Newborns Soak Up Everything: Early Experiences Shape Brain
It bothers me when people say that newborns are "just a sack of potatoes." Like they are just eating, pooping and sleeping and not taking anything in. Your newborn is not a blank slate waiting to turn on. They are absorbing EVERYTING. They have roughly 86 billion neurons, about the same as an adult. Your voice, your face, the way you hold them, the emotional energy in the room, etc. All of it is going in. What they do not have yet are the connections. At birth there are about 50 trillion synaptic connections. Over the first year, the brain starts wiring itself at a speed that is hard to wrap your head around. By age 2 to 3 it peaks at roughly 1,000 trillion connections. That is a 20x increase in two years. And the brain does not even wait until it is done building before it starts editing. As early as 8 months, it is already cutting connections that are not being used while still forming new ones at the same time. What you do with your child during this window and what you expose them to is shaping which connections survive and which get cut. They are taking it all in long before they can show you that they are.
Most Parent Time Ends Before Adulthood, Now in Tail End
"It turns out that when I graduated from high school, I had already used up 93% of my in-person parent time. I’m now enjoying the last 5% of that time. We’re in the tail end." https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html
Real Acts of Helpful Help for New Parents
What is something somebody did after you had a baby that was *actually helpful* to you? There’s so much talk about what isn’t helpful. I thought it would be great to collect real examples of what “helpful help” for a new...
Grateful for 11 Years of Culver Academy’s Impact
What a great day to be a @CulverAcademies Eagle. It’s bittersweet on this final Parents Weekend. Our twins are the last of 4 to graduate soon. After 11 years, all I can say is thank you for doing so much...
Being a Healthy Role Model for My Daughter
My why for showing up here and trying to make a difference is even deeper than before. 💛 I am determined that my daughter grows up with a healthy, robust relationship with food, exercise, and her body. My hope is...
Early Brain Hunger: Nutrition Shapes Lifelong Cognitive Power
A newborn's brain burns through around 50% of their resting energy. In adults the brain uses about 20%. By age 4 or 5 it peaks at roughly 66%. No other organ comes close. This is why nutrition plays such a big...
Intense Play Triggers ADHD Overload—Use Reset Techniques
Why ADHD kids struggle right after intense activity (and how to reset their brain properly)
Kids' Sensitivity Signals Deep Empathy—Recognize and Nurture
Signs your child is more empathetic than you think: They get really upset when someone else is hurting. What looks like oversensitivity is actually a well-developed nervous system that feels other people's pain. Name it for them and protect it.
Parent Conflict Shapes Kids More Than Screen Time
Your relationship is your child’s first classroom. Make sure the lesson is emotional safety. You’re worried about screen time. But your arguments are shaping them more. If you want practical tools to manage conflict calmly, comment “Connect.” [effects of parental conflict on children, healthy conflict resolution...
Real Experiences: Exclusive Pumping's Impact on Milk Supply
If you exclusively pumped, I’d love to hear what influenced that choice for you. I’m considering it this time around and trying to figure out what might work best for me. Did it impact your milk supply at all or...
Hands‑On Experience Beats AI’s Second‑Hand Knowledge
AI is the most powerful second-hand knowledge tool ever created. But it has never experienced anything. It has never felt what it is like to be wrong, to recover, and to adapt in real time. The people who spend their...
Kids Bounce Back Fast: Cry, Process, Move On
Signs your child is more resilient than you think: They cry hard and then act like nothing happened 10 minutes later. The feeling came, they felt it fully, and they moved on. That's healthy emotional processing.
Fear Tactics Fail: Choose Effective Teen Guidance Strategies
It can be tempting to try to “scare teens straight” when we’re worried about risky behavior. But fear-based approaches don’t always land the way we hope. Here are some reasons to consider other, more effective ways of guiding them. https://t.co/jsKWcZMZZl
Teen Shutdown After School Signals Depletion, Not Laziness
What's really happening when your teen shuts down after school? They're not being lazy. They're probably feeling depleted. Identify the message. Decode the resistance.
Parenting Boils Down to Love, Not Endless Advice
So it's funny, I'm a psychologist, I read a million parenting books before my kid was born, and I wish back then someone had told me that my main task was just to like my kid and form a real...