My son and I were playing one-on-one bball in the pool at the athletic club the other day when some lady showed up with a couple of girls probably about 9 and 11 years old. The girls started trying to grab the ball so I politely said, "Sorry, we're in the middle of a game, but we'll be done in just a few minutes then you can have the ball and hoop." The mother indignantly replied, "I try to teach my children to share. That might be a good lesson for your boy."

To compromise, I pointed the little girls to another basketball they could use and my son and I finished our game by just playing around them (not easy because they apparently didn't actually know how to share). In the end, I won the game by hitting a 3 pt shot from Jimmer range so I celebrated appropriately while my son acted appropriately sad about losing. As we were leaving, the mother sort of chastised me by pointing out that I shouldn't celebrate beating a little kid since I'm an adult and way bigger than him. I just rolled my eyes and my son and I left with him suffering no emotional damage because he knows how to lose.

It actually scares me a little that so many children today are not being taught how to fail. Failure is an enormously important part of growth, yet too many parents refuse to recognize that. While the little girls were "sharing" the hoop with us (which consisted of airballing and then blocking me or my son from going after our ball), the mother was giving constant praise like "what a great shot, honey!" One time, one of the girls actually hit rim and the mother started cheering and said (this is an actual quote that I'll never forget), "You've done it! You accomplished your goal! Hurray for you!"

Yes, it was weird and definitely funny, but also it made me sad for those little girls because they are someday going to find themselves in the real world completely unprepared for life. It's probably relevant to note that both girls were quite overweight. Sure, we all think our parenting is better than everyone else's, but I'm right that kids need to fail occasionally, right? I'm not a jerk for sometimes beating my son in sports (or making him do hard things knowing he might fail) am I?