President Trump pouts on 60 Minutes insisting he’s no baby. Evidence points to the contrary. Although Donald has officially entered the terrible twos, in many ways he has not progressed much from his infancy.
Technically, Trump is a toddler. And like all frustrated caretakers coping with the terrible twos, we are at the end of our rope. We have watched our baby grow from a crybaby into a rollicking 1 ½ year old tyrant.
Bringing Baby Home
Could it really be over a year and a half since we brought home this crying baby? Like many expectant parents, the day your baby comes home is a turning point in your lives.
And now baby, there is no turning back.
From that chilly day in January when we moved this colicky infant into the White House we knew we had a special needs baby.
Like any baby we knew you have to expect things to be different. You would have to adjust to their being different. Like any baby he would make demands on our time, energy, patience and understanding.
But after another endless round of twitter tantrums from our toddler in chief, I am exasperated. I am testy, losing sleep, anxious, dazed and confused.
Since Trump wants to return us to an earlier simpler time, you know when when America was great, I consulted a Child Care book published the very year Trump was born. “Your Child and You – A Guide For Solving Childhood Problems” by Sidnie Gruenberg 1946.
Frustrated and infuriated I decided to seek guidance from a handbook on childhood development.
It confirmed what we all suspected . Not only does Trump suffer from arrested development, his is a textbook case of the terrible two’s.
What I learned helped put things in perspective. Some nuggets:
The book warns against letting baby makes things different:
“Careful not to let baby spoil the relationship that you have built with the rest of the world.”
“Self-demand schedules are best. Forcing baby to take more than he wants will not make him grow big and strong and healthy any faster. It will only make him balk, angry at you and angry at the world.”
It make him less enthusiastic about his job in general.
“One disadvantage to not setting up a schedule is that it is hard to know what baby is demanding.”
In time we have learned to recognize baby’s hungry cry, his racist cry and his need for attention cry.
“If baby becomes lonesome, frightened, or uncomfortable he needs cuddling.”
So we learned baby needs to set up rallies and watch Fox New for comfort.
“Sometimes baby must be controlled. As he grows up into the creeping (and later stalking months) he is going to want to do a lot of things that are either unsafe for him or outrageously inconvenient. He’s going to have a lot of fleeting whims that do not need to be gratified. We need to control that.”
Terrible Twos
“In the second year – it’s the year he needs the most guidance. It’s the year he learns to talk. He demands with a valiant attempt to make you understand his babbling “
“A child this age should have a vocabulary of 50 words and is able to put together two-word sentences.”
Don’t worry about pronunciation at this point only about 50 percent of what he says will be completely understandable. There is no reason to worry if it all sounds like babbling.”
“He can make scribbles holding a pencil. He begins testing boundaries “
The adult day care in the White House hides papers so Donnie cannot sign them
Tantrums
“Tantrums take place because baby doesn’t understand his emotions yet and hasn’t fully developed the verbal skills to express his anger, frustration, fear, and emotions,
“A child throws a temper tantrum when he is made to feel helpless. Sooner or later every child runs into serious frustrations. “
“It’s the year he sets his pattern for being a friendly person or one who shies away from meeting the world halfway.”
“He will incessantly test boundaries to learn about the world. Testing boundaries, tantrums crying and whining all are signs of a developing child. “
“His sudden interest in pulling the cat’s tail does not mean he should be allowed to pull it even once or that you must send Pussy away lest baby may be “frustrated “ by not being allowed to pull her tail.”
Little Donnie can do nothing but scream and kick, beat his head on the floor, smash his toys.
“Most toddlers begin testing limits shortly after their first birthday and continue until they are four.”
Two more years to go. Lucky us.
© Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream, 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Envisioning The American Dream 
Most interesting parallel with D.T. and a terrible two.
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If only we could put him up for adoption
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The way I look at it, I think things are going to get much worse. If people think the upcoming elections will be be turning point, I am afraid it won’t be. It’s a very depressing reality show.
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I try my hardest NOT to listen to any words that come out of that man’s (toddlers) mouth when he is being reported on newscasts or shows. When I’m around a bunch of elementary and middle school children, I’m just fine with listening to them, engaging with them. But THIS MAN? A child in a 72-year old man’s body!? It is truly unbearable for me! And this line summed up why I felt so very sorry for Leslie Stahl…
“In the meantime, I’m president and you’re not.”
No one will ever convince me that this (excuse of a) man is the least bit mature. That line… to a journalist doing her job is pure and simple something a 9-10 year old bully would say on the playground. Yet, he is our POTUS. Wow. I know this, I am and I will be an ashamed American that we have a 9-year old leading this country. No wonder the rest of the world laughs at us.
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That interview showed us ( not that we needed reaffirming ) exactly who he is. Pathetic. There were so many idiotic, ill informed comments to choose from in the interview, but for me his callous response to Leslie Stahl’s repeated inquiry about how poorly he treated Dr Ford and he just dismissed her with it didn’t matter “We Won”, just took my breath away.
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In a recent interview of Dr. Doris Kearns Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize winning American biographer of U.S. Presidents, a historian, political commentator, and PhD in government from Harvard University, was interviewed by Bill Maher on his show and she said a few things I thought were outstanding points in how we Trump-opponents should speak to Trump-supporters. If I may Sally, what I picked out of that 9-min interview…
Next, Maher asks Dr. Goodwin what sort of language can Trump-opponents use to reach American voters of all political persuasions…
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I absolutely adore Doris Kearns Goodwin, have read just about everything she has written and am waiting t read her latest. Thank you so much for sharing this interview which I did see on Bill Maher and I hope others will enjoy.
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I am always optimistic, but I fear this blue wave may not be as dramatic as we all hope. I pray I am wrong.
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Truly One for the Ages, Sally. You are brilliant.
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So glad you enjoyed it
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Unamerican Unpatriotic
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Trump was born privilleged. He never hard in life. He wouldnt be rich if it wasn’t for his father. What pisses me off are his followers causes they a brainwashed by trump, they believe what ever he says. I think trump suppoters are more dangerous then donald trump himself because they dont understand they consequences that trump is doing. The hate and divison he is spreading.
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Haha great post.
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He’s your president! Also he’s created the best economy in years and stood up against the deep state!
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