The same issue would seem to apply to humans. When Adom HaRishon, Man, was created, at what level of physical and mental maturity (obviously his chronological age was 0) did he start life. Was he created as a full grown male or as a little boy. Chances are you were taught in school that Adom was created as a full grown man, not a little boy. This seems logical for a number of reasons. First, Adom is given commandments to follow, something normally associated with adulthood. Certainly, Adom could not have fundamentally changed the very nature of mankind's existence if he were only a child at the time of the chait. Second, early on the Torah relates that he needs a wife; clearly this has to be viewed as a sign of adulthood. Third, he is smart enough to give names to all the animals which certainly requires adult level reasoning and intellect. So there does seem to be ample reason to consider him an adult.

Yet, Adom's behavior before the chait, when he eats the fruit of the tree of good and evil, is in certain ways reflective of child behavior. Since there are no other people, he is focused on Himself and does not need to consider the feelings of others. His basic needs such as food and shelter are all provided for by others (in this case, G-d himself gives him everything he requires.) He does not realize that he is without clothing, nor even considers it an issue. After a brief time, he breaks the only rule he is given.

How do we resolve this seeming dichotomy of behaviors?

I would like to suggest that Adom was not behaving like a child but rather a child's behavior is modeled after Adom. Perhaps, one of G-d's gifts to us as human beings is to spend the first few years of our life having a taste of what life was like for Adom before the chait. Children have little responsibility, have all their needs provided for them, have no sense of good and evil. Adom was able to do all these things not because he was a child but because his nature was completely different before the chait. After the chait his nature changed; he understood good and evil. We can, if we wish, view those same changes in us as growing up. Of course, we grow up much more slowly over a period of years as we learn the difference between good and evil. Interesting that most people have very fond memories of their childhood years and wish they could be children once again.

The nature of punishment is another example of this idea. Adom was placed in Gan Eden and given the task of, as the Torah says, l'avda ool'shamra, working and guarding it. However, Adom had no need to work because the trees grew on their own and no need to guard anything since nobody else was around to guard it from. Rather, the Ohr HaChaim says, Adom worked on positive commandments and guarded himself from negative commandments. This was how Adom worked and guarded the garden: by doing mitzvos. When he did a positive act, such as eating a permitted fruit, the garden improved and the fruit grew ripe. There was immediate reward for his efforts. The explanation is that Adom before the chait received his punishment or reward immediately after the act was done. He could then immediately enjoy the fruits of his good deeds or feel the punishment for the opposite. Since the chait, we now live in a world where rewards and punishments are completely obscured from our understanding. True reward and punishment does not come in this world at all but awaits the world to come.

This concept of immediate reward and punishment is also similar to the experience one has as a child. Often, children are praised and rewarded right after they do something good and make their parents happy. Similarly, punishments are thought to be best when given right after the misbehavior and rarely should children be punished for an act done a long time before. One of the biggest parts of growing up is to stop expecting rewards for the good deeds we do. And very often, no person is around to scold us when we do something wrong. We learn to be good people simply because G-d wants us to be, without expecting an immediate reward.

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