The Want Hierarchy

There is something very profound about children, and yet, something very simple.  On the one hand, they are these little beings who reflect a little bit of you and a little bit of how you raise them, and a whole lot of things that you don't recognize from anywhere. On the other hand, they just want what they want and spend every waking moment (and probably some sleeping ones) basically just trying to get whatever it is that they want.
 
Take my son.  He loves screens.  TV, computer, video games--you name it.  But since he is also highly motivated by medals, he puts aside all screens, at least for 25 minutes a day, during the piano practice marathon, because those who practice for 114 days straight get a medal.  So all it takes is a small reminder of the medal, and he's sitting at the piano in no time.
 
Then there's my daughter, the pasta lover, who would happily eat pasta at every meal if we let her.  So much so that, when she heard I might not be able to make pasta school lunches when I went back to work, she suddenly became highly motivated to learn to cook. Well, at least to cook pasta.  And get up earlier to do it.  She wants what she wants, and she's willing to get up early to get it.
 
I find that the trickiest part is figuring out each child's "want hierarchy."  While kids will never be completely predictable (and that wouldn't be much fun anyway!), knowing which wants trump the others tends to give you a pretty good idea about what they'll do.  Medals trump screens, pasta trumps sleep.  All in the hierarchy.
 
My own "want hierarchy" is much less simple and much more variable.  Probably like most parents, I want more sleep.  But only some days do I let this want take over.  Oh, and there's chocolate.  And marshmallows.  And eggplant.  Other than that, I am much harder to pin down, actually hard to buy gifts for, since my list of wants tends to be full of abstracts, hard to wrap up with a bow on my birthday.
 
When is it that our wants stop being the semi-transparent ones of children?  Or is it simply that the "want hierarchy" dynamic is so specific to parents and their kids that it's just not an issue for us as grownups?
 
For me, the good news is that, at least in several areas, my kids' "wants" will lead to very good things. Maybe my daughter will become such a good cook that she'll make not just pasta for her lunch but dinner for tired, post-work me as well.  And hey, with 114 days of practice under his belt, her brother can serenade me while I eat.