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Parents are recommended by experts to "manage" their toddler's behavior during this stage of their life. Managing means planning ahead and it also means conditioning the child's environment. When a parent is concerned about certain breakable objects in the house. Then the objects had better be secured, or made "child-proof." That can be accomplished very easily. It could mean placing fragile items under lock and key or on a high shelf temporarily, or placing them in boxes that are inaccessible for the child. Cabinets, drawers and other places of interest can be tied shut so that the child cannot have access to an area that might contain some kind of harmful substances.

Management really means anticipating problems before they occur. Why take a two year old to a crowded movie theater when you know that they will start to squirm, wriggle and cry after only a few minutes.

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Toddlers love to challenge. Before reaching this stage of development, the toddler was the constant center of attention in the house because he or she was an infant and required intensive care, love and devotion. As walking and exploring begin to take place, parents begin to separate themselves more and more from the toddler and the child begins to discover their own little world. Exploration is wonderful and terrifying. It can be wonderful as the child begins to experiment and manipulate objects with in their reach for the first time (for example, holding their own spoon). It can be terrifying when they pick up a breakable glass object and start running around the room.

The parent's first reaction is to immediately try to stop the "could be" dangerous behavior, or behavior that results in chaos and destruction in the house. Usually parents yell and physically stop the toddler from the troublesome behavior. But at this stage, the parent will soon become exhausted following the child all day throughout the house and trying to stop the mayhem. So what can we do?