Jeree Pawl, PhD, former clinical professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Francisco and past director of the Infant-Parent Program located at San Francisco General Hospital responds to questions about how parents and caregivers can support the development of self-esteem in very young children. Contrary to the idea that self-esteem comes from simply praising children, it comes from their experiences of mastery and competence that are often born out of struggle and discomfort. The foundation of self-esteem is also created when parents can acknowledge and accept the child that they have, particularly when that child may be different from their ideas of how they think their child should be.