Let the children come to me. Do not prevent them. Why would the disciples rebuke the parents who were bringing their children to Jesus to be blessed? Were the disciples a heartless bunch of grumpy old men who saw children as a nuisance? We know some of them did not have their own families (at least the twelve, even if not all of them), but we can also assume that among the larger group there were mothers and fathers. There must have been a good reason (or so they thought) for wanting to prevent the children from having access to Jesus. 
Jesus was teaching when the children were brought to him. It would appear that the children were brought to Jesus when he was either taking a break (rest) or in the middle of the teaching. Either way, the disciples must have seen it as a disruption and sought to stop it. And no one can blame them, for to the Matthean community, teaching was the primary ministry of Jesus and as such nothing was to disrupt it. While the disciples saw the bringing of the children to Jesus as a disruption, Jesus saw it as an opportunity for teaching. In the Markan version of the account (cf. Mark 10:13-16), Jesus invites his hearers to imitate the children if they hoped to enter the kingdom, “for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” What is it about the children that we should imitate?  
Children are always full of energy, always playful and carefree. Because of their innocence, children always live in the present and are never worried about what will happen tomorrow. All that the children care about is having a good time and enjoying every moment of their lives. Children never keep grudges, are very forgiving and trusting. To belong to the kingdom, one has to reclaim his/her qualities of childhood. To enter the kingdom, one must learn once again to forgive, trust, live without worries or anxiety, and to live in the present. Jesus is beckoning at us. We can’t approach him unless we reclaim our childhood qualities.