Should I try and prevent my two year old from being a Bills fan?

[bills_fan]

When I began having kids (I have 3), I realized my time would be very limited, I had to pick and choose what was important to me.  And then make those things an activity I can enjoy with my kids.  Watching the Bills and downhill skiing were my choices.  I taught them all about football and how to ski.  Both have made for awesome times for me and the kids.  It has provided innumerable benefits over the years.

 

You choose your own path obviously, but I incorporated my kids into 2 things I love.  And I will be happy I did until the day I die.

[Pete]

2 hours ago, Augie said:

 

My wife is a great sport about all this. I sent her a pic of a guy in London and when I got back she had “I Married Into This” shirts for herself and our DIL. Our grandkids have Bills gear for the next 5 years. 

 

We were 2-14 back to back when we were married, and she asked “why do you do this to yourself?”  Now she mostly keeps the neighbors at bay during games and we enjoy them in a way that doesn’t make me any crazier than necessary.  There may be something wrong with me, but it seems to be fairly standard for Bills fans. 

Lol we must have the record for 2-14 teams, and I bet it’s not close.  Teams worse than the draught years

[Augie]

7 minutes ago, Pete said:

Lol we must have the record for 2-14 teams, and I bet it’s not close.  Teams worse than the draught years

 

Most people vastly underestimate the depth of despair over the decades. We seemed to always live in a dip, and I don’t know how that is possible. 🤷‍♂️

 

My wife would take the stroller and dogs and walk until someone took her pitiful soul in on game days when the kids were young. “OK kids, let’s go for our three hour walk!”  😂 

[GaryPinC]

On 1/27/2025 at 12:09 AM, letsgoteam said:

Honest question. I would love for her to care about the Bills and actually have someone to enjoy games with (actually it's just to suffer with if we are being honest). 

 

My wife hates football and I'll be honest, it bothers me that she could care less about the Bills. 

 

I feel that I am just being selfish. I definitely don't want to force her into it. If she does on her own, then it's ok. However I think her life would be better off if she doesn't.

 

This season was the first time I didn't subscribe to NFL Sunday ticket. I'm trying to move on with life and the Bills have consumed so much of my life.

 

I did not watch any other NFL games this season other then the Bills. I believe my goal is stop watching the Bills as well. 

 

I guess my real question is I don't want to force myself on her deciding if she is going to like the Bills or not. Any advice would be appreciated. 

 

I wish I didn't care and I honestly don't want my daughter to go through life like I have. 

 

 

 

Honestly, you are all over the place with your text.  It sounds like there are two people talking, which one is the real you?  And who is the other person?  How is exposing her to the Buffalo Bills "forcing" yourself on her?

 

The great thing about being a parent is you see parts and even a lot of yourself in them and they turn out refreshingly different because it's a different life and you help shape it!

 

I have two kids from my first marriage, born and grown up in Cleveland and now in college. I took and showed my kids how to fish, took them to Bills games, put them in sports.

 

My daughter likes to fish, and the Bills.  My son didn't like fishing and stayed true to his hometown Browns.  So, I follow the Browns and Cavs just to share that connection with him, and I know part of my daughter's Bills fandom is to share a connection.

 

You could argue anything you expose your kids to is technically forcing but we all know that's not true. 

 

But kids love sharing and feeling your positive energy for things you are passionate about so stick with that.  Expose, even repeatedly but don't force.

 

But first you have to identify the real you here.

 

 

[letsgoteam]

8 minutes ago, GaryPinC said:

Honestly, you are all over the place with your text.  It sounds like there are two people talking, which one is the real you?  And who is the other person?  How is exposing her to the Buffalo Bills "forcing" yourself on her?

 

The great thing about being a parent is you see parts and even a lot of yourself in them and they turn out refreshingly different because it's a different life and you help shape it!

 

I have two kids from my first marriage, born and grown up in Cleveland and now in college. I took and showed my kids how to fish, took them to Bills games, put them in sports.

