hi twyla
i teach a parenting class that is built on the pricipal of building self esteem in children so that if they are feeling good about themselves they will make good choices in life to continue to cultivate that good feeling. the first week is on self esteem and i discuss with my parents the amount of power they have in their hands to build that self esteem in their children. self esteem is a fragile and delicate thing. one negative response can plummet your child's self esteem into the toilet where all the praise you are talking about continues to build your child's self esteem. it allows them to feel competent about the challenges of daily life. this encourages them to try more and do better. without positive reinforcement or only challenging them on the negative, they develop and attitude of why bother. and kisses hugs, they can never get enough of that. if you want to read some research on the parenting program i use, check out positiveaction.org or com. dont know which it is. they have a whole lot of research on how their program works to improve communication, family relationships, reduce drug use, violence, improve school work, etc.

welcome to psych central. you will find we have several forums where you can post about your concerns and receive feedback from other members. you will get a lot of support here. again, welcome