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??