Parental Observation #1
The “Terrible Twos” are merely a marketing ploy by three year-olds, designed to throw parents off the track of how bad three year-olds behave. You see, by the time a child hits three they become very capable, in an absolute sense. By this I mean they know how things work: doors, locks, caps on spice bottles, plumbing fixtures, ladders, chain saws, lathes, Machiavellian interpersonal machinations, etc. They can do a lot with those skills, in an absolute sense. And they all have the same kind of outlook on law and order that one would expect of devotees of the Anarchist Cookbook. Do you have any idea of the harm an anarchist can do with spice bottle caps and a lathe? If you answer yes, you have probably been a parent of a three year-old at some point in your life.
Ambiance 
amba12 said,
January 14, 2014 at 3:05 pm
That’s because three-year-olds are rational, but not yet moral.
Icepick said,
January 14, 2014 at 3:17 pm
Also very legalistic, in a most narrow sense. (Goes wonderfully with the general sociopathy.)
mockturtle said,
January 15, 2014 at 2:16 pm
Ah, but that’s the job of parenting. ‘Training’ children sounds oddly inappropriate in our day but it is a parent’s responsibility to lovingly and consistently shape their children’s behavior toward safety and moral acceptability. As a child doesn’t start to develop a conscience until about six years old, it is necessary to impose yours. :-) The fact that both you and your wife have the gift of humor [and irony] will serve you well.
dustbury.com » Terrible Twos extended said,
January 16, 2014 at 6:15 pm
[…] Icepick is not fooled by that “Trusting Threes” routine: […]