Rebecca Eckler

About Rebecca Eckler

It’s never to early to teach your child about gambling. I don’t mean playing the slots in Vegas or signing my 8-year-old up for poker lessons. I’m talking about the good old-fashioned bet.

I bet my daughter $10 that she was going to catch a cold within two days. As a mother, we can usually tell when this is going to happen. I heard the stuffed nose. I had just been sick (and couldn’t stop myself from kissing her, or stop her from kissing me).

“I bet you $10 that you’re going to catch a cold in two days,” I told my daughter. Of course she asked what a bet was. So I explained. If she did get a cold in two days, she would owe me $10. If she did not catch a cold in two days, then I would owe her $10. My daughter took this bet, after I explained further that she had to believe she would not catch a cold. “OK,” she said. “I’ll take that bet.”

Luckily, she did not catch a cold and the bet was forgotten about. For a week or so. Then, just yesterday, she reminded me of our bet. “Remember when you said that I was going to catch a cold, but didn’t? You said you’d give me ten dollars.” In fact, I had totally forgotten about that bet!

But my daughter was right. We had made a bet. I had lost the bet (argh!). So I said: “You’re right. You won the bet. I owe you ten dollars.” I handed her the money, and just like losing a bet to anyone, I was slightly pissed. And just like winning a bet from anyone, my daughter couldn’t help but gloat.

But I think there’s a good lesson in this. First, I told my daughter that you should never bet a lot of money and you should only bet on things you really believe in. For example, I told her, I wouldn’t bet on, let’s say, that we’re not going to have any snow this winter. I explained that we always get snow, so that would be a bet she would surely lose. She got it. I also told her that you always have to pay your bets (again, don’t bet more than you can afford to lose).

At present, my daughter has $42 to her name. I told her that if I were her, making a bet, I’d never bet all my money, just the amount you wouldn’t feel too badly losing. There is a kink in this lesson however. I wonder if my daughter had lost the bet. I know, for a fact, although she most certainly wouldn’t like it, she would pay me the $10 she had lost. However, as her mother, would I actually take this money from her?

Absolutely not. I just couldn’t possibly take money from my daughter. She’s eight! And I would feel so guilty about taking a quarter of her savings! So, although lessons were learned (don’t take a bet you don’t have a chance of winning, don’t bet more than you’re willing to lose) maybe it’s not such a wise idea to bet with family members. Or at least with your non-adult children.

What are your thoughts on betting? A good lesson for children? Or not so good?