Oversized Reactions
For the next two decades, your child will learn - slowly - how not to overreact.
Children can perceive threats and respond to these emotionally from the day they are born. However, the part of their brain that helps them to not overreact is not fully developed until their mid-twenties.
So, yes, toddlers will have meltdowns. And kids can overreact - at five, at seven, at eleven, at sixteen ...
Let’s accept and understand this, and work with it.
Here’s how to help them build skills:
1. Validate
“Was not getting the blue cup disappointing? Yeah, I hear that.”
2. Empathize
That’s hard. I get disappointed too.”
3. Offer Support
“I’m right here if you need me, kiddo.”
Don’t fight with their underdeveloped logical brain. Instead, work with it and support them in their learning.
