Quality Family Time

February 24, 2012 by admncc

Does any family time qualify as quality family time?  Some people may say yes.  That’s what my buddies and I were discussing last weekend during a trip to Wheeling Island (casino and racetrack in West Virginia).

We went there to watch the dog races.  Now, under normal circumstances, children are not allowed in casinos, so we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.  But at the racetrack, children are permitted.  Basically, you’re sitting in a large area with tables.  You can order food and drinks, you can watch the live dog racing or you can watch closed-circuit races from around the country.

During the afternoon racing session, we noticed several families sitting at the tables.  Generally, the kids were eating while the parents gambled.  Even though it was in the middle of the day and they were sitting in the non-smoking section, it still seemed like a strange environment for the kids (the non-smoking area is right next to the smoking and cigar area, there were degenerate gamblers yelling profanities when their dogs lost, etc.).

Now let’s fast forward to the evening session, where the races were expected to last until 11:30 p.m.  Now the place is packed, there is lots of drinking and smoking going on as well as the usual yelling and profanity.  And of course, once again, there are numerous families with their kids there.  So I took some pictures of the family seated closest to us.

wheeling-island-1

wheeling-island-2

In the first picture, the kids look bored out of their minds (I partially blocked their faces because they are minors).  The dad was placing a bet and nobody was watching the little one.  She later climbed up on the rail and could have fallen.  The second picture is approaching 11 p.m.  As you can see, the one kid is actually asleep.  But yet the family-fun-night continued.  At one point, the little one was getting fussy, so they gave her some more food and stuck a pacifier in her mouth.

So does the age-old-adage of enjoying family time still hold true.  Or should the parents have gotten a babysitter before heading to the racetrack or chosen another destination for their evening?

All Posts / Business / Cell Shots / Entertainment / Family/Lifestyle / Parenting Casino / Date Night / Dog Racing / Gambling / Parenting / Quality Family Time / Racetrack / Smoking / West Virginia / Wheeling Island /

Comments

  1. I don’t think kids belong in a gambling establishment. It’s adult behavior and there are not enough activities for kids. Some parents will drop their kids off at resorts with casinos and let them fend for themselves while the parents gamble. Ugh. WRONG!

    There was obviously no quality family time being held by your examples.

  2. Alexandra says:

    All of this is wrong. Obviously not all family time is quality time. Whenever I read about such things, the movie Idiocracy comes to mind.

  3. brian miller says:

    ugh no it is not…being together is not the same as being together either….thanks for jumping over today…otin is a friend from way back…

  4. Jane says:

    I’m sorry, but when your kid is sleeping at the table, it’s time to leave!

  5. TallElf says:

    I can imagine that it was an attempt to double your Income Tax Refund.. so probably a triple Fail. I would not count this as quality time, Family time, or anything more than a self centered act.

  6. Zig says:

    Well, if you want to get technical…all the members of the family unit are present. So, in a way, it can be described as “family time.”

    I think it is great that these enterprising “parents” are trying to win some money to send their kids to private school.

  7. Jen says:

    I can’t stand this sort of parenting, it’s so selfish. There is nothing going on here that is good for appropriate for kids. These parents didn’t want to pay or couldn’t find a sitter and decided to go anyway. I’m surprised kids were even allowed in there!

    Trying to get to my contacts with my computer change – was going to email you about that commentor “Lo” who said I was judgmental and negative…reading this comment I just made, maybe I am!

  8. Colombian Princess says:

    I went to one casino where I saw children hang around/wait in the lobby while their parents were busy gambling and it puzzled me why management didn’t seem to care why these kids were left by themselves.

    The above comments pretty much sum up my thoughts.

  9. Carl says:

    I’ve been to Vegas and seen kids who can barely walk being dragged through the casino by their parents. Worse I see teenagers 13 and 14 years old at the pools and slowly gambling through the casino too. Some parents seem to view the track, casinos as a huge free daycare and will bring their children and just let them run wild while they play the races.

  10. What happened to a nice game of Monopoly?

  11. elise says:

    I remember when my Nephew went to his friends birthday party. Turned out his friend’s dad took them to the Dogs for an afternoon. T

    hey had chips and coca-cola and saw the dogs running around the track. Sometimes his friend’s daddy hugged them all like mad at the end of a race because his favourite dog won.

    Did he have a good time?

    Yes, but my mum still won’t buy me a dog.

    As long as the kids are having fun then its family time!

  12. Extreme John says:

    I guess my first thought is… I don’t care.

    I’m not big on policing everything and everyone. Ultimately those parents are responsible for their kids, my opinion, dislike or like is pointless and honestly none of my business. If I take my kids to Vegas and sit them at the lion exhibit at MGM Grand while I stroll over to play craps for 25 minutes, that’s ultimately my choice and also has a lot to do with the age of my kids and my relationship with my kids. All of which is none of anyone else’s business.

    Happy Tuesday!

    P.s. Frankie Edgar won that fight on Saturday night.

  13. Otin says:

    Truthfully I’ve always found the racetrack kind of boring. I’m not sure it would be great family time.

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