Two year olds can make a parent crazy. They don't mean to, they are exploring the world, checking out the outer limits, fearless explorers into their unknown. That means keeping all the doors in the house locked and constantly moving shelved items up another shelf. "They" say that the "terrible twos" are a result of a lack of communication skills. This is true, from the toddlers perspective, but, as a parent, perhaps there is something deeper going on, some push towards self knowledge and self improvement, rather than beating the child and putting him to bed. My baby doesn't always articulate that clearly what exactly he wants and we are left guessing. On the other hand, it sometimes turns out, that in the midst of his messes and demands, he is actually realizing a greater plan. For example, he demands a bag, then several diapers. He puts the diapers in the bag and says "gan," which means - this house is driving me nuts, please take me to daycare, now. Which, as you can see, is a fairly complex though, thought out, planned out and acted upon. For me, as parent, I could just see this nudgy kid who is making strange demands, but it is my reponsibility to see beyond that, to acknowlege that this little person has a mind of his own and has unique, creative ideas which he has no problems acting upon at all. Perhaps, besides learning to sort out the toddlers moods and react accordingly, I can also learn to act upon my creativity as well.