Years ago a television program did a show on delayed gratification with young children. Children were given marshmallows, but were told not to eat them until they were told that they could. The children were left alone to wait while a camera caught the children either "sneaking" the marshmallow or waiting in various stages of "patience" to be allowed to eat the marshmallow. Years later, the children were revisited to see how their ability to delay gratification helped them in life. Well, the children who were more patient were more successful in school than the children who had more difficulty waiting. You can read an article about the study here.
This summer I will have some time on my hands. I will be teaching summer school for Kids and Families 1st, but otherwise I may be doing a little too much shopping. Luckily, I spotted this cool article about delayed gratification for me to practice. Let's all practice this summer to build our ability to wait and see if we really "need" those cool new sandals...
