Even if you bribe a kid into accompanying you, there is no guarantee that said kid would behave, there are negative guarantees if the kid is Richard Grayson.
Of course Bruce could just leave him at the Manor, but then he would have no excuse to leave the galas early. Taking Dick to the galas was for his benefit more than anything else. But he also knows that if he takes that path, he knows his responsibilities double.
Dick needs to be entertained, which is no problem, even though Alfred has a no-screen policy, but Bruce is delighted not to be entangled in any unfruitful conversation and just have conversations with his son ward.
Dick doesn’t like any of the other kids from high society, so Bruce is prepared to have a child-shaped koala with him all night. They just need to get to 11 o'clock, and then Bruce can excuse them because Dick is tired.
The real problem was the speeches, oh my god, the speeches.
They were too long for Dick’s attention span, and there was not much a napkin could do to make someone distracted, they couldn’t talk, or it would be seen as disrespectful (they did it once, and this led to Alfred scolding them). So, the solution they found was Bingo.
Dick's family used to play Bingo with him while traveling with the circus. “The showman will forget his lines,” or “The clown will have its nose stolen by a baby,” or even “It will rain” – anything was on the table. The bingo cards were made beforehand by them and could list at most 15 things they thought would happen while in the city. Whoever got the most correct wins and could ask for anything they wanted.
Alfred found the idea genius. He did something of the sort with Bruce when he was younger, trying to distract him while Martha and Thomas made net worth. By that day, the Waynes had a bingo card for almost every gala they attended. It was also a memory game, trying to remember everyone in high society, and made both of them train their stealth. No one could know what they were doing. The most common to appear was “Drake’s will not go” since they were always traveling, and “Kane’s will be late” once they knew Kate would do everything in her power to not make an appearance.
The rules were simple: 1 - Behave, if there’s anything but a well behaved appearance the game is over; 2 - The events can not be provoked, you can’t influence the outcomes; 3 - No one can know what they are doing.
Even Barbara got to play! Alfred described it as a gladiator's fight, both having competitors' souls and hating to lose for one another; the end of the night, when the points were counted, sounded like a deputy election. Jim almost never went to galas, but he knew Babs and Dick were good friends, and sometimes the kid wanted some company at the tedious events. Plus, Alfred would babysit for free. He didn’t know what those kids did to have so much fun at a fundraiser, but he was glad they were having fun, and were in Gotham is safer than Batman's house.
And so, the tradition carried on. By Jason's first gala, Dick was so excited that he even spent the night before at the manor helping him complete his card. Soon enough, they noticed the great sibling bonding time in that. Sadly, Bruce had lost his spot in the competition but was happy his kids were having fun together. Tim received his at a patrol before the gala from Dick and just answered, “Oh, that’s what you guys were doing all along?” He admits it was his funniest night and less stealthy bingo ever. The Drakes were seated two tables away from the Waynes, and Dick couldn’t stop glaring at him every time Tim made a point. Just how the kid predicted a whole fight between two mistresses? The first place was never more difficult to win.
Cassandra and Stephanie almost couldn’t contain their laughter when they scored “Mayor will say ‘and’ at least 37 times.” By Damian's time, it was a day’s thing preparation. The whole family was entangled in gossip about high society; they knew about pregnancies, affairs, and money laundering. Damian found the game nonsense and refused to play, but they could see him perking by Dick's shoulder to see if he got the point or not.
When Jason was back from the dead and in civil terms with the family, he was given a card by mail and small instructions on the back. Somehow, Jason got the second-highest score that night. When Duke came by, it almost looked like a casino house! They started to make chips to know how many times someone won, and they were exchanged regularly and could also be passed down for favors with each other. Bruce and Alfred were the only final line; they cashed the chips for days without patrol, favorite foods, bigger allowances, etc.
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