Ah.. the seduction of immediate gratification. Hands up those of us (harried) parents who have not heard these 2 words from our little ones. How do we deal with this, without feeling like we are setting our kids up to be spoilt brats?

This is a question my wife and I face all the time. But wait. Let’s think out of the box… is there an opportunity to use this as a lesson for our children?

When my daughter was 3 years old, she suddenly developed a liking for ballet. We were not sure and decided to wait it out and see if she would persist in her requests. Persist she did. Over the next 6 months, we were to see a whole series of pitches. It was pretty much was an ad campaign!

Fast forward 6 months, and our 3 and half year old was still asking. At that point we decided that it was a “go” for ballet. That was when my wife had a brainwave… what about asking our little girl what she would give up that she could have her ballet lessons? We left that decision up to her.

A very short time later, she presented her proposals : She would not ask us to bring her to her favourite fast food joint, and she would not ask us to buy her any gifts / toys, except when it was for her birthday.

We were amazed. As promised, we went ahead and brought her to ballet. The result? She held her end of the bargain (almost all the time, anyway J)… and today, almost 4 and a half years later, she is still passionately into her ballet.

Amazing what our kids can do if we let them.