Brains and more Brains

On our 6 day road trip, Hubby and I listened to a book on tape called, "How to Make a Good Brain Great." It was mostly interesting until the author talked about all sorts of supplements and their names and what they do for your brain. Boring. But the rest was pretty good. As the bartender said to me when I ordered a cranberry and vodka, "alcohol is bad for the brain? Why that's counter-intuitive." Haha.
It's all about how people who have seemingly minor head injuries could be permanently and dangerously brain damaged, how we shouldn't let our kids play football or use their heads to hit a soccer ball, how table tennis is the best sport ever, and that troubled brains can be helped by therapy, supplements and proper nutrition.
The growth of the brain is an interesting journey. From birth, it takes more than 2 decades for a brain to fully develop. Think of how important those early years must be?
From having a child, then working with kids with average to high intelligences, autism and disabilities, I have felt that those early years are the precious moments that will propel a lifetime of good or bad, passion or lethargy, success or failure.
My metaphor for the brain is that it's a shiny, slippery ball at birth. As the weeks and months and years pass and the child grows, the brain latches on to stimuli that the parents bring to the child.
The more exposure to life, as in reading, talking, singing, exploring, shopping, cooking, star gazing, traveling, creating, the stickier the brain gets. The stickier the brain gets, the more information adheres, the more block building occurs. After all, kids need to learn to add before they can subtract, multiply, divide, and understand equations. They have to learn the alphabet before they can learn to read. They have to learn to read to learn almost everything else.
How to make a good brain great? Be a great parent.