Are You Celebrating Achievements or Bragging about Your Child?

When your whole world revolves around your child, you’re often quick to tell anyone who will listen how great your child is. And, with the nature of social media, sharing news of your child’s accomplishments is easier than ever. It’s also easier than ever to fall into the trap of oversharing, and crossing the line from celebration to bragging about your child.

Sure, you could argue that bragging about your child is one of the rites of passage of being a parent, but there are ways that you can praise your child’s accolades without making other parents or other children feel any less than.

Consider the following etiquette tips when sharing your child’s accomplishments:

1. Emphasize how good your child is and less on how good a parent you are. You can cross into bragging territory when you’re tooting your own horn and taking credit for your child’s success.

2. Highlight how hard your child worked to reach the accomplishment rather than focusing solely on the accomplishment itself.

3. Be considerate when bragging about something that other parents struggle with.

4. Be aware of your audience. You’re proud of your kid and it’s natural to want to share that with your loved ones, but be careful not to monopolize the conversation.

5. Don’t use your child’s accomplishments to relive your own glory days. If your child made the varsity squad his or her freshman year, don’t take the opportunity to remind everyone that you did the same when you were their age.

As a good rule of thumb, before sharing, consider the following questions:

• In a general sense or for your child specifically, is this achievement exceptional? If your answer is yes, you’re probably in the clear.
• Would the story be entertaining to someone who does not have a vested interest in your child? If your answer is no, you might be toeing the line of the bragging category.
• If other kids were involved in the same activity but did not do as well as your child, would they or their parents feel hurt by your child’s success? If it’s possible that it might be hurtful toward others, think carefully about how you share your child’s accomplishment.