Two-year-olds get a bad rap. Preceded by their reputation – and the moniker 'terrible' – they are infamous. So why is it you don't hear about the 'thankless threes', the 'frightful fours' or the 'nauseating nineteens'? Why is this one particular year in a person's life singled out as so 'terrible'?
Tell someone you have a two year old – whether they're parents or not – and the most likely response you'll get will be a shaking of the head, a sucking of the teeth and an 'Ooh, not the terrible twos!'.
But there's a lot more to these pint-sized villains than tears and tantrums. Behind the erratic tendencies – which are undoubtedly hard to ignore – there lies a world of brilliance.
Just two years ago these creatures were just emerging into the world – their skill-set comprised crying, weeing and pooing.
At two they are running, climbing, talking, laughing, counting, reciting the alphabet, identifying colours, drawing (abstract expressionism), sharing (sometimes), questioning ('where daddy?'), understanding, puzzle solving, playing alone, playing together, and, last but not least, they are loving and demonstrating genuine affection – when they're not hating you, that is.
So to balance things out a little and offer a counter-argument to all the 'terrible twos' bad press, we've compiled a list of all the reasons two-year-olds are not that terrible at all but conversely, pretty awesome.