Instant Gratification

My children were born into an era of extreme instant gratification. Any television show they can think of can be watched instantly on Netflix or the internet. They don't even have to sit through commercials! Gone are the days of waiting until 10:00 to watch David the Gnome. We can chose from 100 episodes of Dora at any time we want.

I remember wanting to hear a New Kids On The Block song and sitting by the radio waiting for it to come on. If my kids want to hear a song, I put it on youtube and they are happy as can be.

When I try to take a picture of Abigail she says, "Let me see it!" before the picture has even snapped. Remember waiting weeks to get film developed?

 Last week we took the kids to a drive thru for ice cream. We were waiting in line for our order, when Olivia complained, "Uughhh this is taking ONE HUNDRED AND NINE YEARS!"

I want my kids to learn the importance of delayed gratification, so I find myself telling them "in 5 more minutes" for no reason other than to make them wait. I'm not sure it makes any difference, or if there's even a point. I guess it's just the way the world is now. And it's only getting worse -or better I guess depending on who you ask.

There's probably a better way to say what I'm trying to say. It is just so crazy to me that when my kids ask to watch a show, I can put it on. There's no waiting. They expect food to magically appear in front of them the moment they ask. And they want to look at the pictures before the autofocus can even adjust to capture the image. So what do you do about it? How are my kids going to learn to develop patience? Or the satisfaction of perseverance?