The Practical Learning of Early Childhood Development

A 2 year old is not a "terrorist," only a challenge...

The cat that lives in our house and who does not likeme very much is finding that I am a good member of the household after all. She, the cat, has been hiding in crannies and less often used spaces to avoid a two-year old boy who has come to live with us for a couple of weeks. The two year old is our grandson whose parents have to be away from home for awhile. Up until now we have not been able to be with him, except when we made trips to be with him at his birth, first birthday, first Christmas, second Christmas, and second birthday; now that may seem like a lot of time, but it in all probably makes up less than a month in days.

Anyway, here we are, two septuagenarians rearranging the house for an active two- year old boy. We raised two children and lived through the two-year old adventure. Notice I call it the "two-year old adventure" and not the "terrible-twos." The reason I have chosen not to use that term is there is nothing "terrible" about our grandson. We simply need to remember the developmental process of the human being and the two year-olds development creates its own challenges.

When our cat was at the equivalent of that age, no doubt she went through the same challenging behavior. But a cat's behavior at that equivalent age is classified as "cute," but for a child it is "terrible." The difference, I suppose, is that cats finally do mature and become stuffy and aloof creatures (like ours) and little boys just grow up.

Our two-year old grandson is using useful words like help and please. He says, "More." When he wants more juice, more macaroni, you know more food. The plea for "more" is so pleading it reminds me of Oliver Twist in the children's home. Be assured, however, our two-year old gets all the "more" he wants. Also, I very proud of him; he seems to be bilingual at an early age. When he has a messy diaper, he says, "Caca." Now that is, I believe, a Spanish word. Isn't that great! Next thing you know he may be speaking whole sentences in a foreign language.

Two year old behavior is based on learning about self and developing a sense of independence. From the moment of conception until about 18 months old a child is cocooned in dependence and a response to
dependence. It can do very little on its own; it has no language other than making signs and noises that need interpretation. But as a child begins towalk, form understandable words, and learns about itself as a human being it seeks independence. The child wants to make its own decisions and be its own person. Fortunately, all that will be driven out of the child by the time it reaches four. How can we have a society of independence seeking, self identifying two year olds?

I cannot adequately express what a joy it is to be a septuagenarian grandparent. Grand parenting is not a new experience. We have a grandchild who is thirty years older than her cousin and she is the mother of three children; therefore, we are also septuagenarian great grandparents. They also bring joy to our lives and we are forever grateful for the gift of family.