"Would you like one, Grandpa?"

"Would you like one, Grandpa?"

OK— it was not my child but my 3-year-old granddaughter, but I still think it counts.

I had read about the marshmallow test. You give a child a marshmallow, and then say that if she (Layla, in this case) could keep from eating it for 10 minutes, you'll give her a second. So I tried that test with my granddaughter (not with marshmallows, but with chocolate, which she likes much more).

According to extensive experiments, children who "pass" the "marshmallow test" are far more successful in later life. They have learned a fundamental truth in life, that delayed gratification can lead to a far better long-term outcome.

She sat and watched the chocolate. The 10-minute hourglass finally emptied, and she had succeeded. She asked for her second piece of chocolate. I gave it to her, and she now had two in her hand. That's when she looked up at me and asked, "Would you like one, Grandpa?"

Needless to say, from that moment on I would readily give my life for her.

-Richard Muller