What Makes You Cry?

On Sunday Pastor John had a children's sermon about crying. He asked the kids what makes them cry and they, of course, named off things that you would logically expect a person to cry about- getting hurt, losing a pet, someone dying, etc... I sat in the 2nd row in my pew thinking to myself, "What are they saying?! That's not stuff they ACTUALLY cry about. What are they trying to pull here?" So, I sat there, thinking of things they really do cry about. Of course, sitting there writing this list is probably not the point of the children's sermon, but it's all I could think of. It's none of this, "Oh, I'm really sad when someone dies" nonsense. Let's get to the REAL stuff! So, here it goes... (in no particular order)

1. When you call anyone they love a "goober" - aka Gibby and Guppy on ICarly
2. When they don't get the first remote to play Wii and have to be the dreaded 2nd player. This brings them not only to tears, but very close to rioting.
3. Forcing them to eat crunchy Cheetos is guaranteed to make them cry and call you names.
4. Making them take showers.
5. Or, brush their hair.
6. Turning off the tv in the middle of "the best show they've ever seen!" (that they can watch a million times because it's being recorded)
7. Turning a fan off in the middle of the night, so you can plug your cell phone in, will elicit screams of horror like nothing you've ever heard before in your life.
8. Making them tie their shoes themselves. I mean, can I be any crueler?

These are just a few I could think of off the top of my head. These things aren't anything new. Children (except me in my perfection, of course) have cried about meaningless things for centuries. One memory I have is of my sister crying as a little girl because she bit into her sandwich and discovered to her absolute horror that mom had put mayo on it. And, not just any mayo - I shutter to say - Miracle Whip! It haunts her still and could easily be added to the list above. Of course, there are always legitimate reasons why they should cry. I would understand if they cried over things like running into a cicada. I mean, that's a given, right? Maybe finding out that you found a cup in one of the bedrooms after having just finished washing every last dish in the house? That's brought tears to MY eyes! And, nothing can bring on retching sobs like finding out you accidentally ingested broccoli. These are normal reasons to cry. But, do they cry about those things? Of course not! They only cry if it's some absolutely uncalled for, ridiculous, "You've got to be kidding me" moment. So, the children's sermon while lovely just made me sit there and want to yell out - "Give him a real answer, guys!". Because I know what really makes them cry and it ain't losing a pet!