The core idea Children often activate our unresolved nervous‑system patterns, not because they’re doing anything wrong, but because their behaviour mirrors moments in our own childhood when we didn’t receive safety, attunement, or co‑regulation. Most adults struggle to regulate their own nervous systems, yet we often expect children to regulate theirs instantly. As Dr. Dan Siegel reminds us, “connection before correction,” and Dr. Gordon Neufeld notes that children respond to