It’s easy for society to blame parents for all the problems today’s youth are experiencing. It’s even easier for society to point their fingers at me specifically and say I’m unfit, just because my kids, wherever they are, have been labeled as “out-of-control monsters” by every school that’s expelled them. But if I was such a bad father, how the heck does my five-year-old know the most complicated ins and outs of sports betting when most of his classmates can’t even read?
When I spend my precious two hours per week that I’m allowed to with my youngest, Bran… Bry… let’s call him Braydon, I try to teach him things that he will actually find useful later in life. That’s why when I take him to the racetrack, I make sure we go to one that also has on-site sports betting. That way, he can not only learn the difference between parlays and straight bets, but he can be even more well-rounded by understanding what I mean when I tell him that we’re going to wager his next installment of child support on a boxed trifecta because daddy’s got a good feeling about the way those three fillies are prancing to the starting gate.
And that’s the thing with kids — they catch on so fast. One minute, they can barely tie their own shoes or grasp that they shouldn’t rat out their dad for being taken to another cockfight, and the next, they’re picking up on your subtle cue to fake a medical emergency at the blackjack table, just long enough for me to sneak a quick peek at what the dealer’s holding.
Not all kids are the same. From what I’ve been able to gather from being a dad for the past 10 years, is that they almost all seem to have their own personalities and stuff. Some parents like to clamp down on these types of kids, foolishly giving them boundaries that stifle their growing brains, instead of giving them important character-building experiences like standing lookout while dear old dad removes the neighbor’s catalytic converter from their new SUV or how to help organize his gun drawers.
If you wanna focus on filling your kid’s head with a bunch of book learning, that’s your business. Me? I prefer giving them real-life experiences that will shape them into well-rounded adults ready to leave town at a moment’s notice once the bookie’s enforcers come knocking.