The Whole-Brain Child

complexity, it is responsible for producing many of the
characteristics we hope to see in our kids:

    Sound   decision    making  and planning

    Control over    emotions    and body

    Self-understanding

    Empathy

    Morality

A child whose upstairs brain is properly functioning will
demonstrate some of the most important characteristics of a
mature and healthy human being. We’re not saying she’ll be
superhuman or never display childish behavior. But when a child’s
upstairs brain is working well, she can regulate her emotions,
consider consequences, think before acting, and consider how
others feel—all of which will help her thrive in diʃerent areas of
her life, as well as help her family survive day-to-day difficulties.
As you might expect, a person’s brain works best when the
upstairs and downstairs are integrated with each other. So a
parent’s goal should be to help build and reinforce the
metaphorical stairway that connects the child’s upper and lower
brain so that the two can work as a team. When a fully functioning
staircase is in place, the upper and lower parts of the brain are
vertically integrated. That means that the upstairs can monitor the
actions of the downstairs and help calm the strong reactions,
impulses, and emotions that originate there. But vertical
integration works in the other direction, too, with the downstairs
brain and the body (the house’s foundation) making important
“bottom-up” contributions. After all, we don’t want signiɹcant
upstairs decisions being made in some sort of vacuum that’s devoid
of input from our emotions, our instincts, and our bodies. Instead,
we need to consider our emotional and physical feelings—which