The sky is falling! The world is ending! My agony is beyond all measure!

Okay, not really. It's just a little temper tantrum, the likes of which are becoming increasingly common these days. The pique pictured above developed when Graham was told to stop pulling the leaves off Oma's plant.

The (almost) 2-year-old temper tantrum has to be one of the purest expressions of emotion in the human lexicon. Simply put - it's how we would all act if we could get away with it.

Think about it - it would be great.

Not feeling that well today? Spend the entire day emitting a low-pitched growl. If someone tries to cheer you up, ramp it up into a full-blown whine.

Someone at the office eat that last donut you were planning on enjoying? Scream really loud, weep copiously, throw yourself on the floor and thrash about as if in the throes of demonic possession. If someone tries to comfort you, kick them. Hard.

Life with no filter. What a delicious idea. No polite small talk. No sighing in resignation. No grinning and bearing it. No more replying brightly "Good thanks, how are you?" when you want to say "I feel like crap today" or "I feel like a loser" or "I'm scared."

But there's the rub.

We may hold the keys to our own chains but most of the time it's easier to be restrained. Who among us has the courage to love like a two-year-old? Who out there is unafraid to stand naked with need and whimper "Mama" when we need a hug?

The terrible twos are not an easy time for parents. But watching Graham grow out of them will be bittersweet. I will be proud to watch him learn to socialize, to get along, to control his emotions, but I will grieve the raging spirit and the fire that I see in him now. And I will pray that the barriers he will build, that he must build, between his raw emotion and the world will never be unsurmontable to those who love him the most.