Proud mother and wife, Sandra Delaney (38) taught her golf-mad husband, John (44), a painful lesson about parenting when he broke a promise to his ten year old son, Daniel. Having secured a place on his primary school team, Daniel showed a particular talent for the popular sport, being named as player of the match in five separate matches. Sandra and John were thrilled to hear that their son had also been named ‘star of the week’ in two school assemblies for his sports performance, as well as his good behaviour and grades in school.

The primary school regularly competed against others in the local area, and achieved many successes, making it to the under 11’s quarter finals.

Parents, Grandparents and friends from both schools attended the quarter final match, which was under particularly tough conditions. The field, soggy from the previous night’s rainfall tested the skills of both teams. Although Daniel’s school fell behind by a goal in the first half of the quarter final match, as the game progressed, the boys found their form and they eventually triumphed 5-2 with Daniel scoring a hatrick in the final portion of the match. Sandra was thrilled and celebrated by taking Daniel out to Pizza Hut, and to watch the new Jungle Book film at the cinema. However, despite her son’s joy of having won the match and being treated to an evening out, she noticed Daniel was quieter than usual.

Sandra commented: “Daniel loved going to the cinema and to Pizza Hut. He’s a good boy and has never asked anything of us. I could just tell from his quietness that he was bitterly disappointed that his dad has missed him scoring the hatrick.”

Photo Image: Credit to Kevin MacLeod via creativecommons.org / youtube.com

“John had previously promised to watch Daniel at the quarter finals, but said to me later that night that he’d made a simple mistake and had forgotten. I wasn’t best impressed as it wasn’t the first match John had missed for golf. We rowed over it, and he promised several times that he would attend the next match parents were invited to.” However, on the day that Daniel’s school football team were to play at the finals, John was once again nowhere to be seen. Sandra, knowing his track record became suspicious 10 minutes before the match was due to commence and texted John to remind him about his son’s match. Regrettably, John has switched his phone off and was once again at his favourite golf club, having a round with his colleagues.

Sandra: “I could see Daniel scanning for his dad in the crowds. I gave him a big smile and a wave. He waved back at me, but the disappointment that his dad wasn’t there was written all over his face. Daniel has always looked up to his dad. To him, John’s a superhero and can do no wrong in his eyes.”

Despite his dad’s lack of appearance, Daniel’s performance didn’t appear to be too greatly affected, and he scored the opening goal of the match. His primary school team were once again victorious, and were crowned The Under 11’s Junior Champions.

“I know how much golf means to John – we were even married at a golf club! However, although I didn’t mind coming second to the sport on some occasions, I never thought he’d let his son down. I was furious. Dan’s witnessed his dad’s golfing success and he wanted to show him what he could do in the sport he loved, but John let him down massively.”

On finding out her husband had once again missed their son’s match because of golf, Sandra decided not to get mad, but to get even.

Sandra: “John’s a good man at heart, and I know he didn’t intend to let Daniel down. I do genuinely believe he forgot the matches, as he’s not great with dates, but if that appointment had been to save his life, or had been an important golf match; you could bet your bottom dollar that his memory would have suddenly improved. I decided then, that it was time to teach him a lesson.”

A couple of days after the match, Daniel presented his parents with a letter from the school, notifying them of an upcoming fair. The letter detailed that children were going to have a ‘mufti day’ where the children are permitted to attend school for a day in their own clothes in return for a gift for the fair’s tombola. Sandra, still furious, didn’t think twice before she gathered up John’s newly-bought golf equipment that he had bought for the summer season. Included were 11 golf clubs, bag and a pair of unworn gloves; all of which was gifted straight to the school.

Sandra: “I decided to hand John’s golf gear into the school office, as I knew it would be worth a pretty penny, and I didn’t want Daniel getting into any trouble for my actions. They were very surprised, and kept on asking me if I was sure. The school even wrote a small letter of thanks to me for having donated their star prize.”

Image: Credit to flickr.com/photos/skuds/

It wasn’t long before husband, John discovered his wife’s actions and was mortified.

John: “When I first found out what Sandra had done, I wanted her to leave. Everyone makes mistakes and this was above and beyond simply getting her own back. Luckily, I knew the family who won my equipment, and after the school fair, I contacted them. They were really nice about the whole thing and offered to give the equipment straight back to me, but I still gave them an Amazon voucher, so they could get something for themselves in return.”

He added: “It’s still a bit of a sore point between Sandra and myself, but I know that I did let Daniel down and probably deserved what I got and far more. My boy means the world to me and I am immensely proud of him. I’m now trying to spend some more quality time with him, because, let’s face it – you don’t get the time back again.”