When a mother rolls her eyes and says about her toddler, "The terrible two's!" other mothers nod their heads sympathetically and agree. The most interesting thing is that it's a universal stage among children of all cultures, that of becoming an individual with original thoughts that usually conflict with those of their parents.

It's easy to dismiss children of this age with, "Oh, it's just stage," when the child is on the floor having a temper fit. (In this case, it's best to leave the room and ignore him. As soon as he sees there's no audience present, he'll stop.)

But, this "stage" is one of the most important of a young child's life. It's the time of exploration and curiosity, of learning how to manipulate parents by wanting to sleep with them every night by saying he's scared, of holding his breath when Mommy doesn't give him a cookie before dinner and realizing he's won when a terrified mother looks at her toddler turning blue and hands him the cookie jar to make him stop. What a sense of power!

He's learning to reach out into the world and stretching his boundaries and limitations. It's a time of frustration for many parents who don't understand why their child is always "getting into things."

If he didn't get into things, he'd never learn and it's this very push towards learning that stimulates his spirit into action. He suddenly wants to know everything, he asks "why" when you tell him something, he says "no" when he decides he wants to do something his way instead of yours.

He has a temper tantrum when you interrupt something of great importance to him, like watching an ant on the sidewalk or pondering some great thought that just occurred to him.

Preschoolers are the most fascinating people to watch. They're energetic, inquisitive, loving, stubborn, assertive, compassionate, by turns independent and clinging, and intense when something claims their attention.

It's no coincidence that some religions and Communism used to gloat, "Give me your child until he is seven and he will be mine!" It's up to parents to make sure that their children find them positive and loving role models because they're nurturing their children's spirit and setting patterns that will remain for the rest of their lives.

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