Chapter 26 - There is a Bottle King across the street from Chuck E. Cheese...

We did it, lo hicimos, we did it.  (a nod to the Dora watchers out there...) -  We survived our first trip to Chuck E. Cheese!! -

 One of my daughters classmates,  and her "BFF", had her 4th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese over the weekend.

We went, we played, we survived.  

While the establishment does not sell any t-shirts or cups with that slogan, they really should consider it because I feel like it's a badge of honor that all parents who've been should proudly wear afterwards.  And it should come with a complimentary box of wine.  How many tickets do I need to win that box of cabernet, please???

Before I get to Chuck E.Cheese, I'll tell you about the little gift drama that we had at my house before even making it to the party.  Earlier in the week I had asked Lily what her friend liked to play with, so I had some ideas while gift shopping.  She said her friend really loves necklaces, so I decided to get her a few bead kits and a decorate-your-own jewelry box.  I thought this was a great idea until I showed it all to Lily and she said, "Okay, great! Let's open it up and make her some necklaces!".

I tried to tell her that the gift is so that the birthday girl can make the necklaces herself and Lily looked at me like I was insane, and just SO uninformed in the ways of the world.  She said...."Mommy, what??!?!  That is NOT how a present works!!! -- Why would I give her a present that means she has to do all the work??"
I reminded her that her aunt got her some arts and crafts to do, and wasn't that a nice present and this is kind of the same thing and she said "NO, ...because she did them WITH me, so I didn't have to do all the work."  So, we went back and forth on this for some time, and fortunately, I know my little nut better than myself sometimes and was prepared with a smaller bead kit...just in case.  So, Lily made her friend a necklace to go along with the gifts I had bought, even though she thought it a bit cruel that I would give her friend a job to do as a present...

Now, we finally get to Saturday afternoon and she is ridiculously excited about her first trip to Chuck E.Cheese and  to celebrate with her friend.  I've never been to a Chuck E. Cheese before.  My one big birthday party as a kid was in the back room at Bonanza (we played pin the red nose on rudolph and it was a grand old time), but I've been to places like Chuck E.Cheese and I was reasonably prepared for what to expect.  I was looking forward to a loud and sticky saturday afternoon that I knew Lily would enjoy...for the most part.  When we got there, the mother of the birthday girl gave the kids a cup of tokens each so they could play all the games, which was awesome.

Lily had a great time and loved running around trying different rides and games with her friends.  Watching her and her BFF crack up over a game of air hockey they played together was pretty much the highlight of my day.  All was well until we were called to the "stage" area with all the other birthday parties.  All of the birthday parties being held on any given day experience the events and shows at the same time, so we were surrounded by parties on both sides (a total of 5 birthday parties were going on at the same time, in the same space, with the same mouse).  Each party was assigned a staff member who told them the appropriate times to yell and cheer and bang on the table, as this was all a choreographed contest of sorts to see which group could get the loudest.  Since all 5 parties were squished together at long banquet style tables side by side, there wasn't much room for me to stay near Lily.

 I didn't want to get my nearly 6 feet of height between approximately 50 screaming children (in a screaming CONTEST, don't forget)  and the mouse on stage that they're all trying to see, so I tried to move to the back a bit with the other dazed parents who didn't really seem to know where to go either.  I could see Lily from where I was, and she seemed to be having fun with her friends.


I walked away for approximately 90 seconds, that's it, just 90 seconds.... it couldn't have taken any longer than that for me to excuse me, sorry...excuse me...pardon me..oh...sorry, excuse me, can I just squeeze by...excuse me... my way to the soda fountains for a diet coke.  In that time, the giant mechanical animals on stage started their rock concert, the giant mouse ran out (Pardon me, "Chuck E." ran out), the screaming contest reached volumes indescribable and Lily lost her sh*t.

When I left she was smiling, laughing with her friends and happily eating pizza.  When I turned back, my hands full of diet coke, a cup of tokens and the tickets Lily had proudly earned playing games, I scanned the crowd and found her:  red faced, tears streaming, greasy pizza hands firmly clamped over her ears and she's screaming for me.  Of course I can't hear her over the rousing: ...."when I say happy, you say birthday, happy....BIRTHDAY...happy ...BIRTHDAY -- LOUDER! LOUDER!!!!!"  I rushed back to her table and again proceeded to excuse me...sorry, can I just scooch past...excuse me, can I...thank you...sorry...excuse me.... until I could get to her.  "MAMAAAAAAAAA!!!" she's screaming the entire time.  So, I finally get to her and attempt to sandwich my body between her chair and the chair of the kid at the party one table over, who is of course pushed all the way out and up to the back of Lily's chair.  I try to get him to move, to no avail as he's too busy screaming "BIRTHDAY!" at the top of his lungs (as he's been instructed to do), so I squish myself in as best as I can and hold onto Lily to calm her down.  The singing and screaming reaches a fever pitch, as does Lily's crying (though no one can hear her, of course -- so, at least she didn't interrupt the show)

 And after the climax of 5 birthday parties singing and screaming in unison, the volume comes down a little bit.  Cake is served,  Lily calms down, order is restored.    She returns to the games, excitedly watches her BFF stand inside the "Ticket Blaster" (kinda like a money machine from old game shows)

and then she runs around and plays some more.  Tony and JD arrive to pick us up, and we let JD run around a bit.  Then the ticket chomper digests Lily's tickets, gives her the total and she proceeds to the counter of treasures to pick out a purple plastic peace sign necklace.  We thank the birthday girl's parents, say good bye to Lily's friends, stumble out to the parking lot and I immediately direct Tony across the street to the Bottle King, which I can only imagine does amazing business on Saturdays at 2:00, when the birthday parties let out.

We did it, lo hicimos, we did it.

