This essay focuses on inconsolable ear-splitting screams. They said my son was in his “terrible twos.” The idea that children pass through a difficult transition
success of the day hinged on being sure that I did not carelessly push the elevator button before my 2-year-old son had the chance to do so. Otherwise our day started off with a half-hour-long tantrum of inconsolable ear-splitting screams as my son vented his anger and frustration at having been deprived of his favorite task. It really was quite a spectacle. Other parents told me that this stage would end soon, and it was this belief that helped me get through the day. They said my son was in his “terrible twos.” The idea that children pass through a difficult transition during their early toddler. This years is view as a hallmark of development, at least by Americans (Wenar, 1982). Around the age of 2 there is an unmistakable increase in noncompliant and oppositional behavior (see Figure 5.10). Many 2-year-olds, my son include, will say
asked of them by their exasperated parents. Indeed, some forms of nonFIGURE 5.10 Toddlers in individualistic cultures go through a period where they are more likely to show noncompliant and oppositional behavior than those in many other non-Western cultures. compliance among American children have been shown to predict fewer behavioral problems later in life (Kuczynski & Kochanska, 1990). The tantrums of the terrible twos are see to serve an important function. It is in the young child’s socialization to be a mature, verbally assertive individual. What makes it all the harder to deal with the terrible twos as a parent. It is to discover that it doesn’t have to be this bad. Two-year-olds in many other cultures are not as obstinate and difficult as in the United States. Particularly among various nomadic