How to Teach Your Child to Celebrate the Success of Others

As a parent, you probably do your best to recognize and celebrate your child’s hard work and accomplishments. Rewarding your child for a job well done is normal and helps to instill a strong work ethic in them early in life.

Another lesson that you should teach your child is learning how to celebrate the success of others. For many young children, it’s a difficult concept to grasp, but celebrating others is an important life lesson to learn.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when teaching your child how to celebrate another’s success.

• Look for opportunities to shine the spotlight on someone else. It’s easy to get caught up in making your child the center of attention for everything. After all, they are your whole world! But, it’s important to focus your attention on someone else, whether this is another family member or one of your child’s friends, to show your child that everything is not always about them.
• Remind your child of all the great things they have going for them. It’s natural for a child to feel jealous when someone else is being celebrated. Take this time to remind your child of all the things that they have to be grateful for. It might be easier for your child to be happy for someone else’s success when they realize all the great things they have already achieved.
• Start celebrating those closest to your child. Celebrating the success of someone who your child loves and already has a strong relationship with, such as a sibling or cousin, may make this an easier concept to teach. Explain to your child that when you care about someone, you want him or her to be successful. It may be easier for your child to experience feelings of excitement for others when they already have an emotional connection to them.