Entitled to it all

I've been thinking a lot lately about how in this day and age people have a serious case of entitlement-itis. Everywhere I look, everything I hear seems to echo one message. "I deserve it!" No mind there was no work involved or any effort on your part, but gosh darn, you DO deserve it.
Really?
For Reals?
What?
Huh?
Are You Serious?
WHAT PLANET DID YOU HATCH ON?!!!?!?!?
But really in all seriousness, people do get things they don't deserve or work for all the time. Constantly. All around. It happens. But the way that you view it should be the kicker. When you "get" something for nothing, do you think you just deserved it so it came to you or do you count it as a blessing?
I struggle end over end on whether to push my kids to work and how far to push them. I've set up chore charts that are sometimes reinforced. Sometimes not. Okay, most often not. But when they are enforced, things really do run better. Yes, there is major complaining. Yes, it is really more work for me that way still, regardless. But yes, eventually the kids will do their jobs, the kids will work TOWARDS something. And wouldn't that be the whole point? I think so.
You are entitled to a few things in life:

You are entitled to live.
You are entitled to be you.
You are entitled to an opinion.
You are entitled to choose your religion
You are entitled to make choices.

You are NOT entitled to choose your consequences of your decisions.
You are NOT entitled to force your opinions on others.
You are NOT entitled to judge others.
You are NOT entitled to getting something for nothing.

You may be BLESSED to get something for nothing.
You may be BLESSED to see others in a different light.
You may be BLESSED to have your opinion and good example rub off on someone else.
You may be BLESSED to have good consequences from your actions.

As a parent, I struggle with whether or not I am being the best parent I can be.
I am not perfect. I have my days (which are sometimes a lot of days). But I also see a purpose in what I am doing daily. I see my children growing. I see my children learning and I see my myself growing and learning as well. Man, sometimes it just stinks to be a parent. Sometimes people say things to you or you just happened to be viewed at just the wrong time and place and you just feel like a total failure.
Case in point:
I took Jarom and Emmalee to the store yesterday. At 8:00 at night. Jarom had not had his nap for the day. I KNOW. What was I thinking? Oh, that's right I was thinking we needed milk and bread for today. And of course Jarom had a melt down. In the middle of the store. Shrieking and crying, yelling and mad. People were staring. People were wondering what on earth I had done to him to make him act the way he was acting. He was screaming "That hurts!" as I was holding him trying to calm him down. He says this when we're in public because he knows that sometimes it will get me to leave him alone or give in to his fit. Sometimes. If I've just had it and am not in the mood to deal with a public fit. But I was holding strong yesterday. Just to clarify, I was indeed NOT hurting him, I was calmly holding him as he beat his fists on me and I IGNORED his fit. I browsed the card aisle while I was ignoring his fit. I'm sure you can picture it now, A woman carrying her screaming, stark raving mad child, browsing cards. Yep. But guess what? It worked. He calmed down. He quit his fit. He even sat in the cart for the rest of the shopping trip. It was really hard, but I was a GOOD parent. I firmly believe it. But darn it all, that's just not what people see.

Today. I took Jarom to Wendy's for lunch. I know, the calories. Screw it. My house was pristine. I was not messing it up. And all I got was chicken and water--I was good. So off we went. I held my squirming 2 1/2 year old toddler in my arms for 15 minutes while we waited in line, pulling every trick in the book to distract him and keep him in line and from running off and getting into things. I held him at my side. Finally, we had ordered and I let him pick the table right next to the pickup counter. I sat him down at the table, and went to grab my food (mind you, it was about 5 feet away, literally)and turned around to find him dumping the salt and pepper shakers on the table. I quickly moved the shakers away and wiped away the mess and set down the food on the table, and from behind me a lady says to her companion in a voice loud enough intended for me to hear: "Some people just don't watch their children like they are supposed to anymore!"
I was livid. Had she not seen the way I had handled my child for the last 20 minutes? Does being five feet from my child while I grab my order equal child neglect? ARE YOU SERIOUS????!?!?!? I wanted to scream at her. Do you have kids? Did you not see that I was RIGHT there? Excuse me, but do I KNOW you? Do YOU know me? But I contained myself. I ignored it. I just could not believe the audacity. But again, that's just not the way people see it sometimes.
So what have I learned from my little experiences in the last two days? I need to give other moms a break. I need to try really hard not to judge them as well.
And that you are not ENTITLED to motherhood, but you can be BLESSED by it.