Around 1.5 years old, something extraordinary begins to unfold in a child’s development: They start realizing they are a separate being. They discover the power of their own will . They practice “no” — loudly and often. They learn what is theirs : their toys, their time, their body. This is the beginning of individuation  — and the beginning of healthy boundaries. And this is also when it becomes tricky. I used to teach children something very simple: “When you want to give something, you...

There is a moment in early childhood — around three years old — where imagination blooms faster than the brain can organize reality. The curtain moves, a shadow shifts, and suddenly the child whispers: “There is a monster.....” For a 3-year-old, this is not just play. Their nervous system is still learning to separate inside  from outside , imagined  from real . The prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain that knows “this is only in my mind” — is still under construction. Meanwhile, the...

That moment—when a parent says to a toddler, “You can bite food, you can bite to defend yourself…”—can seem innocuous, maybe even protective. But beneath the surface lies a very different message: When you feel threatened → you respond by attacking. What seems like a simple rule for physical safety can subtly wire a pattern of defensive reactivity in the child’s nervous system. And such patterns don’t stay small—they evolve into emotional and relational habits. Let’s explore what what happens...