Well Mannered Kids

       

          I attend another NMSU soccer game, I walked into the complex as usual and took a seat in about the middle of the stands.  There was a group of 7 college students sitting to my right.  They were all silently conversing and laughing amongst themselves.  To my left sat a family with a man, a wife, and 3 kids.  The youngest kid was around the age of 4 and was female, she wore a t -shirt with a logo of a Disney Princess.  During the game she was either playing with the doll she brought or asked question questions to her mother.  The family also had 2 older sons between the ages of  6 and 10.  For most of the time there they payed attention to the game, however they begged the parents for some cotton candy.  The parents did not give in at first, but they told the two kids if they behaved until after half time they would receive cotton candy.  

          Once, half time came around all three of the kids ran out on the field to participate in a child activity NMSU was putting on.  The kids goal was to score on Pistol Pete who was playing goalie.  The oldest son took the hand of the young girl and all three of them ran out on the field.  Once they got near the goal the oldest son let go of his sister hand and they both stood in line to shoot.  From what i saw every kid shot on Pistol Pete twice and if they scored on him they would receive a prize.  In the end, I think every kid actually scored on Pistol Pete and even if they didn't score, they still received a prize.  Afterwards, the NMSU employees or helpers escorted the kids off the field and back to their parents.

     Once, the kids got back from the field all three of kids asked for some cotton candy they were promised, so the father got up and went to buy the candy.  The father came back and handed the large cotton candy stick to the older son and asked him to share with the rest of the siblings.  To my surprise, the older sibling actually shared quite fairly with the younger two siblings.  Whenever the little girl or boy asked for more cotton candy the oldest sibling would rip off a large chunk of the candy and hand it to them.  In the end, i think the youngest son actually ate most of the candy.  When the three finished the candy the oldest son got up and went threw away the trash.  When the son got back to his seat, I noticed the father lean foreword and whisper something into his hear.  I am going to assume it was some positive encouragement or praise because afterwards the son sat up straight with a huge smile on his face.  After they were done eating the candy the sons asked for the mothers cell phone to play some video games.    

After a couple of passes of the phone, I noticed the the two sons started to argue about unfair playing time.  The mother let the two argue about it for a couple of minutes and then she stepped in and warned them to resolve there issues or she would be taking the phone back.  From what i noticed the boys quickly resolved there issues, because i did not hear any more commotion form them for the rest of the game.