Does it count as winning if you cheat to beat a child?

[lemon_says]

We went bowling this afternoon as part of a birthday party. The kids had a great time, but the funniest part went right over their heads.

One mom realized halfway through that Ez had been in the lead the whole time, so she started "helping" her daughter--helping being practically snatching the ball from her hands in order to roll it. Big Ez kept plugging along, bowling every frame all by himself without even the help of the ramp for the first time. He was totally unaware he was in the lead until the mother hollered to her kid, "C'mon, you can beat Ezra! You can catch up to him!" He looked at her, surprised, then turned to me and said, "Am I winning?" I told him he was ahead but it wasn't over yet, so not to get punchy about it. He kept on bowling.

Finally near the last frame, the mother sat next to me and said, "So, you must bowl a lot." I said no, I didn't think we'd been for months, and that this was his first time not using the ramp. She said, "What ramp?" I explained about the cheat ramp for little kids, and she said, "Ohhhh, so you're old hands at this. No wonder."

It was killing me, y'all.

I said, "No, like I said, he hasn't been in months and this is his first time totally on his own. He just likes to bowl."

She didn't say anything until the last frame, then jumped up and went to help her kid, telling her, "This is your last chance to beat Ezra! You can catch him!" She didn't catch him.

Big Ez pulled out a 94, all on his own. He asked if he won, and I said, "You didn't just win in your lane; you beat ALL the other kids!" He was pleased, but didn't rub it in to anyone--although he did enjoy whispering to a couple of parents that he beat ALL the other children. Yes, when he told that mom, I did chuckle.

Comments

[travellight.livejournal.com]

That's my boy!

I've never bowled a 54, little own a 94.

[lemon-says.livejournal.com]

Most of the adults were very complimentary to him and told him he'd bested their high scores too. Hell, Pete barely beat him.

[blakdove.livejournal.com]

Ditto. He'd've beaten me.

That's too funny. I wonder if that mom feels good about dunking on five-year-olds.

[lemon-says.livejournal.com]

She's a known mega-type-A. I had just never seen anyone stage-mom a bowling game.

[geobabe1.livejournal.com]

Damn, I have trouble making a 94 my own self. Well done, Ez.

[littleblueworld.livejournal.com]

Ezra would beat me by a landslide.

[lachan.livejournal.com]

Great! I chuckled all through my morning coffee! :) This mom must feel rather silly now, no? :)
what does "dunking a five-year old" mean?
and what does "To stage-mom a bowling game"? does the latter have something to do with those parents cheering to their little girls on stage, being all dressed up and made up as grown ups?
(how did you call this? country something? Sorry, have forgotten.)

[lemon-says.livejournal.com]

A stage mom is a parent who is extremely pushy about her child's activities and success. Highly critical, very competitive, and pushes the kid hard whether the kid wants it or not: so yes, some of those beauty pageant moms are definitely stage moms. Stage moms show up a lot in music and theater, but they can also be in sports. It's really any mom who is so focused on a child's "career" (whether there is actually a career or not) that she can't let the kid be a kid.

"Dunking on a five-year-old" means pulling out a master technique (in this case, dunking a basketball) in order to beat someone who doesn't have your skill set. There's no pride in defeating a kid if you're playing with skills the kid can't possibly have; a child cannot dunk a basketball, so an adult who does while playing with a kid would come across as a jerk.

[travellight.livejournal.com]

Oh, so like saying, "So? I had a baby on my bathmat" to me?

[xavi7734.livejournal.com]

I just snorted my coffee.

[jigsawdiva.livejournal.com]

I usually do FAR worse than 94!
And I feel sorry for that poor child who has that for a mom.

[xavi7734.livejournal.com]

I work at a bowling alley and Ez would beat me by a mile. Way to go! :)

[woohag.livejournal.com]

I feel bad for that woman's daughter, in the same way I felt badly when a mother watching her daughter at one of my parent observation classes years ago actually stood up mid-class and went over to her (6 yr. old) kid and patted her back, telling her to sit up straight. OMFG!