The age-old problems that plagued parents, caregivers, and teachers, are deciphered. The exchange of guesswork for scientific discoveries makes now the best time in history to undertake a journey with a young child.
Do you want to help rather than hinder the children in your life?
If your answer is yes, then you will want to read this book!
Imagine what life would be like if you started enjoying more of the moments you got to spend with children.
Here's a remarkable neuroscientific insight: The time you spend enjoying children is building a neural pathway inside their brain and has the potential to remain a part of them for the rest of their life. Does this give you a clue about the ending of the book?
Scientists have proven this information is time-sensitive. Know that you only get little kids with their unique brain-processing abilities, for a limited time. Know that pa'renting' young kids means your lease is up in six years! This book will share ways to use your limited time wisely.
Thank You for helping achieve the goal of, "greater worldwide understanding for young children."
The age-old problems that plagued parents, caregivers, and teachers, are deciphered. The exchange of guesswork for scientific discoveries makes now the best time in history to undertake a journey with a young child.
Do you want to help rather than hinder the children in your life?
If your answer is yes, then you will want to read this book!
Imagine what life would be like if you started enjoying more of the moments you got to spend with children.
Here's a remarkable neuroscientific insight: The time you spend enjoying children is building a neural pathway inside their brain and has the potential to remain a part of them for the rest of their life. Does this give you a clue about the ending of the book?
Scientists have proven this information is time-sensitive. Know that you only get little kids with their unique brain-processing abilities, for a limited time. Know that pa'renting' young kids means your lease is up in six years! This book will share ways to use your limited time wisely.
Thank You for helping achieve the goal of, "greater worldwide understanding for young children."
Confidentlyâthat is the way many enter the dawn of parenthood. New parents are secure with their plan of action, to either do what their parents did or do the exact opposite. Copying the examples, or revolting against them, will not provide the actuality that is rightfully deserved. The child will grow out of being young; but few adults will sow words the developing brain yearns for, while even fewer parents will reap the rewards promised for this time in life. Rising to face the challenge can cause new parents to wonder.
Where can parents find the time to enjoy childhood? Enjoying may be a stretch when many are just trying to make it through the day with their kids. A friend pointed out, during one of those challenging moments, that kids have the power to suck the very life right out of you. Admittedly, time spent with children can be exhausting.
This season of life hit me hard one morning at the grocery store. I stood in line, zoned out, working on autopilot to pile my food on the conveyor. By the time my walking-zombie self realized that we were surroundedâit was already too late. The carefully placed impulse buys, in a rainbow of colors, called out to all those at eye level. My poor planning left me telling my son âno candyâ and my daughter âno touching.â
I looked around to see if another line was moving faster but a shopper was entering our lane, blocking our escape. Swinging her basket of groceries, she strode up to our public scene saying,âŻâOh, how I wish my children were all that size again.â
I straightened myself up to look at her. She was impeccably dressed. Her hair remained perfectly in place as she leisurely put her few items on the conveyor. I may have glared a littleâbecause I was pretty sure I looked as frazzled as I felt. Thinking back on the morning frenzy, I did not remember running a brush through my hair.
There was no time to respond to her, but my face said, youâve got to be kidding?!
As I crossed the finish line at checkout and immediately launched into the next race, I felt envious of that ladyâs leisure. After getting the kids buckled in, I dared a peek in my rearview mirror. Looking back at me was a more disheveled self than I had pictured. My reflection forced me to wonder, How could anyone look at me and want to do that all over again? Now think about itâI am not talking about some heart-warming scene here. A person saw chaos at a checkout counter, and she seemed to miss it. The thought of her wanting to relive that time sounded crazy but begged the question: Are we all missing an important piece of the puzzle?
The time to listen, and learn, is when we can still use the wisdom. But with a plethora of parenting advice, whose wisdom should we consider? The author of Brain-Body Parenting said, âWhatâs crucial isnât understanding someone elseâs guidelines but understanding how our parenting is âlandingâ in our child. Once we have some insight into how a child is absorbing, we can begin to discover more personalized and more effective answers to common parenting questions.âï»ż3ï»ż
Itâs tempting to say, âNo thank you, I have enough unwanted parenting comments!â But sometimes, you do not even ask a question and older adults offer unsolicited advice like: âDonât miss a minuteâeach one is precious.â I found sarcastic thoughts would pop into my head like, Was there more time back then?
Nowadays, the lack of time and enjoyment are everyday symptoms of our fast-paced lifestyle. Parenthood, like the pandemic, can spawn symptoms of situational anhedonia. The condition of anhedonia can flare up when your environment feels overwhelming, or underwhelming, teetering your idea of enjoyment on a slippery slope. Individuals will recognize enjoyment uniquely, while some may not have time to recognize it at all.
