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But when a toddler begins asking “Why?” all the time, you know that the left brain is beginning to really kick in. Why? Because our left brain likes to know the linear cause-effect relationships in the world—and to express that logic with language.
He was in a right-brain, nonrational, emotional flood, and a left-brain response would have been a lose-lose approach.
when a child is upset, logic often won’t work until we have responded to the right brain’s emotional needs.
we call the “connect and redirect” method, and it begins with helping our kids “feel felt” before we try to solve problems
brain to right brain, it was much easier to connect left to left and deal with the issues in a rational manner.
The key here is that when your child is drowning in a right-brain emotional flood, you’ll do yourself (and your child) a big favor if you connect before you redirect. This approach can be a life preserver that helps keep your child’s head above water, and keeps you from being pulled under along with him.
Children are much more apt to share and talk while building something, playing cards, or riding in the car than when you sit down and look them right in the face and ask them to open up.
Don’t underestimate the power of a story to hold a child’s attention.
