Terrible Twos and Adults

I have a toddler who is currently going through the terrible twos. So this got me thinking today about a joke I once heard. "Terrible Twos are that awkward time between 2 and death." So my theory is that is why the world sucks so badly. That's why we essentially have grown ups throwing temper tantrums over some really dumb things. They haven't gotten out of their Terrible Twos.

I know my daughter throws a whooper of a fit over naps and bed time and usually she needs it the most then. So what if these "adults" are still in the same phase as a toddler. Some of the things I have heard on MSM and here at ATS makes me think that yes they are in fact stuck in this stage of development.

What do you think ATS? Is it possible that en masse large portions of the world, especially the USA, are stuck in the "Terrible Twos"? What do you think can resolve this? A nap maybe?

Sorry this idea just hit me today and caught me as incredibly funny.

Thanks for your time!

a reply to: YachiruKusajishi

I can only say that I sincerely believe that lack of sleep is a major problem in a lot of parts of the world. I know that for pretty much forever I've been running on a terrible sleep deficit. So does my wife and pretty much everyone that I know. Never enough hours in the day.

a reply to: eluryh22
World wide Nap day. We can make it a holiday! Then we can all take a much needed rest!

originally posted by: eluryh22
a reply to: YachiruKusajishi

I can only say that I sincerely believe that lack of sleep is a major problem in a lot of parts of the world. I know that for pretty much forever I've been running on a terrible sleep deficit. So does my wife and pretty much everyone that I know. Never enough hours in the day.

You know the kicker to that statement, "Not enough time in the day..." Why is that when you consider all the gadgets we have in this modern world that save us time and make things easier for us compared to say, 50 years ago?

Is it too many distractions? Honestly, I don't know the answer....

originally posted by: YachiruKusajishi
a reply to: eluryh22
World wide Nap day. We can make it a holiday! Then we can all take a much needed rest!

I couldn't help but look it up. There already is a Nap Day

Back to my previous point though, I'm not sure any of us realize how messed up we all are due to lack of sleep in part.

Many (most?) of us have been so conditioned to work, work, work when we aren't shepherding kids back and forth to school and activities that we don't even know what "rested" feels like. I'm sure that all of us are that much more crankier than we would be. I'm sure that, as sharp as we may be, we don't realize that it affects our decision making and problem solving processes. I'm fairly sure that it wreaks havoc on our immune systems as well.

I remember hearing about some experiment some people did many moons ago. If I remember it correctly (which I may not because I'm exhausted all the time), they took a group of people and put them in a windowless room (or maybe it was more like an apartment). There were no clocks or radios (at least not ones that can receive broadcasts) and basically no way for the subjects to know what time it was. On top of that, they assigned them tasks to perform (I don't recall whether is was putting widgets together or typing or something like that).

Anyway, it seemed that after a few days a "natural" sleeping pattern emerged and it seemed as though, if left to one's own devices, a person would be awake for a few hours, then sleep for a few hours and so on. It showed that we are likely NOT meant to keep ourselves awake and running around ALL day then try to catch up on sleep in one shot per evening.

To be fair to the world.... I work on a construction site and we start at 7:00AM (or sometimes 6:00 in the summer) and based on that schedule, in order to get the recommended 8 hours I SHOULD be in bed, asleep, by around 9:00PM. Never, ever happens. That is about the time I get our son into bed and after that, even though I know I SHOULD go to sleep, I simply need that time to finally unwind as it is really the first time of day that I can sit and relax for a few minutes.

Sorry for the rambling.... I'm just beat.

I remember reading, many moons ago, that sleep deprivation was as dangerous or more dangerous than drunk driving. It causes very similar symptoms in a driver. Adding hallucinations to it. I have experienced that and it isn't any fun!

originally posted by: seeker1963

originally posted by: eluryh22
a reply to: YachiruKusajishi

I can only say that I sincerely believe that lack of sleep is a major problem in a lot of parts of the world. I know that for pretty much forever I've been running on a terrible sleep deficit. So does my wife and pretty much everyone that I know. Never enough hours in the day.

