One moment your toddler is an angel putting her dolls away after playing with them, the next she is drowned in the pool of her own tears for some silly reason. Welcome to the world of Terrible Twos. 

Children are demanding, whining, crying, frustrating and confusing throughout their lives, even when they are grown up adults with children of their own. Why is the term Terrible Twos so terrifying to the parents? Is the terrible twos a Fact or a Myth?

There is nothing different about a child for a year which is labelled terrible twos, but it just the phase of life which makes it so terrible. There is nothing much that changes your loving baby turning her into a terrifying tiny monster at certain age. In fact, the phase may set in anytime between the age of 18 -34 months, depending on the development of the baby rather than exactly at two. 

Let us evaluate what makes the Twos Terrible

Realization of independence and being a separate entity dawns on the baby somewhere between the age of 7-8 months, but it is only when she is nearing her twos that she will start to forge her own opinions. Unfortunately, she will lack the self-consciousness at this age, hence there is no timing or a way of expressing the opinions or placing demands. The tantrums can come out in the comfort zone of a home, or at the wedding ceremony of your best friends. As she grows older, she will time her tantrums making the episode a bit lighter for the parents.

A two year old talks and talks a lot. The catch here is – you will not be able to follow everything your toddler says, especially when the terrifying terrible twos phase sets in. The toddler will try to convey some message about which you have no idea, between sobbing or complete distressful wailing. The parent may lose patience making the already bad situation worse. The younger baby does not talk, and as the toddler gets older, speech becomes clear. This is the reason the twos look so terrible to the parents.

The baby is completely engaged in learning to crawl, walk, talk or busy eating or sleeping. But when the toddlers step into their second year, they have nothing much to do before they enter the pre-school. This sets in boredom in their lives. Most of the parents are at loss, how to keep a two year old engaged in activities throughout the day, especially if they have work to catch up. This leads to attention seeking behaviour from the toddler. 

The toddler is cranky most of the time due to high energy consumption during this phase of life. Unfortunately, neither the parents nor the toddler is aware whether the crankiness is due hunger or boredom. 

If you are smart enough to understand and know the tough phase of life your toddler is going through, you can deftly deal with the terrible twos. Keep some snacks handy to feed the toddler when she is hungry along with some creative games and toys to entertain her when the boredom sets in. Since, the terrible twos comes in smaller size, you can physically pick up your child and remove her from the situation that is causing the distress. Most of the time, it is the case of out of sight- out of mind. Another tactic that works is distraction. 

Off course we can agree that two year olds can be a handful lot, but there is no denying that they are most lovable with their opinions, expressions, understanding and the special babble in their toddler language. Just be patient and enjoy this lovely time with your baby. Like everything else, this too shall pass and quickly as well!