Birthday with a Mouse
As the clock on my computer (the one on my phone is slower) changed to 4:30 p.m. I quickly turned my computer off and grabbed my things. It was Friday and it was also my and my husband’s birthday. Yes, we have the same birthday. We had plans for the evening. We were going to “Chuckie Cheese.” Yes, you read that right. Two grown adults having pizza at a mouse themed children’s arcade and play-center, I know, pretty pathetic, but our children have been begging for almost 2 months for us to take them, so why not for the special occasion?
I must admit, one great thing about being a parent is that you are sociably allowed to do stupid kid things and no one can say anything. Don’t believe me? Go to a Toys-R-Us and watch the parents who do not have kids throwing temper tantrums (that’s one of the bad things about being a parent- tantrums). I bet they are pushing buttons, throwing things, and trying out bikes and hula-hoops with their kids.
As we approached the entrance decorated with a cartoon mouse wearing clothes as if trying to look “hip” with what today’s youth were into yet failing miserably, I prayed that they carried alcohol like the Peter Piper I once took my daughter to for a birthday party. I knew in my gut, that despite the good intentions my husband had for doing something as a family, this evening would be filled with children crying and arguing over who gets the first turn to ride in the little chair that goes up and down (such a pointless “ride”) or who’s tickets are who’s after they get mixed up from being shoved in my pockets so they at least don’t end up lost or by us losing one of the kids amongst the many children and hiding areas around arcade equipment.
To top off the evening, my parents found out that we were planning on going to this amusing place and had decided to join us for a slice of pizza. This only made it more official in my mind that the evening had evolved from us doing something for the kids coincidently on our birthday, to doing something as a family on our birthday, to us having our adult aged birthday party at a children’s Chuckie Cheese. What made the evening even more justified to the hassle and nonsense we would surely endure, was that we even had coupons which we were determined to use before they reached their expiration dates (did I mention I am a completely frugal person? Not stingy; I just cannot justify spending $100 for a family of 5 to eat pizza and play arcade games for a couple of hours).
The evening was not bad in the end. The children were behaved and we all had fun. I taught my stepson how to play ski ball, my daughter learned she was afraid of heights from riding a giant rocking horse, my son decided that from that point on he would eat pizza holding it upside down so he could taste the cheese first and no one seemed to care the least that I had accidently mixed up everyone’s tickets before we were able to count them.
Next year though, my husband and I are going to Vegas.
I must admit, one great thing about being a parent is that you are sociably allowed to do stupid kid things and no one can say anything. Don’t believe me? Go to a Toys-R-Us and watch the parents who do not have kids throwing temper tantrums (that’s one of the bad things about being a parent- tantrums). I bet they are pushing buttons, throwing things, and trying out bikes and hula-hoops with their kids.
As we approached the entrance decorated with a cartoon mouse wearing clothes as if trying to look “hip” with what today’s youth were into yet failing miserably, I prayed that they carried alcohol like the Peter Piper I once took my daughter to for a birthday party. I knew in my gut, that despite the good intentions my husband had for doing something as a family, this evening would be filled with children crying and arguing over who gets the first turn to ride in the little chair that goes up and down (such a pointless “ride”) or who’s tickets are who’s after they get mixed up from being shoved in my pockets so they at least don’t end up lost or by us losing one of the kids amongst the many children and hiding areas around arcade equipment.
To top off the evening, my parents found out that we were planning on going to this amusing place and had decided to join us for a slice of pizza. This only made it more official in my mind that the evening had evolved from us doing something for the kids coincidently on our birthday, to doing something as a family on our birthday, to us having our adult aged birthday party at a children’s Chuckie Cheese. What made the evening even more justified to the hassle and nonsense we would surely endure, was that we even had coupons which we were determined to use before they reached their expiration dates (did I mention I am a completely frugal person? Not stingy; I just cannot justify spending $100 for a family of 5 to eat pizza and play arcade games for a couple of hours).
The evening was not bad in the end. The children were behaved and we all had fun. I taught my stepson how to play ski ball, my daughter learned she was afraid of heights from riding a giant rocking horse, my son decided that from that point on he would eat pizza holding it upside down so he could taste the cheese first and no one seemed to care the least that I had accidently mixed up everyone’s tickets before we were able to count them.
Next year though, my husband and I are going to Vegas.
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