You know the kicker to that statement, "Not enough time in the day..." Why is that when you consider all the gadgets we have in this modern world that save us time and make things easier for us compared to say, 50 years ago?

Is it too many distractions? Honestly, I don't know the answer....

It's like the George Jetson thing. Remember in that cartoon, because of all the computers and robots George would complain about (paraphrase), "These two day work weeks are killing me."

I can tell you that all these gadgets have not helped in that department. Whether or not this is right or wrong from some kind of moral/philosophical standpoint, while gadgets help us get things done quicker, they also allow us to be expected to do more individual tasks. Just think how long it would take to crunch numbers without, say, Excel?

Then add work-issued smart phones and fugget about it. Again, my core hours are 7:00AM to 3:00PM. However, that is because I'm in the field. Those in the office are the more typical 9:00AM to 5:00PM variety. So wouldn't you know it, as soon as I leave the site the phone starts ringing and the e-mails start coming in (I think because a lot of people in the office don't do all that much during the day and want to send something out in writing at the end of the day and copy everyone and their mother so it appears they are working; but thats for another conversation). Long story short, not only do we have to do more in general, sometimes it just NEVER ends.

a reply to: YachiruKusajishi

I think I read somewhere that after daylight savings (the one where we "lose" an hour of sleep) there is an uptick in traffic accidents. I'll have to double check that though.

a reply to: YachiruKusajishi

It can also depend on how many times these adults go through
their terrible two's.

a reply to: YachiruKusajishi

Most people I know or see on the news would benefit from a "time out".

My last job was in retail at a national auto parts chain. It was miserable work honestly but what I was good at. We had a lot to do surprisingly in a day(resetting the battery display is fun joke) I would get home tired and cranky (add in men being pig headed about my ability to correctly find their car parts and I was often times very grouchy) but my day was never over. I would then have to do the mommy work. By the time they were in bed I finally had the time to decompress and yeah I was never in bed by the time I should have been. I find I am in a much better frame of mind now that I stay at home. The kids go to school and when toddler takes a nap Mommy has the option to nap as well.

Sleep deprivation and an amazing work load defintely plays its role for some of the people. However I think some people are just being brats . They didn't get the toy they wanted so then they throw a temper tantrum. So many "victims" of some imagined injustices. Are they really victims or is it just another reason to throw a fit and get attention. I know some people are legit in their victim status and should get attention. But, and these are examples just from stories posted here on ATS, the birth rape thread or the college kids seeing a KKK member in a priests robes. It's like they are stuck in a perpetual terrible twos phase.

originally posted by: YachiruKusajishi
I have a toddler who is currently going through the terrible twos. So this got me thinking today about a joke I once heard. "Terrible Twos are that awkward time between 2 and death." So my theory is that is why the world sucks so badly. That's why we essentially have grown ups throwing temper tantrums over some really dumb things. They haven't gotten out of their Terrible Twos.

I know my daughter throws a whooper of a fit over naps and bed time and usually she needs it the most then. So what if these "adults" are still in the same phase as a toddler. Some of the things I have heard on MSM and here at ATS makes me think that yes they are in fact stuck in this stage of development.

What do you think ATS? Is it possible that en masse large portions of the world, especially the USA, are stuck in the "Terrible Twos"? What do you think can resolve this? A nap maybe?

Sorry this idea just hit me today and caught me as incredibly funny.

Thanks for your time!

Today I thought about this and what came to me in doing so wasn't funny, so I think it's great you brought this up and are thinking about it too but finding some humor in it. I guess if you think about it, cracking a smile is better than crying in despair.

It hit me today that what we see as the terrible two's, with the tantrums, wasn't normal behavior at one time., but has been considered normal behavior in modern times for toddlers around two years of age. I am thinking it occurs from being over stimulated living in a modern environment. This would encompass things we wouldn't consider such as listening to music that comes from a source such as a radio, ( I'm not addressing the content here, just the "magical box" where grown-ups talk and songs are played.) and traveling at high speeds in a metal container with wheels, known as the car, unusual looking, super vibrant colored baby toys that are complexly made, talking animal or nonhuman character toys, so many brightly colored products on grocery store shelves, artificial lighting, just to name a few. I don't need to get into the other ones, we all know what those are, tv and so on. So add the ones you wouldn't have thougt about to the ones you know are obvious. Those things I just mentioned, as far as we know, didn't exist at one time for thousands of years. And if some did at one point, they probably were only available to the wealthy.

