By the age of two, a toddler begins to understand that other people can have needs and feelings that are different from his own. From that insight flows the awareness of possession or ownership. Before this age, the concept of theft doesn’t really even have any meaning. It isn’t until about age two that a young child is even capable of understanding the importance of respecting the belongings of other children.
This is the age when self-awareness and self-consciousness arise. Around age tow, children begin to experiment with the difference between their own and their parents’ will and identity. They become conscious not just of the independence of others, but of a sense of how things “should be,” and they begin to feel frustration if something doesn’t work right or if they can’t do something doesn’t work right or if they can’t do something they’re told or expected to do. If you want to get a two-year-old upset, do something in front of him that you know he can’t do, and which what happens when he tries to imitate you. Along with self-awareness come the beginnings of empathy: Two-year-olds approach others who are in distress and try to comfort them, instead of just becoming distressed themselves as an infant will do.
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