“Jeopardy!” icon Ken Jennings knows a lot of trivia facts and random bits of knowledge. In fact, he sometimes makes references his children don’t understand.
For instance, Jennings poked fun at himself and his children in a recent Twitter post. He said he made a reference to Danish-American comedian and conductor Victor Borge. His children obviously didn’t understand the allusion that Jennings made.
In response, Jennings took to social media to share his incredulity. He wrote, “My kids somehow didn’t get the Victor Borge reference I just made??”
For Jennings’ kids and others out there, Victor Borge earned the nickname “The Clown Prince of Denmark” among others in his life. Borge entertained audiences with a blend of comedy and music that made him famous and beloved. The musician passed away in 2000 at the age of 91.
Ken Jennings and His Children
This wasn’t the first time that Ken Jennings made reference to his kids on social media. Previously, his children didn’t like to watch him guest host “Jeopardy!.” Of course, it’s hard to take Jennings and his trademark sarcasm seriously. Poking fun is part of his online persona.
Jennings and his wife Mindy have two children: 19-year-old Dylan and 15-year-old Caitlin. Jennings and Mindy have been together ever since they met in college. Besides the occasional wisecrack, the “Jeopardy” icon got sincere and earnest when talking about his kids. He shared with his fans some of his advice for raising children. He couldn’t be prouder of the two.
Jennings recommends reading to your children every night. It’s a practice that Jennings started with Dylan and Caitlin when they were young. It instilled a passion for knowledge in them. But perhaps, he should have read more biographies about Victor Borge to them.
“The kids were planned,” Jennings told Life Hacker. “(Well, the conceptions were planned. Everything since then has been a total free-for-all.) My career change has been the biggest surprise. I was a perfectly happy suburban dad and computer programmer back in 2004, the year I turned thirty. I was not expecting to win on ‘Jeopardy!’ for six months straight and start a new career as a writer and professional know-it-all.”
Jennings said he has rolled with the punches and changes with life. After all, he went from “Jeopardy!” contestant to the golden boy of the trivia world. But as a parent, Jennings has also embraced technology rather than fight it as a means of becoming a better parent.
“There are gadgets and apps that will parent my kids for me?” Jennings continued. “This sounds fantastic. We do use a ‘find my friends’ app to track the kids at all times since they seem congenitally incapable of answering phone calls or texts in a timely manner.”
