Are children assholes because of their genes or their upbringing? In both cases the parents are to blame. Either they didn't listen to their bodies telling them that their propagation would result in an unfortunate genetic mix, or they are simply not able to teach their children how to behave like a decent human being. (Does this imply that they don't know how to be a decent person themselves? - Maybe.) Now, if you consider how many in-duh-viduals you meet everyday that you would categorize as "not really that decent", it kind of gets you thinking about people's general ability to pick a suitable partner for procreation or to convey the knowledge all of us need if we want to function in society without annoying the beejezus out of everybody.
Still, this doesn't really help you when you're faced with a child you can only classify as a spawn of the Dark Prince himself (although I'm pretty sure dear old Lucy's probaly got a greater sense of decency and child-raising skills than most humans!) . You want to blame the child, but belonging the "decent" category of people, how can you do possibly blame a child for its parent's mistakes? That's just wrong, right? One way out would be to resolve to a) hate the parents for unleashing this force of evil upon the creatures of this earth, b) forgive the child for its behavior and loving it as the innocent creature it really is (totally Buddha/Jesus like) and c) not degrade oneself to be petty by behaving like the/a child. OR you do exactly that, thus relieving yourself of the pain of being the adult and being a super-saint, which, if we are all honest with ourselves, is exactly what we want to do.
The only problem is that these little demons of the fiery dominion can be cunning little monsters. By lowering yourself to their level you are tempted to make childish remarks. Remember that they themselves may have certain powers of humilitation and provocation - so you shouldn't forget that you ARE and adult, and that you can use your knowledge to outsmart them. Your mantra: Have faith in yourself and you will be able to vanquish this unearthly evil.
Important: make sure that the parents can't catch you. The kid may tattle, but that is not enough evidence to get you nailed. Be swift, be cruel.
Should you choose to be the bigger person (which you probably are anyway), that's fine. You can always comfort yourself with the knowledge that YOU know that your smarter and faster and meaner than any little kid. But can you really sleep at night?
