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Last night I learned from the facebook posts of my siblings and cousin that the "standard" number of eggs for one child to color/hunt for is two dozen. I remember that when I was a child there was one dozen eggs for the three of us. It would have been fun to do more, but with only four eggs each, we had to prioritize. We couldn't try 20 different things, so we had to think through the procedure before we started.
We also only had one television, but we didn't have the same favorite shows. We had to learn negotiation, compromise, and yes, even to do without.
What are some ways that kids today are learning these skills?
Also, how are your kids doing with delayed gratification and frustration tolerance? Have you done anything intentional to help them in these areas?
Last night I learned from the facebook posts of my siblings and cousin that the "standard" number of eggs for one child to color/hunt for is two dozen. I remember that when I was a child there was one dozen eggs for the three of us. It would have been fun to do more, but with only four eggs each, we had to prioritize. We couldn't try 20 different things, so we had to think through the procedure before we started.
We also only had one television, but we didn't have the same favorite shows. We had to learn negotiation, compromise, and yes, even to do without.
What are some ways that kids today are learning these skills?
Also, how are your kids doing with delayed gratification and frustration tolerance? Have you done anything intentional to help them in these areas?
Teaching children to delay gratification is huge.
We do large jigsaw puzzles and leave them out for many days putting only a few pieces in each day.
We read chapter books - reading a chapter at a time each evening at bedtime.
We give an allowance and have the kids save up for toys they really want. We talk about how much the item costs and how much she needs to save from her allowance.
Gardening can be a good way to teach this if you have a place to plant things because you have to water the seeds and wait for them to come up. We did experiments in girl scouts with planting seeds and then observing how long it took them to come up.
Last night I learned from the facebook posts of my siblings and cousin that the "standard" number of eggs for one child to color/hunt for is two dozen. I remember that when I was a child there was one dozen eggs for the three of us. It would have been fun to do more, but with only four eggs each, we had to prioritize. We couldn't try 20 different things, so we had to think through the procedure before we started.
We also only had one television, but we didn't have the same favorite shows. We had to learn negotiation, compromise, and yes, even to do without.
What are some ways that kids today are learning these skills?
Also, how are your kids doing with delayed gratification and frustration tolerance? Have you done anything intentional to help them in these areas?
Oh, gosh, we dyed dozens of eggs for four people, just because my parents loved it! Criminy!
Yes, we only had one TV, and frankly, the prioritization was if Dad wanted to watch something, he watched it. Second priority was Mom, but she would sometimes let us watch what we wanted, b/c Moms are like that. Bro and I just fought about it. When I was raising my kids, we actually had a second TV, in our bedroom. In a pinch, a kid could go up there and watch something, but we also had a rule about "no TV until homework done", which most nights meant "no TV".
I don't know. . . delayed gratification is something that just comes, I think. Watching a bank account grow, things like that. We didn't do anything intentional.
I've never heard of a "standard" number of eggs. My kids always got whatever the Easter bunny left for them, and since he was gone at the time of the hunt, if they didn't like what they got, too bad. I always did a minimum of a dozen or so prize-filled eggs for each, though. Plus we dye and decorate around a dozen eggs, there are only so many hard-boiled eggs one family can eat, that is plenty for us.
When I grew up in the 60's and 70's, each of us kids and parents too, had our own TV in our rooms. My father actually required us to buy them, he took money out of our allowances each week for a year or so. It's odd really, because otherwise he was very strict and frugal, but he loved watching TV. We waited until our older kids were teens before they got their own small TV's in their rooms, with basic cable. My 8 year old has to watch one of the other TV's in the house, he won't get one in his room for many more years. Having easy access to TV didn't warp any of us, my oldest are now adults and rarely watch TV. My youngest watches a lot of "How it's made" and that sort of thing, along with "Spongebob", but there is no great obsession with TV.
I don't think we've done anything intentional to help with frustration, or "delayed gratification". If they want something really bad, they save their money, or wait for their birthday or Christmas. My kids have always been aware that money is tight, and just because they want something they can't have it. They have to earn it or wait for it.
Last night I learned from the facebook posts of my siblings and cousin that the "standard" number of eggs for one child to color/hunt for is two dozen. I remember that when I was a child there was one dozen eggs for the three of us. It would have been fun to do more, but with only four eggs each, we had to prioritize. We couldn't try 20 different things, so we had to think through the procedure before we started.
We also only had one television, but we didn't have the same favorite shows. We had to learn negotiation, compromise, and yes, even to do without.
What are some ways that kids today are learning these skills?
Also, how are your kids doing with delayed gratification and frustration tolerance? Have you done anything intentional to help them in these areas?
The crappy economy has taken care of that. I occasionally still have to give the "homeless starving children in Darfur" speech, but it's several months between times. My kids are at the point where they mostly don't ask for things. Ds is saving up for his own musical instrument, instead of having to rely on the one the school provides. He'll have it in a year or so.
Do people eat all these eggs?
This year, the older two coloured two eggs each in playschool (they go two mornings a week). At home, we did Easter egg collages with coloured paper, as I am the only one who likes hard boiled eggs. They had an Easter Egg Hunt at the church this morning- my kids got about 6 eggs each, which was about average, but those were plastic eggs filled with candy.
I don't know. . . delayed gratification is something that just comes, I think. Watching a bank account grow, things like that. We didn't do anything intentional.
Actually, it doesn't always just come. This is especially true for kids who don't get to practice it. You do have to balance instant gratification with delayed gratification though.
The researchers then followed the few children who had exhibited that behavior and found that they excelled across the board in many of life’s endeavors, proving that delayed gratification is a very important life skill.
The kids who did not naturally have the trait were provided with adult modeling and they were able to learn it. The key was that they learned a distracting behavior which helped them wait the allotted time. It’s a skill that can be learned, and, as a parent, I find that huge.
I always think we are the mean parents, but we never give the kids big ticket items without them earning them. My son waited 4 years to get a Wii, that's how long it took him to reach a mutually agreed upon goal. He now has his heart set on an iTouch, and we gave him a pretty tough goal, which it appears has motivated him very well.
"Standard"? There's a "standard" set for how many eggs you should put out? Who the heck decides these things?
Fabulous. One more thing for people to worry about. That they're not meeting (of that they're surpassing) some arbitrary number for how many eggs to put out.
Another reason I never read parenting magazines or listened to my sister-in-law. I put out how many I jolly well felt like putting out.
(I often feel sorry for today's young parents. Twenty-five years ago nobody was asking each other how many eggs we put out. It never occured to any of us that we should ask! Nobody was tsk, tsking each other on FB. It just seems like so much needless drama.------- And they learned delayed gratification when their older brother was hogging the bathroom and they had to jump up and down on one foot for two minutes.)
Last edited by DewDropInn; 04-23-2011 at 05:15 PM..
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I always did a minimum of a dozen or so prize-filled eggs for each, though. Plus we dye and decorate around a dozen eggs, there are only so many hard-boiled eggs one family can eat, that is plenty for us.
