Life with Young Children

As adults, we all know the value of delayed gratification. We were taught as a child to save our money, stay in school, homework first, then go outside, and wait until marriage to be intimate with the one you love. When do we learn that? How do we learn that? How can families teach that today as they raise children in an instant world? It is hard work, but you might be able to gain some insight as you view this video on the "Marshmallow Test" and then read about the longitudinal study that was done that helps us understand the implications of a simple thing like getting a young child to wait for a reward.

There is much we can do as the adults in our children's world to facilitate a better understanding and motivation for delayed gratification. Using our faith, we can pray that God give us the strength, peace and patience to wait. We can grow in our understanding of living inside God's plan for each of us and that not waiting may be outside of His plan for our lives. We can also see that God only wants what is best for us and that not delaying gratification will likely bring us harm in some way. Watch this video and read the report by following these links. (The article): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1082430/Marshmallow-test--resisting-sweet-lead-better-life.html The video: http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=fe8dac8ea404308c4068

Think and pray about ways that you can teach and model delayed gratification for your family.

Blessings,

Dawn Knosher