You?re in the middle of the grocery store/preschool parking lot/a nice family brunch, when suddenly your tiny companion transforms into a shrieking, snotty, impossible-to-reason-with hellion before your eyes. The bad news is, yes, it?s a temper tantrum. But the good news is that these ferocious flip-outs are actually an essential step along your child?s journey from helpless lump to capable human. 
The intense temper tantrum stage tends to start in the months leading up to a child?s second birthday and usually start tapering off in preschool. They happen when kids begin to seek independence and develop their own desires, ?but there is a gap between what they want to do and what they can do, so they?re massively frustrated human beings,? says Ann Douglas, a parenting expert and the author of Parenting Through the Storm. That frustration, says Douglas, is compounded by extreme volatility (?the part of their brain that regulates emotional responses is still very much a work in progress?) and impulsiveness (?they are still developing the ability to weigh the pros and cons of their behaviour?). 
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