by Erin Kathleen

Created on: April 30, 2008

You don't have to be a parent to know what someone is talking about when they say that "little Jane is going through the terrible twos". It has been made into such a legendary nightmare, that most anyone dreads the day they might have to deal with it. Oh, the horrible things your child might do. The terrible way she'll act. The mean-spirited attitude she'll take on. In reality, no one can guess what their child's terrible twos will be like. As a matter of fact, neither of my girls even went through the terrible twos. However, my oldest went through the terrible threes and my youngest is currently going through the terrible fours. I constantly wonder what age my son will be when he goes through his terrible days. Some days, I think he might be the rare child that goes through his terrible six months.

Mothers will warn you, grandmothers will tell tales. The crazy thing is, I actually have so many funny memories from those phases that I laugh more than resent those days. With my first daughter, going through her terrible threes was her greatest learning age. She absorbed more information and practice during that stage in her life than at any other. For example, she learned that when she cried just the right way- it resembled heartbreak, rather than a temper tantrum. This knowledge allowed her many more freedoms due to mommy not wanting her baby's feelings to be hurt. She also learned that as long as she laughed hysterically when she did something bad, it became too funny to mommy and daddy to even bother getting upset. Her first experience in this was when she made her giant poop mural on the hallway wall. Luckily for me, she has always been so concerned with other people seeing her get disciplined that she very rarely acted out in public. Most of her tantrums and fits were displayed within the privacy of our home, guarding my precious ego and keeping the work of my sweat glands at a minimum. My second daughter, however, isn't quite so concerned with what others saw. Or heard.

Her terrible fours have proved to be even more interesting than I could have ever imagined. The best time to expect an explosion from her is when anyone -or everyone- is around. Whether it is when she is running from me in the grocery store, while screaming out in delight or when she is having "accidents" fifteen times a day even though she has been potty trained for two years- she makes sure that everyone within earshot knows that it is happening. I think that I have learned much more from

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