delayed gratification

OR

Trading What You Want Now For What You Really Want

This is Lilly's ice cream.

Havah, Lilly and Gid were ANGELS at the DMV for 2 hours today, through nap time might I add. (A thousand blessings on the head of Judy, the sweet woman who talked to my girls for a hour.)

Since they were so awesome, I thought they deserved a treat. We stopped at Arctic Circle on our way home for 79 cent ice creams. Lilly was totally asleep and only woke up enough to say two things "I'm not here" (eyes rolling) and "chocolate" when asked what kind of ice cream she would like.

When we got home she woke up and ate her ice cream. I thought she had finished, but then found her eating more... I watched her this time. She took 3 bites or so and then walked to the fridge and put her ice cream (and red spoon) away ''for later".

She does this, saves things she likes for later. Mostly I see it with her snacks from church; I don't keep pretzels, gold fish, fruit snacks, etc in the house, for the exact reason that I have almost no ability to save snacky things 'for later'....

My mom talked to me a long time ago about how so often we are willing to trade what we really want (financially/religiously/socially/etc) for what we want right now. She warned me about playing the short game. I think I could do well to take a little lesson from my 3 year old. She knows how to save something so that she can enjoy it later/longer. She doesn't need more, she takes care, preparing for the future so that she can enjoy what she has.