Help your kids overcome 'I want it now' mentality

You're in the thick of the holiday shopping season and your youngster has a serious case of the gotta-have-it-now syndrome.

Talk about going in 60 million directions, without a worry about costs. One day it's an obsession for a laptop computer. Then he's all excited about the hot video game system. Two days later, he yearns for Guitar Hero III.

Good grief. About the only thing not on your son's shopping list is a little something called delayed gratification.

Most children - and parents, too - are hard-wired to want cool, fun stuff. It's normal. But, says Kansas City, Mo., financial author Sheelagh Manheim, "your job is to overcome that desire with economic reality."

That said, how can you set reasonable limits with your youngster on what's affordable within the family budget and also tone down the consumption drive that hits especially hard this time of year?

Here are a few tips to help your children overcome the "right now" mentality and become better consumers.

Get a job: The best way to slow down a child's consumption is to help them set goals and discuss how they plan to earn the money, said Susan Beacham, co-founder of The Money Savvy Generation. "At least it gets them to stop, think and reflect before the purchase," she said.

For example, Beacham said, if your son wants to upgrade his electronic game system, "post the goal and the plan and then leave it up to him to fulfill. If they earn the upgrade, it at least came as a result of reflection and true desire, not the satisfaction of an impulse."