“Your child has the same reactive stress response as you have. Her fight-or-flight system will often register a huge, looming parent as a threat. If your child’s nervous system sees you as threatening, it will trigger resistance, and she won’t be able to learn. This is because the upper parts of the brain (which are less developed in children than in adults) are offline. So when you need to connect with your child, it’s important to crouch down to her level and be conscious of how your body and voice might be coming off as threatening. If you make your body seem less threatening, and speak in a calmer voice instead of yelling, you’ll have a less-stressed child—and you’ll get more cooperation.”