The marshmallow test Walter Mischel
My children surprise me in many ways. My son went to an overnight summer camp for the first time without me this summer. So one of the dad was going there mid week, so I asked the dad to bring him a care package with home made chocolate chip cookies. I joked with my friends that the second I see the cookies after eating camping food for five days, I would totally inhale the cookies with my friends. I spoke to my son that afternoon and asked him if he got the cookies and if he already at the cookies. He said “no, mom, I am saving them for dessert”.
This conversation made me think of the marshmallow test of instant gratification. In this era of social media, instant gratification is everywhere- all you have to do is swipe, then a new post, a new video, new information pops up. A lot of times we react to it without thinking things through. This cookie experience made me realize that it is ok to take time to pause.