“Little children, headache; big children, heartache”-Italian Proverb. On the outside, young adults are taller, stronger, and smarter, while toddlers are smaller, weaker, and incapable of simple tasks. Writing formal papers, solving algebraic problems, and maintaining a job is only a few of the requirements expected from teenagers. On the other hand, toddlers learn their ABC’s, pronounce words and sentences, and how to be creative with arts and crafts. Despite popular belief, there is more than meets the eye for these two individuals. From a quick glance, toddlers and adolescents might appear like complete opposites, but looking more in depth, they both don’t take into account the feelings of others, act in risky behaviors, and will need …show more content…
Equally, both adolescents and toddlers want to display that they can be independent from adults. Whether it’s a teen wanting to drive themself to the mall, or a toddler attempting to tie their own shoes, kids desire to do it themselves with as little assistance from parents. Forensic psychologist Daniel L. Davis announced, “A toddler is beginning to develop a sense of identity—that can be sometimes seen when the child says ‘no.’ He’s really saying ‘I’m my own person here.’ In adolescence, we see individualization and the development of personal identity” (Bender). Moreover, both groups of kids hope that when they are accomplishing tasks by themselves, their parents will develop trust in their child. Toddlers and teens may rebel against the set rules, when in reality they secretly want those safe boundaries that parents provide to feel safe and secure. “‘Adolescents will test limits, in the same ways that toddlers test limits,” says Davis (Bender). Teens have acquired a certain set of skills at saying something hurtful that penetrates right into the parent's soul, while toddlers will look them right in the eye as they do an arm sweep across their highchair tray, sending their dinner high flying across the kitchen. They are testing parents with how much they can get away with things, then by having boundaries, it shows the child how much they are cared for even when they’re being a pain in the butt (Bender). All groups of children dream of one day breaking away from their parent’s nest, however, deep down inside, all they really want is to be loved and have an established trust between each