 

My daughter likes to fish, and the Bills.  My son didn't like fishing and stayed true to his hometown Browns.  So, I follow the Browns and Cavs just to share that connection with him, and I know part of my daughter's Bills fandom is to share a connection.

 

You could argue anything you expose your kids to is technically forcing but we all know that's not true. 

 

But kids love sharing and feeling your positive energy for things you are passionate about so stick with that.  Expose, even repeatedly but don't force.

 

But first you have to identify the real you here.

 

 

Thanks for the detailed response. 

 

If it sounds like two people, it might be my own internal battle with how I should proceed following the Bills. 

 

As far as my daughter, I think maybe what is my concern is her developing the same type of feelings I have when it comes to the Bills (like overly caring/bothered by the outcomes of their games). 

[GaryPinC]

20 minutes ago, letsgoteam said:

Thanks for the detailed response. 

 

If it sounds like two people, it might be my own internal battle with how I should proceed following the Bills. 

 

As far as my daughter, I think maybe what is my concern is her developing the same type of feelings I have when it comes to the Bills (like overly caring/bothered by the outcomes of their games). 

Gotcha, thanks for explaining. 

 

The bottom line is, as a parent you have to walk the talk.

There's no point in bothering if you turn into a monster and scare the hell out of her.   It's got to be enjoyable and positive for you both, so how do you refocus and do that? 

 

All I could offer is this perspective:

I badly want to win a Superbowl but the 90's taught me the journey and entire story is more fun.  After the third loss the national mockery or pity parties took hold and I realized how much more gratifying and privileged it was to watch those teams absolutely light it up in elite football fashion except for 1 game a year compared to all the losing years of crappy, incompetence. 

 

We have the rarest of gifts with Josh and I want at least 1 superbowl but I'm going to enjoy all his amazing unstoppable performances even if the biggest one still escapes us. Especially with my daughter and family,  that is far more important to me than a losing score.

[Mike in Horseheads]

10 hours ago, Augie said:

 

My wife is a great sport about all this. I sent her a pic of a guy in London and when I got back she had “I Married Into This” shirts for herself and our DIL. Our grandkids have Bills gear for the next 5 years. 

 

We were 2-14 back to back when we were married, and she asked “why do you do this to yourself?”  Now she mostly keeps the neighbors at bay during games and we enjoy them in a way that doesn’t make me any crazier than necessary.  There may be something wrong with me, but it seems to be fairly standard for Bills fans. 

oh ya 2-14 for two years in a row, Greg Bell beating Dallas was the highlight with a long run

[letsgoteam]

23 hours ago, GaryPinC said:

Gotcha, thanks for explaining. 

 

The bottom line is, as a parent you have to walk the talk.

There's no point in bothering if you turn into a monster and scare the hell out of her.   It's got to be enjoyable and positive for you both, so how do you refocus and do that? 

 

All I could offer is this perspective:

I badly want to win a Superbowl but the 90's taught me the journey and entire story is more fun.  After the third loss the national mockery or pity parties took hold and I realized how much more gratifying and privileged it was to watch those teams absolutely light it up in elite football fashion except for 1 game a year compared to all the losing years of crappy, incompetence. 

 

We have the rarest of gifts with Josh and I want at least 1 superbowl but I'm going to enjoy all his amazing unstoppable performances even if the biggest one still escapes us. Especially with my daughter and family,  that is far more important to me than a losing score.

Great points and I agree 110%

 

To note, nothing that I do in reaction to them losing would scare her or anyone. I mean I'm frustrated and not happy with the outcome (and I get frustrated at myself internally for caring too much) but nothing that scare her or make her uncomfortable. Additionally, she has never even heard me cuss/say a bad word. 🙂

[GaryPinC]

23 hours ago, letsgoteam said:

Great points and I agree 110%

 

To note, nothing that I do in reaction to them losing would scare her or anyone. I mean I'm frustrated and not happy with the outcome (and I get frustrated at myself internally for caring too much) but nothing that scare her or make her uncomfortable. Additionally, she has never even heard me cuss/say a bad word. 🙂

Ok good luck with your decision.  Even though your wife hates football, I hope she respects how much you love it and if you choose to build that connection with your daughter.

