Ugh.. I'm right there back in kindergarten with you. I've learned to hide some of the more extreme reactions over time, but I'm still very childish emotionally, and being called out on it has always been one of the worst things in my close relationships, because who wants to be called immature and childish!? It feels like an awful insult, whether it's true or not.

At some point I think we have to accept that there is a part of us that is a child in arrested development, acting as one would expect a child to do. I like Pegasus's comment about treating that child kindly and with understanding... with enough of it, maybe they/we will feel safe enough to start growing.