The First Years Last Forever

For Love is the most powerful word and action, man was ever taught; Love is what we are and children are the greatest gift of Love.

 

*The First Years Last Forever*

As a mother feeds her child, she gazes lovingly into his eyes. A father talks gently to his newborn daughter as he changes her diaper. A caregiver sings a child to sleep. 

These everyday moments, these simple, loving encounters, provide essential nourishment. Just as their bodies need food to grow, science now tells us that the positive emotional, physical, and intellectual experiences that a baby has in the earliest years are equally necessary for the growth of a healthy brain.

At birth, the infant's brain has 100 billion nerve cells, or neurons. These neurons will grow and connect with other neurons in systems that control other functions like seeing, hearing, moving, and expressing emotion. These systems, activated by repeated experiences, provide foundation for the brain's organization and functioning throughout life. The absence of appropriate activation results in the lack of development or the disappearance of these connections.

At birth, the brain is remarkably unfinished. The parts of the brain that handle thinking and remembering, as well as emotional and social behaviour, are very underdeveloped. The fact that the brain matures in the world, rather than in the womb, means that young children are deeply affected by their early experiences. Their relationship with parents and other important caregivers, the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings they experience, they challenges they meet - these don't just influence their moods. These experiences actually affect the way children's brains become "wired."

Recognize that each child is different. How to you react when they do something bad can have negative effects. Use discipline as an opportunity to teach. Establish routines and rituals. Take care of yourself. When you feel overwhelmed, take care of yourself. Reach out and get some help. When you make a mistake, as all parents do, you have many opportunities to make up for it. The new brain research informs us of the vital importance of the relationship between parents and child in the first years of life, and affords us a wonderful opportunity to enrich the lives of our children and help them realize their full potential.

............The first years truly last forever.

    *Much Love*