A short observation of parents & children.

The carnival happened. It did not include everything evisioned, but it included plenty. The kids seemed to like everything the older kids seemed to like popping the inflatable balls that were part of the prizes.

I spent part of the evening at the ticket booth and part of the evening on the golf game. The first was pretty uneventful, the second was downright painful. (All the bending to get and put the balls on the putting green.)

The funny thing about the putting green was not the kids - they were great - it was the parents. There were parents who were no where to be seen. There were parents who stood back while the child tried the game. There were parents who bossed the kids around from the sidelines (short explanation - There was a choice of a 3 point putt, a 2 point putt or the 1 point tap it in putt. I'd ask the kids which line but many parents would overrule the kids.) Then finally there were the parents who could not let their kids play without positioning them, criticizing their form and generally doing everything but swing for them.

It was just a game. Everyone was a winner, it was just a case of how much you won. Some of these parents just could not let it go. A couple of them made the kids get back in line because the parent didn't think they did very well.
How sad is that.