My husband and I have very different strategies when it comes to Family Game Night.
Me:
Him:
It’s not that I’m not a competitive person, because I am. Pit me against my husband and I will BEAT HIM LIKE A DRUM.
However, I admit I tend to go easy on the kids. It’s possible that I *may* let them win on occasion. It’s also possible, okay fiiiiiiine, definite that I have been guilty of cheating so that one of them will win.
Look, I get it. This is a BAD strategy. Losing is a part of life. A BIG part. The sooner we teach our kids how to lose gracefully the better. I know, I know, I just don’t want to be the reason that they lose. I’m working on it.
And while I admittedly struggle with this, one dad is winning at teaching his young son about losing.
Khalid Baylis, from Monticello, Mississippi, is going viral for sharing a photo of his 5-year-old son, Kaden, learning a hard lesson in humility.
The picture shows Kaden, tears streaming down his face, in the midst of a heartbreaking defeat.
The father-son duo was playing a game of Tekken on a PlayStation Classic that Khalid had purchased two weeks prior.
After letting his son win a couple of rounds and noticing that his wins were starting to go to his head, it was GAME ON.
And Khalid? Wasn’t taking any prisoners. #NoMercy
Had Kaden taken his winnings with a slice of humble pie things may have turned out differently that day. As it was though, his dad was having NONE OF IT.
Kaden had no idea what was coming. What’s that saying? Pride goeth before the fall? Welcome to the fall, kiddo.
Apparently, his father was no stranger to battling in the King of Iron Fist Tournament. And he was about to prove it.
In an effort to teach his son a valuable lesson in humility, he DESTROYED Kaden, beating him 11 TIMES. IN A ROW.
He captions his post with the following:
“I bought Kaden a PlayStation classic a couple of weeks back and today we played Tekken, I let him win two in a row and then he got cocky lol so I had to humble him, so after 11 losses in a row he had enough #fatherhood”
It seems the lesson worked. After attempting and failing to regain his previous glory, Kaden finally cut his losses. But not without shedding a few tears first.
And you have to give the kid props, he definitely knows a thing or two about perseverance. Even in the face of crushing defeat.
The post has garnered over 34K likes/LOLs, 10K comments, and 74K shares.
Commenters applauded dad for his “school of hard knocks” parenting, saying:
“Great teachings. Let him know life ain’t easy. Take these losses and get better.”
“Lmao this is necessary for development. I see no wrongs committed here.”
And:
“Aye. Those tears shall path the way to strength.”
“No participation Trophy today lol”
Others couldn’t help but feel a little bad for Kaden. After all, losing IS hard.
Especially when your agonizing defeat happens on your own turf.
Kaden learned a couple of tough life lessons that day on pride and winning. Ones that he will hopefully carry with him throughout his life.
No parent actually wants to see their kid fail.
We try our best to protect them from the heartache failure inevitably brings. And we do it with the best intentions. We want them to be happy and successful. We worry that failing will break them.
But the reality is our kids ARE going to fail, at one thing or another, no matter how many participation trophies our generation keeps handing out. Or how many games we throw.
They WILL fall flat on their asses. And when this happens? We have to let them.
Otherwise, they will never know that it’s okay to fail.
Being knocked down is essential to learning how to get back up again, brush ourselves off, and persevere. To rise and slay.
And when our kids do win? It’s up to us to show them what that looks like too. And gloating and rubbing it in, isn’t it.
I’m looking at you, Ricky Bobby.
The sooner we teach our kids these lessons, the better equipped they are to handle whatever life throws their way.
Win or lose.
You can view the original post here.