[letsgoteam]

On 1/30/2025 at 9:15 PM, GaryPinC said:

Ok good luck with your decision.  Even though your wife hates football, I hope she respects how much you love it and if you choose to build that connection with your daughter.

Thanks, I appreciate your thoughts. Yours was the type of response I was hoping to get when I originally posted.

[SinceThe70s]

9 minutes ago, letsgoteam said:

Thanks, I appreciate your thoughts. Yours was the type of response I was hoping to get when I originally posted.

 

My suggestion is to give your daughter the freedom to make her own choice. She'll be exposed to your fandom and it'll either take or it won't. If it takes, she's in for the ride good or bad - that's the gig, like it or not.  And while you think you may be protecting her from a lifetime of heartbreak who knows maybe you'd be depriving her of a lifetime of joy. 

[GaryPinC]

8 hours ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

My suggestion is to give your daughter the freedom to make her own choice. She'll be exposed to your fandom and it'll either take or it won't. If it takes, she's in for the ride good or bad - that's the gig, like it or not.  And while you think you may be protecting her from a lifetime of heartbreak who knows maybe you'd be depriving her of a lifetime of joy. 

Yep!  Thanks, eloquently summarized.

 

I would just add that the lifetime of joy doesn't have to derive from losses and victories, rather the shared experiences.  And that can help dad redefine his fandom too!

[SinceThe70s]

4 minutes ago, GaryPinC said:

Yep!  Thanks, eloquently summarized.

 

I would just add that the lifetime of joy doesn't have to derive from losses and victories, rather the shared experiences.  And that can help dad redefine his fandom too!

 

100%!!!!!!!!!!

 

I've posted this before but it's worth repeating. I'm an out of market fan and didn't push the Bills on my sons but it took for both. They grew up during the drought years and I used to joke that turning them into Bills fans was a form of child abuse. It changed dramatically when we watched Tyler Boyd's TD together. Pure joy. When 13 seconds happened I told them that they were officially Bills fans. One of our funniest memories was the missed FG by the Broncos that was negated by too many men on the field. When the call was made it was just me and my youngest watching and we went from high fives and elation to staring at each other intently a few feet apart speechless when the call came in for about 10 seconds. We still laugh about that shared experience. Over the past few years wifey started feeling left out and now she's fully on board the Bills train. She gets more amped up on game day than we do and takes the losses harder. Selfishly I'm thrilled to have the shared experiences (good and bad) with them after spending most of my life rooting for the Bills alone. 

 

Good times. Go Bills!

[US Egg]

My dog has been acting mopey since the Bills game. Could it be? Did I fail him? 

[SinceThe70s]

39 minutes ago, US Egg said:

My dog has been acting mopey since the Bills game. Could it be? Did I fail him? 

 

If you have to ask you already know the answer.

[US Egg]

27 minutes ago, SinceThe70s said:

If you have to ask you already know the answer.

Worse yet, I won't pass the next doggy interrogation should I want to adopt a sibling for him.  

[LabattBlue]

Should my 2 year old become a Bills fan?   I think you have many years before you have to worry about that.  So much to enjoy about a toddler, why worry about something so trivial?

[EmotionallyUnstable]

My three and one year old are bills fans. They have no other choice. Not that I wouldn’t be open to it, but it is so ingrained in our family DNA and community they’re entirely immersed in it and frankly have no other choice (family parties, pre k, neighbors, etc…it’s all mafia)

 

If one day they grow up and want to do their own thing, that’s great and I’ll stand by them in whatever their path may be. For now, they’ve inherited it like a gene. 

Edited Sunday at 12:13 AM by EmotionallyUnstable

[thenorthremembers]

Don't push them to be a fan don't push them away from being a fan.  Let them figure it out for themselves.

 

The most likely outcome is they will end up a Bills fan like the other members of their family.

[Augie]

If you have something to bond over for life, that sounds like a good thing to me. Bonding over a bad team is at least as strong as over a good team. Win/win.