... I'll be watchin' this one!

This is Ryan when he just turned 3 years old! We were living in Chesapeake, Virginia at the time when I tried this little experiment with my boys. Daniella was taking a nap in her room when I called Morgan & Ryan to our kitchen table. They came quickly. I put a bowl full of mini-marshmellow's in front of each of them and quickly told them these instructions:

"Boys, I have a snack for you! You can eat these marshmellows now and that's all you will get... OR you can wait until Mommy comes back and I'll give you more. You ONLY get more if you wait and not eat any until I come back, okay?" They both agreed and Ryan was very excited, while Morgan remained relatively calm. I quickly ran upstairs and little did the boys know - I ran down the front stairs of our house & peeked around the corner to WATCH THEM!

What I saw cracked me up! Morgan - still remaining calm just sat at the table not really doing anything. Ryan was fidgetty (he always was and still is today - 6 years later) he kept tapping on the table & looking at his bowl of yummy marshmellows!

Finally I heard Ryan say, "Morgan, are you going to eat one?" Morgan answered with a firm, "NO".

Next, Ryan picked a marshmellow up and Morgan looked at Ryan and said, "Don't eat it or you won't get more". Ryan answered, "It's okay"... and not quite eating it... he gave the marshmellow a LICK! Oooh, Morgan couldn't believe what he was seeing! And I was around the corner with my mouth wide open thinking... "that little stinker!"

Morgan watched as his little brother Ryan licked that marshmellow until he couldn't stand it anymore... and he popped it right into his mouth and swallowed! All I heard was, "RYAN, DON'T!" from his big brother!

*** This all took place within probably 3-4 minutes.

With that... I ran back upstairs... and came down the back steps that led into the kitchen to find Ryan polishing off the last bits of his marshmellows. Morgan sat there and waited for me to get in the kitchen then asked, "can I eat them now, Mommy"... I said, "SURE".

When Morgan finished his bowl - I filled it up again and gave him more to reward his patience. Then Ryan, with his sweet little face, held out his bowl and wanted more... but I said, "No, sweetie... you decided to eat it while I was upstairs so that's all you get". We had some whining and begging for more... but I wrapped the marshmellows and put them away.

This story recently came up while driving in the car... I told the boys about it and of course they didn't remember it... well, it still remains in my mind - because even though these were JUST MARSHMELLOWS... tomorrow or in the future it could be something else! I'll be watchin' this one - definitely!

Look at Ryan blocking out Morgan in this photo...

Morgan has got to be the most patient BIG BROTHER in the entire world! But I know he couldn't even imagine LIFE without his silly little brother - Ryan!

THIS IS THE LITTLE GUY THAT WILL DEFINITELY KEEP US ON OUR TOES! I'm watchin' you! I'm watchin' ALL of you! It's my mommy duty... because I LOVE YOU!

... six years later - STILL trying to teach them to make GOOD choices! It's a never ending learning process with kids! Consistency & Love & definitely Patience (which sometimes we lack) is key! But working together and keeping CHRIST centered has been what works best for our family!