For as long as we could understand, our parents have told us that we need to compromise. In preschool we were taught, you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit. Apparently, certain politicians believe these rules do not apply to them, but instead of sharing cookies and crayons the stakes are a little higher. The government has been shut down since Oct.1 (the start of the government’s fiscal new year) due to Congress’s inability to agree on a budget.

While Texas senator Ted Cruz clearly refined his reading skills of childhood favorite “Green Eggs and Ham” in preschool, it seems that he and and a number of other right-wing Republicans in Congress did not quite comprehend the lessons taught about maturity and not throwing a fit. House Republicans have tried 41 previous times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, which was ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court last year.

However this time, House Republicans got clever and decided to not agree t0 fund the federal government unless it was accompanied with a delay in Obamacare. John Boehner must have never shared his crayons as a little boy.

Currently the government is shut down and 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed. If this isn’t enough, national parks , NASA, and the pandacam for the National Zoo has been shut down. Meanwhile, Congress is still being payed and we are nearing a potential default on our national debt for the first time in this nation’s history unless Congress agrees t0 raise the debt ceiling. Doomsday preppers must be having the times of their lives.

Republicans control the House and the Democrats control the Senate. So while it would seem apparent that Obamacare will not be getting repealed anytime soon, the House Republicans, at the encouragement of the Tea Party, have resorted to less mature tactics. They are refusing to pass the budget unless it suspends Obamacare, just like a child who wants a toy so it throws a tantrum and will not stop until his parents give it to him. Unfortunately, these are the people running our country and not merely toddlers in a Toys-R-Us.

It is time for them to put their grown-up pants on and leave the whiny toddler act behind. Instead of GI Joes and Barbies at stake, the well-being of millions of citizens could be affected in the balance. As politicians it is their duty to do what is best for their country and at the moment that is not sitting at home until an act that has been ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court is repealed. They’ve tried that 41 times already.

Let’s hope they accept the lessons taught by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger 44 years ago: “You can’t always get what you want.” It’s time to take the maturity up a notch.