Instilling in your child self-esteem, is tricky business. My wife and I prefer the nod and the wink approach, over the overboard parent approach. Just as a simple example, when your child scores a goal at the soccer game, there are some parents that go through the roof. You don't hear the end of it, and they keep patting their kid on the back and applauding their kid. I think giving your child true self-esteem, is more of a nod and a wink. "Hey, great job. We're really proud of you," and move on. Let them know it was important and they did a good job, but don't go overboard, because the authenticity of what you are saying to them will lose it's effectiveness. They know you are going overboard there after a while, maybe not the first time; but by the second or the third time they do. Just give them a nod and a wink, a good pat on the back. This empowers your child. They feel good. You didn't make a big spectacle out of it. They appreciated it. That starts to build into them appropriate self-esteem that they can carry into their teenage years, and it can carry into adulthood.