Yes...that would be me putting Bennett in a headlock. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. We were actually just fooling around in this picture but the kid does not know when to stop. He is the ultimate jokester. Sometimes his comedic timing is perfect. Other times it's not. It's annoying and he doesn't know when to stop. That's typical at 15. He's still perfecting his craft.
That's why you will completely understand my parenting stroke of genius from the other day. Here's what happened: we were all in the car driving somewhere. Bennett thought it hilarious that after anyone said something, he would respond by saying any random sentence that rhymed with what was just spoken, whether is made sense or not. The first few times this occurred, we couldn't help but laugh. It was complete nonsense and actually funny. The 17th time...not so much. For example:
Me: "Bennett would you please stop that."
Bennett: "I don't sit in a hat."
If this was a rap battle, it would be an epic fail. We had to admonish him that timing is everything. A well placed look, joke, comeback makes the situation even funnier. Then the light bulb went off in my head...so I sang him a little diddy.
Me: "Bennett...you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run."
WHAT?!?
The car went silent. Why on earth is mom giving poker tips right now? Would he be wise enough to hear the deeper lesson in those words? So then we did what any parent would do in that situation, we youtubed the famed 1978 song and played it for the kids:
It fits the situation nicely I think. Plus, it adds a small dose of other life lessons to boot. Sometimes parenting happens on accident, sometimes intentionally, and other times you just plain luck out. Not that I have any gambling experience, but when a stroke of genius hits, you just have to run with it whether it makes sense or not. I know this will come back to bite me one day. Bennett will use this against me and we will all laugh our butts off. But this time...I get the last laugh.
