Mom's friend's son

By throwing around phrases that make their child compare himself or herself to others, parents instill in him or her the feeling that they are not good enough, that they need to change. And worst of all, the child may begin to think that he or she has to earn their mom and dad's love. By doing this, parents make an appeal to authority, "Look at David! He got an A in maths. Why not you?" Such words make the child doubt himself, undermine self-esteem and cause him or her to hate this David, even though he has nothing to do with it at all. If you accidentally (or not) tell these phrases to your kids, then stop immediately. If you are told this by your parents, then you need to abstract away from these comparisons and realize that this is just a pattern manipulation tool that should not affect your self-esteem and your mood.