By Carolyn Knarr, MSW, LCSW, Director of Child Therapeutic Services One of the most important parenting skills is helping children learn to calm down when they are upset. A child can go from calm to out of control in  five seconds or less! The more escalated the child’s emotions and behavior are, the more calm the adult needs to be. Responding with a lecture or with more intensity will quickly create a power struggle. When a child is “having a meltdown,” he* isn’t thinking with his frontal cortex, which is the rational, problem-solving part of his brain. He is responding with his amygdala, which is the emotional, fight or flight…