Love your little ones -- and make sure THEY know it too!

I find it interesting how the "new" hot topics of research in the brain, child development, and social/economic theory all relate back parenting skills and clarity of familial support.  While this should be obvious, obviously it has not been so for all.  My mother, clinical psychologist and former instructor of that field at Berkeley for those of you who don't know, sent me these tidbits in an email an hour ago: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/kristof-a-poverty-solution-that-starts-with-a-hug.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general

"This month, the American Academy of Pediatrics is issuing a landmark warning that this toxic stress can harm children for life... This is a “policy statement” from the premier association of pediatricians, based on two decades of scientific research. This has revolutionary implications for medicine and for how we can more effectively chip away at poverty and crime.

Toxic stress might arise from parental abuse of alcohol or drugs. It could occur in a home where children are threatened and beaten. It might derive from chronic neglect — a child cries without being cuddled. Affection seems to defuse toxic stress — keep those hugs and lullabies coming! — suggesting that the stress emerges when a child senses persistent threats but no protector.

Cues of a hostile or indifferent environment flood an infant, or even a fetus, with stress hormones like cortisol in ways that can disrupt the body’s metabolism or the architecture of the brain.

The upshot is that children are sometimes permanently undermined. Even many years later, as adults, they are more likely to suffer heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other physical ailments. They are also more likely to struggle in school, have short tempers and tangle with the law.

  FYI, another recently reported study found that 

"Grandchildren with more grandparent involvement were more likely to look outside of their family and friend circles to reach out to others, they were more likely to help others even when inconvenient or hard, and were more service oriented and likely to volunteer."

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/61896/Grandparents-matter-and-can-be-a-positive-influence-studies-show.html

In short, expressions of love and affection do matter as do having a good family in creating better generations for tomorrow.