The elusive pleasure older parents spoke of along with their sincere advice seemed more than a bit off-kilter. Their words sounded unbelievable, but how could so many come to the same wrong conclusion?
Parents have not yet learned what grandparents have come to know. Missed opportunities can arise when we have not allowed in new information during the time it would serve us best. Notoriously, people do not make time to learn when itâs needed most. We are all mere mortals, and yet we have access to the most complex tool in the known universeâthe human brain.
Complex tools can be intimidating, but donât allow feelings of apprehension to grow. Reading the research in this book is not intended to turn you into a neuroscientist. Let yourself explore how your brain likes to learn because it will give you daily advantages.
Take a moment to think about it. Itâs worth your time, considering the fact that you will live and work with the brain you build for the rest of your life. Your child is destined to do the same. Depending on your point of view, the brain you are building can be seen as a menacing curse or a potential gift.
You arenât alone if you look at learning with a sense of imposition upon your free time. Past experiences may have shown you a correlation between the complexity of a subject and your required study time. The human brain has a tendency to prefer comfort over complications. We now know that your unconscious brain may try to avoid new information unless you consciously decide you want to allow a new idea in. It can seem as if your brain works against you, but it is a valuable part of your team.
Our fascination with the human brain can be traced throughout history, but now the brain is no longer inscrutable. Thanks to the development of new research techniques, pieces of the shroud have been lifted. Brain scans make it possible to see your brain as a manageable resource that you can tap into. Tapping it will open the door to teaching your child to harness their natural resources.
You have a chance to help your children grow up with a healthier relationship with their thoughts. Your assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to consciously decide to be open to learning. Information about how your brain likes to learn was not available when you were growing up, so your preexisting ideas do not have the available facts. A quote from Mark Twain is still relevant for the skeptical brains of today.
âIt ainât what you donât know that gets you into trouble, itâs what you know for sure that just ainât so.â -Mark Twain
Now is the time to update outdated information:
Our willingness to apply new information will help our children not hand down the same problems to the next generation.
The cycle of trying to recreate what your parents did, but now in a time of different rules and norms, ends with you.
It is no longer necessary to try and copy or revolt against the parental instruction you received during your first few years that you do not remember.
Believe in more chances to enjoy these child-rearing years. Dr. Becky Kennedy, named the Parenting Whisperer, shared her advice: âWe can parent with a firm set of expectations and still be playful, we can create and enforce boundaries and still show our love, we can take care of ourselves and our children.âï»ż4ï»ż Parenthood is hard, but not as hard and uncertain as the world of a child. Even though life can be challenging, for all parties involved, enjoyment is possible.
Young kids naturally excel at enjoying. You are never too old to set your sights on enjoying every step of the learning process and continue to follow new ideas of interest. To enjoy the gift of childhood may sound like a dubious endeavor, but that is precisely what we are going to do as the next chapter demystifies how your brain likes to learn.Â
Margiano has captured the essence of childhood, that time of our life that I would think many wish they could relive. A time filled with experience and experimentation. A time dedicated to the present. Margiano begins at the babyâs brain. She explains clearly and simply how the cognitive, emotional and physical matrix is linked in the brain, slowly and painstakingly from birth.Â
Let me agree with the author as she points out that one should âread [her book] in digestible BITESâ. It is not difficult reading. 9 chapters. Interesting, mind-opening, as we explore the complexities of the brain. She shows an awesome understanding of time and how we never stop learning. Thatâs why the book is a gift to enjoy. Today, there is so much new knowledge at our fingertips. However we live in a time of commercialization and it is useful to have someone translate that information.Â
I have come to realize that it is only as adults that we are ready to recognize a particular function of the brain. viz. neuroplasticity. â..the brainâs ability to change its structure and functionâ. Margiano prefers conscious thought rather than âauto-pilotâ, a favorite of many. However, it is the responsibility of the parent to live consciously, constantly adapting to new realities and most importantly, reacting to the response of the child we parent.
Her example of the toddler stepping off a step is perfect. For the toddler it is new learning. For the parent it is being aware of the consequences and therefore having developed a way to make the child aware of the consequences. She sees growth in both parent and childâŠthe brain at work. â..neither side of the brain could do a thing without the mind using it to interpretâ .. Margianoâs work is based on what has been termed DMN, the default network.
The 21st Century has recognized the full functioning of the brain as a living system. Growth and development is not simply reflex and repetition. Nor is it doing what everyone else is or what my grandmother did. It is much more complex. And we can understand it by thinking about the function of the brain.
Parents will suddenly realize how far-reaching their incidental responses carve out a world for their child. Parenting is a conscious decision about whether you wish to be continuously plotting into the future rather than enjoying the present moment of the child.