Winning and the Optimism of Youth

Originally posted 11/26/07 on my aol journal

When you go somewhere and see the machines that try to lure you in to placing your money in them to win something like me you probably are thinking yeah right they are rigged to only put out so much. Like me you see drawings and while you might enter, you know that you will never win. All these little games of chance the we see are stacked against us because as adults we know that nothing in life is free. Hard work and perseverance are the things that matter and truly provide reward. As responsible parents we try to teach our children this "fundamental" truth.
The optimism of youth is a marvelous thing to watch in action as those of you with children understand. On Friday we took Meghan out shopping (yes on Black Friday) as this is probably one of the few times that we will be able to go since I picked such a great time to be on medical disability. One of the stores we went to had an opportunity for you to register to win a Webkin. These animals/toys are a pretty hot item with the kids around here. I managed to keep Meghan unaware of them more or less until I arranged for her to have a play date with a friend while I was in the hospital. Meghan's friend has ten of them, and Meghan wants one now (there are two on her Christmas list). Meghan registered in the drawing and then spent the weekend talking about which one she would pick when she won. The responsible parent that I am kept trying to explain to her that just because she entered did not mean she would win. I really wanted to keep disappointment to minimum. The entire time I am trying to keep her from getting her hopes too high she is positive that she will win.
To my great surprise, this morning I received a call from the store that she had indeed been the winner of the drawing and could come by and pick out Webkin anytime between now and Dec 1st. When I tell her, she will look at me and tell me that she knew she would.
This brings to mind other events of the past when Meghan has been positive of the outcome while I have attempted to keep her from getting too excited in order to minimize the hurt later. The Publix coloring contest when she was in preschool was another big one. Meghan began planning what she would do with her prizes, and again I was cautioning her that while I thought her picture was fantastic, there were many other entries besides her beautiful picture. Another example that Meghan apparently knew something I did not because she won!!
Then there was the crane machine at Denny's a couple of years back. Meghan really wanted a gray cat that was in the machine so against my better judgement, I put fifty cents in and tried to win the animal for her. Well of course I did not win it. Meghan was very disappointed and was telling me how I should have done it. Being more than a little frustrated, I gave her 50 cents and told her if she knew so much then she could try to get it. Darned if she did not win the gray cat out of the machine.
I guess I should be the one taking a lesson away from all this; however, I still look at all this and think the odds are stacked against us. How do we end up losing that optimism as adults. When do we stop dreaming of the possibilities and start thinking of only the improbabilities? We lose so much magic when we stop dreaming of the possibilities.