SELF

Gollum takes the cake...and the icing...and the punch. "Hedonism is a school of philosophy which argues that pleasure has an ultimate importance and is the most important pursuit of humanity." Gollum is a hedonist. He truly appreciates comfort. He demands comfort. In an effort to "beg" with the least amount of true effort, he lays his head down on your lap. This is Gollum asking for food in the picture below.
Furthermore, I'm afraid my youngest child has a personality disorder:

"Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is ... "a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy."^[1]

The narcissist is described as ...being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, and prestige.^[2]Narcissistic personality disorder is closely linked to self-centeredness.

• • He might have an inflated ego.

Egocentrism is "the incomplete differentiation of the self and the world, including other people and the tendency to perceive, understand and interpret the world in terms of self."

An egocentric person has a limited theory of mind, cannot fully "put himself in other peoples' shoes," and believes everyone sees what he/she sees.

For example, if a child sees that there is candy in a box, he assumes that someone else walking into the room also knows that there is candy in that box. He implicitly reasons that "since I know it, you should too".

Gollum is incapable of seeing the world any other way. Everyone exists to serve his needs.

"They see themselves in competition with others and since the ego is so vulnerable and sensitive they are compelled towards defensiveness and self justification. They are compelled to impress others with their talents- meaning their looks, machismo, charm-much more so than someone who is focused on external things such as a helping profession. The egocentric is shallow, often lacking the staying power to achieve long range goals. Defensive, easily angered, jealous, they suffer living in the comparitively small world of fragile ego. Prison populations are made up of egocentrics." Or, in our case, the Benua household is full of egocentrics. Kidding kidding, only kidding.

Egotism is the motivation to maintain and enhance favorable views of oneself. Egotism means placing oneself at the center of one's world with no direct concern for others.

It is closely related to narcissism, or "loving one's self," and the possible tendency to speak or write of oneself boastfully and at great length. Egotism may coexist with delusions of one's own importance, even at the denial of others. This conceit is a character trait describing a person who acts to gain values in an amount excessively greater than that which he/she gives to others. Egotism is often accomplished by exploiting the altruism, irrationality and ignorance of others, as well as utilizing coercive force and/or fraud.

Oh my, it looks as if I'm boring Gollum:

I must have failed as a parent.
Don't scare me Gollum; I'm just joking. You'll always be the baby and the center of my world.

I'm just not sure you understand that nobody but your father and I could endure your attitude.