete picture, to which new elements are added over time. But, of course, your daughter sees herself not only through the eyes of other people. She dreams and fantasizes, imagining herself as a princess, a fearless traveler, or the heroine of her favorite story. And these dreams, emotionally charged and exciting, also form her ideas about herself, her internal image. She may suddenly begin to behave arrogantly, like a fairy-tale royalty, or demonstrate courage and independence. And, of course, the emerging self-image cannot consist only of positive traits. And that's okay! When something doesn’t work out over and over again, for example, writing neatly in a notebook or drawing a beautiful picture, a girl may feel incompetent. If at school they tease her because she has red hair or is too tall, even if at home they are touched by these features, she will feel like an ugly girl. The fact that she “loses” in some way to other children can be very painful for her attitude towards herself. Your daughter may feel envy of her prettier or academically successful friends, she may feel jealous of those who are more popular in the children's community, who behave more confidently and brightly. We are all familiar with such experiences; we depend on the opinions and assessments of others, sometimes they put pressure on us, “making” us feel insecure. And therefore, we cannot talk about how a girl can avoid dissatisfaction with herself, but only about how to soften these painful feelings. And, also about how in the future to become less dependent on the opinions and reactions of others. Often, this dependence on criticism is especially strong if parents are more focused on external effects and cultivate a sense of superiority. For example, often repeating to your daughter - you are the best, you are the most beautiful, at the holiday you sang the best. It is clear that in this way we express love and support, but the danger is that children take everything at face value. It is better for your praise to sound more realistic and related specifically to her; exaggerated praises in the spirit of “you are the best” sound impersonal. You can say: “We liked the way you sang at the holiday, it was nice to see how calm and confident you were. And we also noticed how attentively you listened to your friends.” There is another extreme, just as generously as praise, parents make impartial, critical remarks: don’t slouch, don’t twirl, you laugh too loudly, if you eat so much, you’ll burst. Under a hail of such comments, a girl may feel helpless and worthless. Everything is always wrong with her, nothing will ever work out for her. And if you might be explaining your!