Posted by Keith | Posted in Play Stories, Ty | Posted on 04-09-2009
Hey there, welcome back. If you missed yesterdays post, which is part 1 to this story go check it out, here.
So yesterday I explained how it was brought to my attention that our oldest son had taken to a life of cheating. After witnessing this unbelievable travesty, swift action was needed to ensure that a life as a con artist was not the path that he’d be following.
So back to the game, once Ty turned over that ice cream cone card, I looked into his eyes and saw no remorse. I guess I was hoping to see some type of sign that he at least felt bad about trying to get over Mommy. But nope, it wasn’t there, there was nothing but happiness and glee at the fact of winning another game of “Candy Land”. I lock eyes with Fefe for a brief moment to signal that it was time to put the plan in motion. We had never formally come up with a plan, but we both knew what had to be done. That’s right, to beat the cheater, we had to become the cheaters; and we had to cheat better than Ty. There was only one cardinal rule to this plan and that rule was to not get caught.
Fefe takes her turn picking a card and then sees me creep towards the pile, so she immediately knows that I’m getting ready to stack the deck. Since we’re so in tune with teaching our kids a lesson, she takes extra long to move her person to the correct spot. Asking Ty for help & saying the wrong colors to throw him off of my trail. While these shenanigans are taking place, I’m looking thru the cards for the one that sends you all the way back to the beginning, the dreaded ginger bread man. I find it and give Fefe a little nod so that she can wrap it up & let Ty pick his next card. Now had we been normal parents, I probably would have just put the ginger bread man on top, let Ty go back to the beginning and watch the game play out on an equal playing field. But if you’ve been reading here for a while, you know that wasn’t the case.
Instead I pull this card out & let the game carry on as usual, remember Ty still had 5-8 spots until he would win the game. So right before he’s about to win, Fefe starts laying it down really heavy. Saying things like “Oh man Ty, you’re about to beat me, it really was lucky of you to get that ice cream cone” then I come in “yeah, Ty was lucky two times, you’re no match for his really good Candy Land skills” and just as he picks his card to solidify his win, something unexpected happens. He pulls the ginger bread man & has to basically start all over. This same scenario carried on a few more times, and after each time he got sent backwards, we’d say “wow, you gotta go back again? Maybe getting that ice cream cone wasn’t so lucky after all”. He looked so crushed, but we could tell that now he was starting to understand what he had done was wrong & was definitely regretting it.
Fefe eventually ends up winning the game & Ty was extremely upset. You see, he HATES to loose, I mean hate with a passion. So loosing in such a manner as this was really hard for him. So I believe that his disdain for loosing is what drove him to cheat; we make sure he doesn’t loose too often, but cheating would mean that he’d never loose again. After the game we explain to him the laws of cheating and that the reason he lost is because he tried to cheat. He was told that cheaters never win, and when you try to cheat you loose really bad, because the “game” knows who isn’t playing fair. The game gets really mad at cheaters and always sends them back to the beginning. Ah, the luxury of a young mind, so willing to believe the unbelievable. Since that day, Ty has either gotten really good at cheating or has given it up (for now). The next few times we played any game, he’d start off with “no cheating for me, I don’t want that game to catch me”. Score one for the parents and honest “Candy Land” players around the world!!!
Well yesterdays question was for you to describe your first memory of cheating, today I’d like to hear about the first time you got caught and if the repercussions were enough to deter you from doing it for a while.
Well when I got caught cheating it just taught me to think twice about doing it again but I still cheated. I just learned how to get better at it, lol. I think eventually Ty will try to cheat again, its a childs nature to cheat & try to get over on their parents. I don’t know why but I actually think kids think they can get over without getting caught for some reason. When will they learn, lol.
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Can’t comment on the cheating part, but I’d like to comment on the stories. I think they are VERY WELL written and I really do enjoy them. Not just because I am the “Nani”, but because they are real life stories and it is such a please to read and a change from all the garbage that is readily on line to read. I encourage evryone to support Keith and his site and continue to come back every day, because u don’t want to miss any of the stories. Keith, I’m proud of u and keep up the good work. Now can I please be the “Good Guy”? lol
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“Very well written”? Somebody is showing favoritism. The word is “LOSE” NOT “LOOSE”. IF YOU TYPED “LOOSE” ONE MORE TIME, I WOULD CALLED TIME WARNER AND DISCONNECTED MY INTERNET!
Other than that, it was a good story.
The Tenant´s last blog ..Shawne Merriman is top story on Cracka News Network
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I’ve cheated on a lot of things (everything from games to high school math to the SATs), and I think from the first time I got caught, it only encouraged me to cheat better. I know it sounds very negative, but I don’t think being caught has ever deterred me from not cheating, only to learn to cheat better.
I think you’re absolutely right, your son’s motivation for cheating is most definitely because he doesn’t like losing and is at least somewhat focused on the winning/losing aspect of playing a game. In a sense this is good and shows a degree of personal motivation.
Just a personal anecdote: I was also rarely encouraged as a child to enjoy things like games even if I didn’t win 100% of the time. My parents never told me, “yeah, losing stinks, but if you play fairly you still get to win sometimes, and playing the game is fun anyway”. I entered my early adult life thinking that cheating and winning was the key to personal happiness, but cheating only got harder and the consequences more severe. I couple of big “reality check” mistakes later, and I’m arguably a more honest and responsible person, but imagine going from being handed high grades and test scores – to learning that I’m an average person like everyone else. It’s depressing!
I think your story was heartwarming, and given your child’s age, hopefully it will encourage him to enjoy the game as-is, without worrying too much about the outcome to the point of dishonesty. Great blog!
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So you lied to him. Once he figures that out, he’ll have no reason not to cheat. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to build your argument around the fact that cheating is wrong.
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