Toddler or Teen ?

Once the twins reached the age of four I really thought I had graduated from having toddlers. I recently found out how wrong I was. This is what I have now learned. Toddlers have difficulty communicating and thus tend to throw tantrums. Teenagers do too. Toddlers desire to expand their boundaries and test them at every turn. Teenagers do too. A toddler with a sibling will want negative attention rather than no attention. A teenager does too.

At the end of a difficult day a toddler needs to rest in mom's arms and know that everything will be all right. My teenager does too. I have been reminded that some of the parenting knowledge that I learned when my kids were under four still applies when they are 13.