Delayed gratification and why I fully recommend it

Sometimes delayed gratification is seen as being spiritual

Ok you smutty click-baiters, this headline has drawn you in because you thought I would be writing about Sting and some of his recommendations around the bedroom. Sorry to disappoint you, but this is about my advocacy against today's binge culture and why waiting for something brings extra joy (stop it! I said it's not about THAT).

When I was a kid Christmas Day had a certain routine, one that amazes people when I tell them. Without going into all the quirky little things I remember so fondly (such as dad listening to cheesy Christmas records as he peeled the vegetables) let me tell you about the key basics. The four kids would normally get one small present in the morning and the rest of them would be opened after the Queen's Speech at about 3-30. A full 8 or 9 hours after most people!

At no point did I question this as a child. I never thought "oh my god I have to wait that long before I open my hornby train!". In fact, I loved the anticipation. The build-up made Christmas Eve and Christmas Day much more enjoyable. When I hear about other households opening presents by 8 in the morning, I feel sad for the fact that much of their joy for the day is over. Yes the meal is to come but so too are the family rows and the bored viewing of bad Christmas TV.

This idea of having to wait for things was a theme of my childhood. Obviously in the 1980s you had to wait to buy music for when it was released and often have to wait even longer to have enough money to buy the latest Duran Duran single. Everything took a bit longer in that sense. The immediacy of content access that we have now was a distant Orwellian idea.

I also remember a very specific birthday present that I had to wait for. One of the most formative albums of my childhood was Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds. I had heard it at a friend's house and fell in love with Richard Burton's amazing narration mixed with this extraordinary music. I had asked for it as a present but when it came to my (probably 14th birthday) my sister had bought me the abridged album version and my dad the full one. Not wanting to spoil my sister's moment, my father held off giving me the full album for another six months (at Christmas). Whilst initially gutted not to get exactly what I had wanted, I loved the waiting for the full version. I spent those six months excitedly listening to the one I got, but also expectant at opening and listening to the full version.

Moving into adulthood I think I sometimes took this love of delayed gratification too seriously. I used to record every episode of the TV show Inspector Morse and wait to watch it on a day off or at a weekend, sometimes waiting weeks. It got so silly that I don't think I ever got to watch the final ever episode because by the time I was 'ready', the VHS recorder had died or been replaced!

As a step-parent I have tried to pass this on without success and instead am ridiculed for this crazy mindset. But watching a whole TV series in one weekend is just not my thing. I love the looking forward to, the anticipation and excitement. Call it control-freakery if you will but it's something I cannot change. It's why you will often find that most of our sweet treats bought for Christmas last until Easter and beyond.