Nathan and I were driving to a doctor’s appointment yesterday, chit-chatting about this and that, when he started to chuckle.\u00a0 “Oh, yeah.\u00a0 I forgot to tell you about\u00a0(Mike) yesterday.”<\/p>\n
Nathan has been going through golf try-outs for\u00a0the high school team.\u00a0 Yesterday was the last day of try-outs and I’m pretty confident that he will make the team.\u00a0 And\u00a0(Mike) will, too, but not because of his attitude.\u00a0 Golf has a way of turning mild-mannered people into cranky two-year olds.\u00a0 I’ve seen it with my own eyes…with John who is about as mild-mannered as it gets.\u00a0 I’ve even seen a 45-year old man jump up and down in frustration.\u00a0 And they ask me why I don’t play.<\/p>\n
Apparently\u00a0(Mike) was having a “bad” round yesterday.\u00a0 Instead of figuring out how to get through his game, he snapped his putter around his neck.\u00a0\u00a0 I didn’t even know golf clubs could snap.\u00a0 He had to putt the rest of his round with his 4-iron.<\/p>\n
But the story doesn’t end there.\u00a0 In the last three weeks,\u00a0(Mike) has managed to destroy 7 of his 14 clubs.\u00a0 Yup.\u00a0 Half of them.\u00a0 The putter he snapped around his neck\u00a0yesterday… $300.\u00a0 I am not making this up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here’s the question (there are actually several questions we could ask here, but I’m going to focus on the “money” one):\u00a0 Who the heck is replacing all of his clubs?\u00a0 If his parents are covering for his inability to control his temper…OMG, it is<\/em> his parents.\u00a0 Nathan was curious about this and actually asked (Mike) about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here’s what I think.\u00a0 Just because you can afford it doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.\u00a0 (Mike) needs to be put in charge of paying for his own golf clubs.\u00a0No doubt that will quickly solve the snapping of clubs problem.\u00a0\u00a0 And, it will have the added benefit of dealing with another troubling issue…his attitude.\u00a0 Being responsible for his own clubs just may teach him a little self-control and discipline, especially if he has to work to earn the money to pay for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n That’s what I love about golf.\u00a0 It teaches kids how to set personal financial goals (Nathan has one right now for a $150 putter he wants) and how to deal with the frustration of playing a bad game.\u00a0\u00a0 Those are life skills kids will need on and off the golf course.\u00a0\u00a0 And when the opportunity to teach those skills presents itself, grab it.\u00a0 There are no better lessons than those tied directly to every day life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nathan and I were driving to a doctor’s appointment yesterday, chit-chatting about this and that, when he started to chuckle.\u00a0 “Oh, yeah.\u00a0 I forgot to tell you about\u00a0(Mike) yesterday.” Nathan has been going through golf try-outs for\u00a0the high school team.\u00a0 Yesterday was the last day of try-outs and I’m pretty confident that he will make the team.\u00a0 And\u00a0(Mike) will, too, but not because of his attitude.\u00a0 Golf has a way of turning mild-mannered people into cranky two-year olds.\u00a0 I’ve seen…<\/p>\n