Over Praising Our Kids

Is it possible to praise your children too much? Recently, I’ve found myself in the presence of several sets of young parents who spend what seems like a great amount of time and effort heaping boatloads of enthusiastic praise on their kids, for seemingly no reason at all. The mantra they chant includes things like “you’re awesome!” and “you’re the best.” Now I’ll be the first parent in line to tell you how important it is to encourage and lift up your kids. But recent research indicates that we might be over-praising kids to their long-term detriment. Some experts are wondering if over-praising creates kids who are unable to take criticism, have difficulty handling failure, and who are perpetually entitled. Perhaps a better approach would be to understand and treat our kids through a theological framework that helps them understand that everything good they have and everything good they are is purely a gift from a gracious God. . . who by the way, has come to save them because they can’t save themselves.