That said, and a bottle of well-deserved pinot grigio later, there was a tiny (crazy) part of me that decided I can't wait to go back.  With the exception of Lily's hysterical tantrum, she had a really really good time.  She loved running around with her friends and was laughing hysterically a lot more than she was crying hysterically and I suppose there are days where that's what you shoot for!  Also, any place where we can let JD run around and get his manic bursts of energy out is a good place to be, although, even he was a little dazed after only being there only a short time.

And of course, even though she screamed and cried and has a hard time with really loud noises that scare her and hurt her ears, Lily has already told me that she knows 100% and "absolooopsly" where she wants to have her next birthday party.

So, if you ever read my post "I Lost My Mind at Party City", you'll know I tend to go a bit overboard with party favors.  And this shall be no exception.  I've already started working on party favors for the parents at Lily's next party....

Whatcha think??

Chapter 25 - Happy Sue Year

With 25 Days of Ridiculous Things I See In Holiday Catalogs, I got away from my chapters of rambling.  -- but, now I'm back to it with Chapter 25.....Happy Sue Year

So, 17 days in and I’m ready to start rambling about New Year’s.... I know it's a new year because ever since the clock struck 2013, I cannot get a parking spot at my kids’ daycare.  Reason being that the daycare shares a parking lot with a gym.  I’m sure in the next few weeks this will taper off and the parking lot won’t be so crowded.  And while these gym-joining folks are sweating away at their new resolution, I've got one of my own, a mantle of a new philosophy which just draped itself over my shoulders this past weekend, and will hopefully reside there longer than my fellow parking companions  reside at the gym.

Last weekend I took my kids to visit my sister’s home.  She and her fiancé (yay!) recently moved to a beautiful place, in the middle of no where, PA 

CHICKENS!

.... and we all had a lovely visit. 

Anyway, while driving back home late Sunday afternoon I was almost in a car accident on 287 South about a mile before the Parkway South exit.  Some moron missed his exit and decided to slam on his brakes two lanes over from the exit lane and come to a dead stop.  Cars swerved around him on both sides, and just as I was about to do the same (swerve around him on the right), he decided he would make a hard right turn and just drive over to the exit ramp he had just passed.   I was already braking as I was trying to go around him, but I had been doing about 65 and there was no way I would be able to come to a complete stop in time.  Both my kids were asleep in their carseats in the back.  If someone had told me prior to that moment that this was going to happen, I would assume panic on my part, but surprisingly I had a very odd moment of calm…This thought went through my mind:  I am going to hit this car, and its going to be bad, but the kids and I are going to be okay.  Well I feel very fortunate to say that the moron turned just enough and I swerved just enough and I missed him by what I’m guessing were just inches, I don’t even know.  As I replay it in my head, I’m still not quite sure how it is that I didn't hit him, as his car was pretty much perpendicular to mine in my lane.  In the moments afterwards, I felt kind of sick and jumpy, I guess it was from a mixture of adrenaline, fear and anger at what had just happened and how my babies were in danger because of some careless idiot.  I was shaken up for a while, and then the calm came back and I just felt overwhelming gratitude.  I had a feeling of so much thankfulness that we were all okay, I don’t even think I can describe it.  All of us experience near misses of things like this all the time, so I’m not sure why this particular moment brought it out, but I haven’t been able to shake it.  I'm now left feeling super grateful about everything.  I feel grateful when I wake up in the morning and when I put my kids to bed at night and everything in between.   I can’t really explain it and as simple as it may be, it feels really good and I want to keep it wrapped around me as long as I can. 

When JD's crying wakes me up in the middle of the night, I don’t feel frustrated that I’m not getting a good night’s sleep, I remember to feel blessed that my baby is healthy and can breathe and cry and make wonderful sounds.  When Lily has a temper tantrum and hits volumes and squeals that only a 4 year old girl can, I don’t lose my patience and wonder why I have to deal with this all alone, I thank God that my daughter is so stubborn and smart that she can actually make an intelligent argument for whatever crazy thing it is she’s getting upset about.  When I want to cry because I’m so tired while Tony is away again on business and I’m taking care of everything all by myself, instead I feel gratitude that we both have good jobs, that we’re able to support our family, that I’m not a single parent ALL of the time and most of all that I have a home and children that need taking care of, that I’m tired for the most delightful of reasons.

So okay, this may sound annoying sappy and I promise to get back to making fun of myself and the outside world in my next post....I’m sure this shiny happy feeling will wear off a little and there will be many times where I lose my mind at the drop of a hat  (hell, it’s only Thursday – and this near accident happened just a few days ago)  I will become frustrated and angry and get upset about stupid things, but isn't it worth a try to follow up those moments with a reminder of thankfulness, of gratitude, of holy-shite folks, we're really really lucky people, you know? Please be thankful for what you have, be grateful for the moments that you’re in, be happy about the amazing things and people that are around you.

2012 was a year of blessings and tragedy, a year of growth and regression, a year of moving forward and a year of getting pushed around, but we all need to remember that we have so very much to be thankful for and that life is really too short to get wrapped up in the petty arguments and the stupid complaints.  Get over it and be grateful for this moment, for right now.  Sometimes this ride is thrilling and sometimes it makes you sick, but man are you lucky that you’re on it.  Just what the hell is it that everyone is so angry about?  Go thank someone for something.  Call your Mom, kiss your wife, tickle a baby, go buy an eclair.  Get over yourself.  If you believe in God, thank her for this day! - If you don't, thank your lucky stars or whatever higher power brings you blessings.  Go to sleep tonight happier than when you woke up regardless of what happens to you today because deep down in your heart, you know that no matter what your day was like, someone had it worse and you have A LOT to be thankful for.

You are blessed!

-- Happy New Year!