As adults, we become aware of how our emotional fluctuations impact others, but my toddler doesn't give a care that her moods might stress me out. Her main concern is making it known that she wants her sparkly shoes and not her red ones

For those who haven't had the pleasure of doing it, taking an energetic 2-year-old on an airplane feels kind of like transporting a sack of live bees. He's constantly moving, other passengers don't want to sit too close to you and every once in awhile, you get stung.

We're going to brunch and we're gonna have a good time, and you're going to lay off the screaming and the tantrums and the defiance and everything else for the day.

Every day, I suit up for battle. It's not just the usual twice-a-day stuff like "I don't wanna go" or "I don't wanna eat that for breakfast." I'm talking about something every hour. Screaming, pushing, punching, biting, spitting, back-talking, karate kicks and testicle head butts. All in a day's work.

Two years ago, I lay in a hospital bed, a fetal monitor strapped to my belly. Your heartbeat accelerated and decelerated, sending the monitor's needle dancing. The nurse smiled: "This one is going to be a handful." You're much more than a handful now, 2 years old and full of fire.

If you're gonna run, do it at top speed, man. Life is too short to walk in the mall.

By Mira Jacob I am a parenting editor and a mom. This means that all day, every day, I read about how to raise better children, and then go home an...

Much of the time my child is extremely reasonable. Much of the time she is utterly delightful. And the rest of the time she is two years old.

On a good day, I try to give my two-year-old choices. I attempt to keep my voice low. If she doesn't respond, then I remove her from the situation and tell her I'll speak to her when she's done screaming.