Childlike in all the wrong ways

As I told my girls to go to sleep for the hundredth time last night and they protested in horror when I told them they won't be getting dessert tomorrow, despite them being warned beforehand. I thought about how much adults "of the world" are like children, and not in the way the Savior told us to become as a little child.

My kids always can find someone to blame for their breaking of the rules. "I hit Jimmy because he stole my toy." "I threw that doll because Anna wouldn't play with me." or "I kicked you because you won't take me to the store to buy a toy!" It could go on and on. The point being is that they feel they are not responsible for their actions. It is someone else's fault that they acted out and did something wrong or unacceptable. (Now I know they are children and sometimes don't know better. That is why they have parents to teach them.) It never ceases to amaze me how they can turn the blame on to someone else. Don't we see this happening all the time in the world around us? People blame their home life, financial standing, education or lack thereof, race, gender, and whatever else you can add in there for their unacceptable behavior in life. It has to be someone else's fault. It just has to.

If someone in my family gets a new toy, jealousy arises. Birthdays are fun, but also a nightmare. The birthday child gets some new fun things, which causes his/her siblings to be green with envy. This results in anger, name calling, demands for new toys, etc. It's childlike behavior that one would expect from a kid. But in our society we see adults doing the same thing. Someone has something better than us so we must either 1)acquire said object for ourselves or 2) hate that person for having something better than us. It's just plain unfair if someone else has the cool stuff and we don't.

Sometimes I want to laugh when my kids have been warned to quit misbehaving, ignore me, and then receive their punishment. "What do you mean we can't have dessert?" followed by tears and screams that must make the neighbors wonder what exactly goes on in our home. Um, didn't I just tell them they'd lose ice cream if they didn't knock off being turkeys? So why are they surprised? I'll never get it. And I'll never understand why people are shocked when they get pregnant out of wed-lock, become alcoholics, die from smoking related cancer, have to support and raise a family, etc. when they've been taking the steps that result in said consequences. Am I the only one who knows that certain actions can bring about obvious results?

My kids also think the world revolves around them. If they want something, like a snack, drink, or toy, they want it NOW! Even my older ones still forget that they need to wait for things. Mom can't always get what they want right away because sometimes she is feeding the baby, going to the bathroom, or sitting down for the first time that day. So they need to wait and that's just life. But I know many adults who don't want to wait to have their needs gratified and they go into major debt and misery to satisfy their whims immediately. Waiting isn't fair or fun and they shouldn't have to do it!

I also teach my children how there are other people in the world and that we need to care about those individuals. Sometimes we have to sacrifice to help another. People can get their feelings hurt and so we have to make sure we say nice things to each other. My kids are very sensitive about being reprimanded for misbehavior and get upset when one of them says something rude about another. In order for us to be happy, we have to be nice to each other, we have to think about the feelings of others. The same thing applies in the grown up world. I see so many adults who think only about themselves. Relationships are all about them. No one better dare criticize them, but they have the freedom to lash out at their "loved" ones for any minor infractions. Everyone else is a thoughtless jerk, not them.

It amazes me how so many people in this world can go through life without ever "growing up". I am so grateful for the Gospel and how it teaches me and my children to rise above the natural man to become better people. If only everyone took the time to think beyond themselves and overcome their impulses what a better world we'd live in.