So I am thinking there is a legit transformation that happens around this age in the toddler's brain that naturally occurs, is being tweaked unnaturally by the over stimulation of modern times which directs what is supposed to naturally occur in their brain at that time, to having tantrums. I am thinking that just the results of the tantrums existing and being part of the toddler's experience, is very bad for them. The amount of unbridled rage produced in a human being that young, would be similar to a 2 year old living 500 years ago, in a war zone, under constant warring conditions. The rage is pure stress related. Then having these toddlers experience the rage, many times, changes their personality in a negative way to what it would have been in the olden days living in an unstressful environment, resulting in a different personality. I think medical professionals are saying it's normal now, because for many generations, all babies are having these tantrums. So it's normal now, but not really normal.

I am tending to believe now, that the only thing that can be done if they have a tantrum, is to comfort the baby while they are having one. I'm not saying to give them what they want if the tantrum was triggered by refusing them something, I'm saying to comfort them and soothe them with words and songs and hugs and stroking of hair. Hard to do because of the wiggling but do it anyway. Many parents have been told to dicipline them if they have them or ignore them, walk away. Some parents just give them what they want to avoid one. Both are unwise. Ask yourself if it would be appropriate to leave a child who's in a war zone and having a tantrum. Of course not. But I really feel the tantrum state in 2 year olds in past ages occurred only under severe trauma and that in modern day society, the toddlers need to be treated with total compassion. The state they work themselves into is so unhealthy for them. On the other hand, if a parent gives them what they want after they said no, to avoid a full melt down, the parent loses their credibility as authority and repeatedly doing this creates manipulative minds early on.

Adults acting the same way as a toddler having a tantrum, in a sense, obviously not as overt as a toddler does it, is simply due to their experience of rageful outbursts at such an early age that went on for months or even years. It's not normal so as adults they will never be truly normal.

I'm not saying comfort is a cure all, but what else is there to do if you live in an industrialized society and have a kid. What I am saying is when they have one, be a comforter and soother. Don't ever walk away, speak angry to them or dicipline them when they have one. Once a toddler reaches that point they are experiencing and acting out trauma reserved only for having experienced the most terrible horrific conditions ever. Pray for them and ask Jesus Christ to keep their God given brain wiring intact as you soothe them in a tantrum. Use your whole being to surround your toddler with good energy and push the harmful out.

Additional thought:

Keeping the baby in a protective womb-like environment with only natural stimulation, meaning all the way down to natural light, horse and buggy, bicycle transportation, if it's necessary to have to travel and can't walk, music coming from real instruments, voices coming from real adults that is there in real time, not recorded, simple toys, keeping them away from grocery stores, tv and so forth, up until the age of 4 or 5 when they can communicate effectively, would be ideal. They go from a protective tight environment being in the womb and should be kept that way until their brain can handle the stimulation better.

a reply to: YachiruKusajishi
I have an ex friend who's exactly like a two year old having a temper tantrum. The smallest thing sets him off on a rage.

I have a parent who sometimes reacts to a no from like a toddler throwing a fit. They just wait until a few days later to throw it.

@WhiteWingedMonolith- That is actually why doctors are very intent on no tv until after a certain age. The over stimulation of the baby. I only let me little watch in small increments now. Well she usually doesn't want to sit and watch anyways but will sit for a few minutes for Mickey Mouse!

We love in a country like setting so we have plenty of natural stimuli. Honestly we have seen deer and wild turkeys in our yard before many many times! When the weather warms up we start more outside fun.

As far as the adults acting out. I think we also need to add a sense of entitlement to it as well. They feel they are entitled to certain things or behaviors that they aren't.

a reply to: YachiruKusajishi

Your funny!

a reply to: CorKieMar00

LoL thank you!