I think nearly everyone who isn't living under a rock somewhere is familiar with the term "terrible twos" and what it represents. For some reason, most children seem to go through them, and all the rest of us (mainly parents) can really do when it happens is to hang on and endure the ride. You may find something that works to alleviate it now and then, but no one that I know of has ever found a "cure", or a magic "do this" that works on every occasion. Kids just aren't wired that way.
My oldest two kids, early starters that they are (at least for some things) started into their "terrible twos" at about 18 months. The oldest took a while to come out of them, and once he did we were thankful. Of course, that turned out to be right about the same time that the middle son started into them. Imagine that. And now, with him going on five and starting kindergarten in the fall, I'm finally starting to see a very, VERY faint light at the end of the tunnel. Some days are better than others, and if he has a day when he just can't seem to handle much of anything, we usually resort to the dreaded nap time, which seems to help for a while.
Silly me, I was beginning to think that maybe we'd have it easier with the youngest as he nears his third birthday. By and large, he's a loving, happy boy that (with two older brothers in the house) seems to mostly roll with the punches and go on about his business. He's taken knocks that the other two would have been screaming about and just pouted and come for a "make better" kiss, and then gone back to playing. Seems like the last week or two, though, he's starting to fall into the tears/yelling/whininess that goes with the terrible twos, and whether it's just a phase he's going through or if he's picking things up from his older brother, I couldn't really tell ya. Oh well, if it happens it happens ... I've gotten through it before.
Though I have to admit, there have been days in the past when I've felt like I'm going to pull some hair out in frustration (mine or someone else's was also under debate). I've even been known to say that if this child (whichever one it was) had one more meltdown during the day I was afraid that I might have to flop down in the floor and have a hissy fit of my own. Not that it would really help anything, but hey, it might get their attention just because it was out of the ordinary.
Truth be told, I think that no matter what our age is we all have our "two" days ... when we just can't seem to get anything right, when it seems like folks are pushing every button we have (sometimes more than once), and by the time we get through the day we are tired, cranky, and in bad need of a nap. Yes, It would be nice if we could count on the "terrible twos" starting no earlier the second birthday and ending on or before the third. But I think that in then end, we all have to learn to deal with the trials in our lives, be they big or small, and sometimes we just need the confidence and reassurance of knowing that there's someone there who cares, and who will give us a helping hand when we feel like we just can't take it anymore. (Psa 46:1-3; John 14:1-3)
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