The Carnival is in Town!!

Arms raised high, hair blowing back, stomach lurching up and down, a black horse with a hot pink saddle,... or is that a yellow horse with a teal saddle...must mean the carnival in town. The roller coaster hardly gave a thrill, but Ciara loved it. She got mad cause it was closed down part of the time when it got stuck. She isn't a real thrill seeker, so it was just her speed. She rode on the spider, but hid and said she was praying to God that she would get out of there alive!! At first she wouldn't go on the slide, but finally did and then went 5 more times. She didn't understand on a ferris wheel that you will stop several times to load and unload people. She got on, then thought she got stuck at the top, and cried to get off. It was pretty high. She tried so hard to win a live baby rabbit. Yowser!! I am glad she lost. Then she cried and cried cause she didn't win. Lesson learned. She won a little fish (stuffed). It was a fun night and exhausting for me just walking up and down the "strip". Here are some things I learned:

1. Carnie workers are a breed unto their own.
2. They must smoke.
3. They must have tattoos
4. They must know how to smoke, flex tattoos and run their ride/game at the same time.
5. The smallest carnie worker can stare down a six foot football player teenager and melt him. ( That was fun!)
6. Grandparents will take all ages of children to a carnival, buy them all the food they want and end up carrying it around while they try to keep up with the kids running from ride to ride.
7. My daughter only minds when she is getting something she wants.
   
8. My daughter is hateful and ungrateful.
9. My daughter is spoiled, and I don't mean with things, I mean her attitude.

All that being said, how do I unruin her. I know I wanted her to have all the things, and opportunities I never had. I wanted her to have a better life. But when did I learn that I had to work, no matter what I was getting and to treat people nice.
Ciara behaved beautifully before the carnival. She was tired, we both were when we got home. I promised her we would go at 7 if she did some chores to help me get ready to go on a trip. She unloaded the dishwasher, changed the clothes from the washer to the dryer, brought the suitcase and brought the clothes from the dryer to pack, helped me find things we needed to take and emptied 3 trashes. She did all this with a smile on her face, conversing nicely about the fun time we would have and her school day (which had been bad, but she was trying to deal with it positively). We go to the carnival, she finds some friends, she rides some rides, plays some games. Except for the bunny event, she had a happy, fun time. I am exhausted when we leave and she starts screaming to stay longer, yells at me, won't help me fill the gas tank and demands that I get her a hamburger and fries. She does not care that her half crippled, out of shape mom has walked up and down a carnival for two hours while she ran around with her friends and had fun. She does not care about the stress I have as I teach this year. She does not care about the stress I have as a single parent. She does not care that we spent money there that we could have paid bills or bought groceries. She does not care that I have so much to do before our trip and I will be driving for 5 1/2 hours after working all day while she snoozes in the car and takes a nap. How did I ruin her? Surely she can care. Surely she learn to help out without expecting a carnival in return. Surely she can leave a carnival thankful for all the sacrifices and work it took to allow her the opportunity to enjoy it. I don't expect her to turn into a sad child who constantly worries about things, but a simple "Thanks, mom" would be nice.

I guess I have a lot of work to do.....