The toddler stage is characterized by much growth and change, mood swings, and some negativity. Toddlers are long on will and short on skill. Toddlers, bursting with energy and ideas, need to explore their environment and begin defining themselves as separate people. They want to be independent and yet they are still very dependent. One of the family day care provider's greatest challenges is to balance toddlers' need for in-dependence with their need for discipline.
Toddlers are very concerned with their own needs and ideas.
This is why we cannot expect them to share. Toddlers sometimes get frustrated because they do not have the language skills to express themselves. Often they have difficulty separating themselves from their parents and other people who are important to them. Adults who work with toddlers often find it helpful to appreciate toddlers' need to do things their way. Usually between two and one half and three years of age, children begin to take an interest in being toilet trained, and by age three they are ready to be known as preschoolers.