I’ve never hidden the fact that I gamble from my children and since our home has a revolving door for neighborhood children and friends of my children, I never hid it from them either. Even though I didn’t hide the internet gambling (which is rampant in our family), discussions weren’t necessarily open about it either. However, I started to look at things differently this past football season and for very good reason.

My Saturday started like every other Saturday during football season. I woke up to hot coffee and FOX Sports already pulled on the computer for me. It’s the one day everyone in the household spoils me and I take full advantage of it. Usually on Saturday and Sunday, I talk to my Dad and at least one of my brothers five or six times before the bingo game start and we trade opinions and offer up any information we have heard or read over the last 24 hours. If I find a better line on the computer at one of the sportsbooks we don’t use, I’ll let them know if it’s a significant factor and we chat about football until game time. We live for football season and this is the highlight of our week.

This particular Saturday , West Virginia played East Carolina, I remember because I didn’t have time to call my bet in for talking to my dad too long over who he was going to take in the casino games for the day and why. That particular day, I would’ve lost because West Virginia didn’t cover the points so I’m glad I missed it. I had an uneventful day with everything ending up as a wash for the most part except for Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech played that day and the Hookies flat out embarrassed the Yellow Jackets in a 51-7 win. Georgia Tech of course was a ranked team at around 15 or 16 at the time.

One of my son’s friends was over at our house and a die hard football fan. In fact, until that day, I had no idea his reasons for always coming over on Saturday and Sunday because as moms sometime do, they just know there’s an extra mouth to feed and don’t bother with questions. Besides, there’s always an extra kid at our house. Anyway, this teenager loves Georgia Tech so I ribbed him about Virginia Tech and went on about my day.

Later that night, I went around to tuck in kids and turn down blaring stereos and started to tell the boys goodnight when my new found football buddy informs me, “Suzie, I’m going to gamble too when I’m old enough.” Then he adds, “And I think I can be as good as your brother.” Talk about a slap in the face! I had a better record than my brother so far this year!

The truth is that bothered me for another reason. As I’m sure this story will bother many parents who now have a picture of me planted in their minds as a woman with a baby on her hip, vodka in a glass, while puffing on a cigarette and talking to my bookie on the phone. This is not who I am but I’m not a hypocrite either. I gamble and the kids know it and their parents that send their kids to my house so they can go out dancing or whatever ‘normal’ adults do; they know it. Even still, this bothered me.

Needless to say, I sat down on the chair with 4 sets of eyes on me and had a talk with a few teenage boys. And they listened to a long story of how I became involved with sportsbetting and other gambling. Even though my daughter and son know the truth of it, their friends didn’t until then. And I felt like as parent, I should share the good, the great, and the life-changing and then tell the other side. The side of gambling which holds the bad, the awful, the life-ending sorrow that compulsive gambling can bring.