Terrible Threes Don’t Have to Be So Bad

Re “And You Thought the Twos Were Terrible” (Dec. 10): I wish Robin Abcarian had someone in her life who could tell her that children who are given limits early and firmly are happy, secure children who are a joy to live with.

I wish someone in her life would tell her that a child who is allowed to be a little terrorist is an unhappy and insecure child; that what she is doing in allowing her daughter to kick her, slap her, grab her hair and scream at her is, truly, a form of child abuse.

She writes as if her daughter’s monstrous behavior were normal. I wish someone in her life could tell her it doesn’t have to be that way.

PAULI CARNES

Woodland Hills