Teen makes cousin cry; mom says it's 'common sense' to let kids win, teen disagrees.

The insatiable drive to win has defined the careers of many people. Michael Jordan, Serena Williams, and older siblings beating their younger siblings to show superiority are just a few examples of perpetual winners driven by glory.

On a popular Reddit thread in the Am I the A*#hole Subreddit, one teen teaches his cousins a lesson in losing gracefully.

He writes:

I (17m) was recently over at my aunt and uncle's house. They have two kids, my little cousins Willow (9) and Miles (6). My aunt recently bought a switch for the cousins, and they've been getting obsessed with Mario Kart.

Almost immediately, the cousins challenged me, my parents, and my sister to a race. I had to help my uncle with his car (I work part-time at an auto shop and have promised to look at it) but said I would return to the race once I was finished.

About thirty minutes later, I returned to the house, and my cousins met me at the door to get me to race; it was adorable. We sat down and played, and I smoked them. I'm not particularly good at Mario Kart, but I've been playing for a while, and they just started playing two weeks ago.

The cousins demanded a rematch, and I obliged, then a re-rematch when I smoked them again. After several rounds and not a single victory later, Willow was in awe of my 'epic skills,' but Miles started crying.

Hearing Miles crying, my aunt entered the room, and I explained the situation. My aunt comforted Miles while my mom took me aside. There had been an unwritten agreement between my mom, aunt, and sister to go easy on my cousins and let them win. My mom called me a jerk for being mean to my cousins.

I told her I didn't know, and she called me dumb because it's common sense to go easy on kids. I knew no common sense, but maybe I was just dumb, as my mom said. AITA?

RainbowCrane says:

NAH (No A%&hole Here), but this is a 'read the room' thing. Kids don’t need to win every time, and it is good for them to learn to lose gracefully. However, suppose you’re competing against elementary school-age kids.

In that case, there’s a point to notice that the kids are getting frustrated and figure out how to make the game fun again - instead of seeing who can win the 3rd time, say, 'let’s try to get all the power-ups' or 'let’s try goofy track X' or something. It’s not about intentionally throwing the game but finding ways to meet kids at their ability level and have fun with them.

Personal example: I was about 15 before I realized that when I was in elementary school playing nickel-ante poker with my uncles and cousins, I sucked at poker; they kept me in the game by sliding coins to me every time they got up from the table to get a drink or whatever, telling me to play a few rounds for them.

I got to hang out with the men, and they had fun teasing me at the poker table and teaching me swear words. There are ways to include kids without stooping to outright throwing the game or humiliating them because they’re less skilled.

avenging_armadillo says:

NTA. It's an unwritten rule to go easy on younger kids, but no one should find you that because of that (unless you were smack-talking them, lol, don't do that).

I do not let my kids win at Mario Kart. My youngest gets sad sometimes. We cheer them up or show them how to be faster.

SevenCarrots says:

Ummm, it’s a little weird for someone on the precipice of adulthood to absolutely whip a 6-year-old at a game over and over without having the thought, 'Maybe I will let this little person who has been on the planet for 72 months win one.'

But maybe that has not been your modeling. I wouldn’t feel too bad about it, but in the future, I might not just absolutely relentlessly cream a six-year-old over and over. Yes, a legitimate argument should be made against over-praising a child. There is also a legitimate argument about letting a little child have a mastery experience, especially when they have tried repeatedly.

OP, as someone that demolished a bunch of his nieces and nephews in a game of capture the flag, making them cry, if letting them win was a rule, someone should've informed me as well.