All last week, a link to an article, shared and reshared by friends, kept passing through my Facebook feed. It originated from a site called “Power of Positivity,” and the article’s title was “4 Behaviors That Push People Away.”

As with most things on Facebook, and in life for that matter, once I had seen the link more times than I could count on one hand, I thought, OK, fine, I’ll click on it.

At first I scanned the four behaviors in bold type — Selfishness, Conceitedness, Self-Righteousness and Chronic Complaining — and my first thought was, “Sounds like every toddler I’ve ever known.” I can say that because I’ve raised three of them.

Tell me if I’m wrong.

Selfishness, the article said, can be sensed by most intuitive people from a mile away. “In order to live a happy life,” it said, “you have to learn how to live and thrive with others, and that requires giving away part of yourself without seeking anything in return.” Said no toddler ever.

It’s been awhile since my boys were the pre-school age, but if I remember correctly, there was a lot of bargaining.

Me: Go to bed.

Them: Read one more story first?

Me: I’m tired; go to bed.

Them: I’m going to cry all night in my bed and make you feel really guilty unless you read one more story.

Me: Fine. One more.

Them: Two more and I won’t wet the bed either.

OK, maybe they never said that, but I know it’s what they were thinking.

On the subject of conceitedness, Power of Positivity wrote, “Despite what mainstream media may portray, there isn’t a single person in the whole world who is the center of everyone’s entire universe.”

Unless that person is less than 3-feet tall and is the first grandchild on both sides.

And if we go back even further, to the very beginnings of toddlerhood, not only is Baby the center of the universe, but if Baby has his head in a blanket, you and everyone else on the other side of the blanket might as well not even exist in this universe either.

For “Self-Righteousness,” Power of Positivity writes that it can “lead to looking down on other people and their decisions.” Yes, as in, “No, Mommy, I’m not taking a bath because baths are stupid.”

And “Chronic Complaining” is pretty self-explanatory if you’ve also raised children. I never knew someone could turn down two peanut butter and jellies in a row solely because one was “cut the wrong way,” and the other one was erroneously made with crunchy, not creamy, peanut butter. One of my toddlers even had a precise and narrow window of outside temperature for which he wouldn’t complain about being too hot or too cold.

But Power of Positivity stopped there, and I was thinking there are some many other ways that adults might act like toddlers and push people away. Not the article’s intent, I know, but if I may, I’d like to add these last four:

Destroying People’s Property:

Coloring on someone else’s walls with permanent marker creates feelings of despair, exasperation and grumpiness in others. So does stealing your brother’s Thomas the Train and pushing it through Play-Doh until the wheels don’t move anymore. But the ultimate offense when it comes to personal property and pushing people away is letting even your little pinky fall onto the wrong side of the backseat of the car, the side that is explicitly owned by your older brother.

Inappropriate Public Announcements:

Screaming “I have to pee,” or worse, in public makes people uncomfortable. It makes your friends and family uncomfortable, and it really pushes away anyone who is not obligated to change your pants.

Being Difficult:

When you ask someone “what animal should I color next,” and that person says “an elephant,” but you say, “No, I’m going to draw a camel instead,” you are being difficult. When you say you want macaroni and cheese but only eat two bites, you are also being difficult. And when you are tired but you refuse to nap or admit that you are tired, you are being the most difficult person ever.

Saying Someone’s Name Too Much:

This one is counterintuitive. Saying someone’s name should make that person feel closer to you. But when you say that person’s name 400 times, always in the form of a question and while standing in the exact same spot in the kitchen, you are pushing people away.

It’s a tough world out there, parents. Those little people keep pushing you away with their uncivilized behavior, so kudos to the moms and dads who are hanging in there anyway.

And for all the adults, parents or not, let me summarize: the key to not pushing people away appears to be — don’t act like every toddler ever.