Actually this is the stage where a toddler want to have automony in what he/she doing and unable to communicate their wants and needs to adults and thus throwing tantrums. First I feel you need to eliminate the description and label on him: Terrible Twos. If you have impression on what he does all related to terrible twos, you will feel frustrated. What you can do include: 1. Acknowledge his feelings. E.g. my son refused to come out from bathtub. I will tell him it is time to come out and I will remove you from bathroom in 5 mins time. If he cry when I do so, i will tell him I know you like to play water very much but it is time to get out and you can continue to play tomorrow. Normally my son will continue to cry and calm down himself eventually. He is 2.5 years old. 2. Give him choices. E.g. when my son refused to wear clothes, I will give him 2 choices of clothes and ask him to choose. Normally this works for my children. 3. Mummy has to rest well and enough sleep. I find that if I lack of sleep on a particular day I will be more cranky than my children and lost patience on kids.
One of my friends recommended this book for reading: How Toddlers Thrive : What Parents Can Do Today for Children Ages 2-5 to Plant the Seeds of Lifelong Success You can find it at Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/How-Toddlers-Thrive-Tovah-P-Klein/9781476735146/?a_aid=sgbookstores After reading this, it helped my friend understand and start to empathize with what her son was going through. While still challenging, she found that she could better handle him as she could understand the reason why he does certain things.