Many years ago, I came across this article that discussed Dr. Walter Mischel's "Marshmallow Test." It's an interesting study on delaying gratification for children. This said study was done in the 1960's at Stanford. I've always found it interesting and knew the moment I read about it that I am going to teach it to my child.
You see, Dr. Mischel gave children two choices; be able to eat one marshmallow anytime they want, or wait for an adult to enter the room and that's only the time they can take and eat two marshmallows. In a nutshell, one marshmallow now, or two marshmallows but you have to wait. Wise Mr. Mischel followed his subjects through the years and found out that the children who could wait and control their urge to get a marshmallow "have lower BMI, lower addiction rates, a lower rate for divorce and higher SAT scores."
As parents, especially of onlies, it is always easy to give in to our child's need and wants. But delaying gratification not only teaches them patience, but also discipline, grit, and whole lot more of life skills they will definitely need in the future.
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