A teenage Bill Gates was such a problem child that he and his parents had to go through family therapy for two years, the Microsoft founder's dad has revealed.
"Things obviously worked themselves out," the New York Daily News quoted Gates Sr., 84, as telling the crowd in the auditorium of the storied 92nd Street Y.
He went on: "Our family was pretty typical as families go, with conflicts arising between parents and children at a certain age.
"There's fighting against discipline, and that's the situation we had. In this particular case it was mostly between Bill and his mother."
Gates Jr., nicknamed Trey at home, said: "Mom was on the front line.
"But Dad was in reserve."
Gates Sr. said he and his late wife, Mary "would go to this consultant, and then Trey would go in. And eventually, this consultant said to us, 'You know, you have this war going on with your son, and you really should understand something: He's going to win.'"
Gates Jr. said: "I had a lot of fun growing up. I'm not sure I always made it fun. But maybe we could let parents here know that a very energetic kid who's pushing hard on the boundaries might turn out OK?"
"I think you turned out OK," replied Gates Sr.
"I'm working on it," said Gates Jr.
The father-son dialogue had the laid back ambience of "Saturday Night Live's" "good times" spoof of National Public Radio hosts.
source : http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/teen-bill-gates-was-problem-child-for-mum-says-dad/
"Things obviously worked themselves out," the New York Daily News quoted Gates Sr., 84, as telling the crowd in the auditorium of the storied 92nd Street Y.
He went on: "Our family was pretty typical as families go, with conflicts arising between parents and children at a certain age.
"There's fighting against discipline, and that's the situation we had. In this particular case it was mostly between Bill and his mother."
Gates Jr., nicknamed Trey at home, said: "Mom was on the front line.
"But Dad was in reserve."
Gates Sr. said he and his late wife, Mary "would go to this consultant, and then Trey would go in. And eventually, this consultant said to us, 'You know, you have this war going on with your son, and you really should understand something: He's going to win.'"
Gates Jr. said: "I had a lot of fun growing up. I'm not sure I always made it fun. But maybe we could let parents here know that a very energetic kid who's pushing hard on the boundaries might turn out OK?"
"I think you turned out OK," replied Gates Sr.
"I'm working on it," said Gates Jr.
The father-son dialogue had the laid back ambience of "Saturday Night Live's" "good times" spoof of National Public Radio hosts.
source : http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/teen-bill-gates-was-problem-child-for-mum-says-dad/