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What are the Terrible twos?

Why do they call two years olds the "terrible twos?" My daughter is going to be one next month so she isn't going to be two for a while but I was just wondering what the "terrible" is all about!

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  • 8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    They call these "toddler" years the "terrible twos" and the "troublesome threes" as these are the years the children are experiencing and constantly testing their boundaries. This is often accompanied by tantrums (frustration) when they cannot achieve their goals, just a release of emotions. If one accepts these stages are a normal part of toddlerhood and not just "naughty" behaviour one is better equipped on how to deal with these outbursts. Twos and Threes are often finding themselves in difficult situations, often due to being unaware of personal safety issues. These are the years parents need to be more vigilant than ever ... turn your back for half a minute and they are climbing on top of your refrigerator! Good luck ... A great book to read is "Toddler Taming" by Dr Christopher Green; comes with some great suggestions on how to cope with these years in a lighthearted manner.

  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

    relies upon on the toddler. poor twos are especially led to through the toddler's frustration at being unable to communicate his/her desires good so many times, a toddler who has an above conventional vocabulary won't be afflicted by the poor twos as badly as individual who won't be able to communicate. yet another clarification for it quite is the toddler gaining understanding of that s/he has a character of his/her very own so s/he CAN say "no" and can touch the plug socket even after mummy and daddy have mentioned to not. For some households the poor twos may be exceedingly unfavorable turning their appealing toddler right into a screaming monster! Lol. Tantrums, hitting, screaming suits and a refusal to do something that the parents choose all oftentimes contain the poor twos. They mean that procuring journeys, days out and evenings on my own (as parents) might pass out the window as their toddler's unpredictable behaviour policies the roost.

  • 8 years ago

    The 'terrible twos' is just a phase that a toddler goes through. Most of the time the toddler is just discovering things and how far they can get away with stupid stuff before the parent steps in and does something about it.

    I raised 3 children and I'm sure they each went through this phase, however, they're so close in age that I just didn't notice changes. I was there with them, 24/7, and just refused to let them get their way.

  • 8 years ago

    My son skipped they terrible 2's this is when they go a little crazy, getting into things, not listening. My son was 3 when he did all that. Some are worse than others, some do not have the terrible 2's.

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