"Terrible twos": How to prevent toddler temper tantrums

Most all, if not all parents, have had to deal with it. Toddler meltdowns and temper tantrums happen with most all children. Most parents punish temper tantrums in children, usually by putting them in forcible time-out, and then maybe a disciplinary spanking. According to research, corporal punishment usually starts as a habit when the child turns age 2. 

The solution to the terrible twos is constantly holding the child, like an infant, and swaddling the child when out and about in public. This is part of the Christian doctrine of mutual submission, with children resting securely in the loving arms of parents. See Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to secure, vulnerable rest in the love and submission of parents. Children are to rest securely in the sacrifice of parents, just as parent believers rest securely in the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul to lift up customary law that commanded a secure attachment between parent and child in the family home. This secure attachment came from parent submission, where parents submitted while expecting absolutely nothing in return.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages or offenses, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, including, but not limited to, the slightest of offensive touch or speech perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul, and understood in its original context, as a moral statute prohibiting all forms of punitive parenting, including any punishments or controlling demeanor towards children. In the Old Testament, punitive parents were put to death by way of bloodletting, after punishing their children one last time. Parents who punished their children were charged with kidnapping, with "kidnapping" being defined under the Law as the slightest of damages or offenses stemming from hostage-taking - child punishment was seen in biblical times as holding your child hostage merely for things that they did wrong, thereby treating your child as a quartered slave. Paul here was lifting up the Law in order to convict a group of Greek Christian parents who brought their pagan custom of spanking and punishing children into the church. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punishment of a child in his writings.

The "terrible twos" are a modern fixture of parenting. Most parents assume that all parents across cultures and time periods experienced their toddlers the same way. The fact of the matter is that in biblical times, the "terrible twos" were non-existent, and parenting a 2-year-old was pleasant, in a sustaining way.

2-year-olds, and also children up until age 6, were held as infants, especially when out and about in public. The Early Christians practiced birth nudity, where mothers and children were in the nude next to each other, in skin-on-skin closeness and intimacy. Children went naked wherever they went, until they earned their clothing at their baptism as an adult. Children aged 0-3 were constantly held, in skin-on-skin format. A 2-year-old in biblical times was treated as an infant, and breastfed as such. When a 2-year-old cried, mothers picked up the child and held the child close to her bosom while cooing, then co-snuggling with the child in skin-on-skin format.

2-year-olds, when in public, were held close to mothers. Mothers swaddled their 2-year-olds next to their bosom in swaddling blankets, perhaps breastfeeding her child in public if summoned to by said child. The child was tucked under the mother's thin, revealing dress that resembled an apron. One side of the swaddling blankets was tied to her left breast, and the other end across the dot to her right leg, or vice versa, or both in the case of twins. When children cried in public, they were held closer to the mother's bosom so that they could hear the mother's heartbeat, with the mother cooing, and with children possibly breastfed if milk-hungry. Children who were swaddled to their mother's bosom usually cried silently, so only the mother could hear, and so others wouldn't be disturbed by the crying.

The toddler years don't have to be a pain in the rear end. Toddlers are overgrown babies, meaning they deserve to be treated as babies, and fed like babies. Anyone who has tried to treat a 2-year-old like a baby likely has succeeded. In many ancient cultures, including the Early Christian culture, toddlers were held like babies, and were either directly held or swaddled constantly until they wanted down. Toddlers "act like monsters" because they aren't meant to be stationery children - they need their mom, and they need her right now.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them forever be cast into the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!