Monday, January 29, 2007

Chuck E Cheese and Tiny Thieves

My oldest (or is it eldest?...whatever) Sweet Boy turned 4 on Saturday. Stephen wanted a VeggieTales birthday party at Chuck E Cheese and that's just what he got. I first thought the whole thing was kind of expensive ($11 per child plus tax), but I think if any of the kids want to do that again, we definitely will. With what we paid for for the Chuck E Cheese party, I could have bought food, utensils, paper plates, decorations and goody bags. And THEN I would have had to clean my house to the "party standard" and then put my house back together after 11 children partied. For some reason, it has rained or been bitterly cold and windy on every birthday Stephen has had so we've always had indoor parties and it takes me several days to put everything back in order.

Anyway, we all had a great time at CEC. It was crowded and I don't really like other people's children all that much (more on that next paragraph), but thankfully, Sweet Hubby enjoys this kind of thing with the boys. So he played with them and followed them around with their little cups of tokens and tickets while I got to sit and chat with my family and feed Marc-Adam.

So, I used to feel guilty about not liking other people's children. I thought that there must be something not human about me that I didn't adore all children. But after an afternoon at "the place where all obnoxious and snot-nosed children go to play", I don't feel so bad. A little while after our festivities were underway, I noticed this tiny little girl wander up to one of our tables. I thought she might be lost so I kept an eye on her for a few seconds so I could step in if she got upset. She looked around a few times and just as I was about to approach her, she stepped right up to the table where Stephen's wrapped presents were, took one off the table and ran. RAN! Never looking back! I bolted after her (later realizing that I left poor little Zachary all by himself...what is wrong with my instincts?) yelling things like "HEY!" and "Stop that girl!!" My bewildered family only saw me go by in a flash and had no idea what had happened. I finally caught up to her. Her tiny little legs were no match for my Mama Bear sprint. I snatched gently took the present from her and told her that it wasn't hers and that it wasn't nice to take things that didn't belong to her.

All that excitement was going on while Sweet Hubby was in the bathroom with Stephen. Sweet Hubby said that a six-ish year old came up behind them while they were washing their hands and told them to "hurry up". That snotty kid's dad didn't say a word about it! Seriously, I would tan my child's hide and all fun for that day would end as soon as those words were out of his mouth.

I love my kids' birthdays and we had a great time, but can I just say I'm glad we don't have another birthday in this house for 9 more months!

5 comments:

mamashine said...

That is insane! And where was her mother?

I like other people's children if I know the other people. I'm with you about strangers who aren't raising their kids in a fashion I agree with.

LaughterThoughts said...

our kids absolutely LOVE chuckie's, but unfortunately, for the time being, it has been banned from our household. much to the disappointment of the oldest four who would like to go for all birthdays (mine and husband's included). the kids' bdays fall nov, jan, feb, mar, and mar. so they're all really close together. anyways, back to the original point. i kid you not, every time we go to c.e.c. we end up with a nasty pukey stomach bug in the house. and i know it's because B#4 is always popping that stinkin' thumb in her mouth! ...and because chuckie's is a major nasty germ factory-- because of all those nasty snotty nosed icky ick kiddos that run amuck in such a confined space! as much as i despise mopping up the nasties that come with "the bug" it does make me feel bad that the kids can't go to c.e.c. anymore... that is, until daddy has forgotten why he banned it. (the ban has been threatened before but was enforced this time because daddy got sick, too!)

Alli said...

Yes, Kelli, I do (generally) mean the kids of people I don't know. Sometimes it's kids of people I DO know but only when, as you said, they are raising them in a way I don't agree with. Your sweet girl and the sweet children of your sister are in no way included in my dislike of other children. ;)

And I try not to do the CEC thing too often because of the risk of germs. And I think Stephen and M-A might be coming down with something. This is only the third time Stephen has been and the second Zachary has been. They've not gotten sick before....here's hoping we stay that lucky!

KatieBug said...

Happy Birthday to Stephen! We get sick every time we go to CEC too. The last 3 times we went we were puking for days. So we don't go on Saturdays and I chase them around with hand sanitizer like a crazy woman. I went with some ladies one time that went in sat at a table and did not even look at thier kids for like 2 hours! And they were 2 and 3 at the time! The moms said the door is guarded they can't get in to much trouble. I don't like other kids moms sometimes!

mamashine said...

Sad and pathetic...
Gillian has never been to CEC. So far nobody we know has had a party there and I'm holding out as long as possible.