People Watching

I love to go to Polo because the people watching is phenomenal!

This week there was a group of people in one of the very expensive boxes in front of us - we have the cheap seats, but we get to watch those who occupy the expensive seats.
At 7pm a young very pretty single mother arrived with her two kids in tow - literally... they were in a wagon. Excellent choice!We were impressed with her ingenuity.  We admired her dress and her large purse which we think doubled as a diaper bag. She parked her wagon next to the box and went in.

The kids were pretty well behaved most of the night until it got to be 9pm.  The kids are little - as in 2 and maybe 4 years old.  (There is one thing that parents should never fool with and it's bed time. Bed time in this house was sacred until the kids got to be 6 or 8 years old and even then we didn't fool with it unless we didn't have a choice.) 
At 9:05, the youngest started whining.   The young mom wanted to hang out with her friends and party. It was pretty obvious to any bystander that the mom wanted to stay.
At 9:06, the older boy started acting up. He was jumping, hanging on her, pulling her dress, whining, and generally being a very tired little boy.  She got upset with him. 
(Kids get bored at parties and at polo.  If you don't bring any toys or activities, eventually, they get bored and tired and you've got nothing for distraction purposes.)
Please note that all the other parents of younger kids left at 8:45 when the first match ended...
At 9:10 she put them both in the wagon - there was hope that she just might take them home.
At 9:11 she handed the oldest a sippy cup and the youngest a mostly empty water bottle.
At 9:12 the oldest started sprinkling his sister with the beverage in the sippy cup.  The sibling retaliated with hers. The mother got angry and grabbed the sippy cup away, but left the water bottle.  Yeah.. like that's gonna work...  She proceeded to chat with her now uncomfortable friends. 
At 9:15 she started pull the wagon away - away from the parking lot.. Just when you think there's hope, there's not.
At 9:20 she finally left. The kids were both crying.
What, exactly, did she accomplish? 
She didn't get to spend as much time with her friends as she would have liked.
She ended up ignoring her kids most of the night.
The kids ended up upset and in trouble.
She ended up frustrated.
Wouldn't a better choice be to simply get a babysitter?
Yes, they are expensive, but honestly... the price they all paid was not worth it.
I paid many babysitters. I didn't have a lot of money, but I certainly didn't bring my kids out when it was an adult party.  I'm not saying that Polo is an adult activity, but the box where they were partying was full of adults - not one other kid was in there.
Polo is a family event - when you want it to be.  But, if it's not family time, leave the kids at home, you know?

But if she had left the kids at home, I would have told you about their box - their topiary centerpiece, their caterer who worked his read end off all night, their kabobs, their wine selection, their unending supply of enormous strawberries and more... but I got distracted by the drama.