A few weeks ago we got an E-vite for a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheeses for a friend of mine's little girl. I get along really well with the woman, our parenting styles are very similar, and I have a feeling that even if we didn't have kids, we would be friends anyway. (when I entered into mommy-hood, I found it was pretty damn difficult to find friends that (a). Their kid's weren't little assholes that I couldn't stand (b) Their parenting style didn't just totally sucked (c.) I ACTUALLY genuinely liked the other person.) This woman is the tri-fecta of mommy friends, so when I got the e-vite, I knew that we HAD to go. I really only have a small handful of good friends that I really like up here in Canada, so I knew that I couldn't blow off her sweet little girls birthday party. Before the party, I hadn't been to Chuck-E-Cheeses in YEARS, and I can't say that I had great experiences.. and that was pre-kids. The though of taking my kids (by myself) to a busy child arcade, full of germs, and bratty kids who's parents aren't paying attention to them did NOT sound like a fun way to spend my Monday morning, but as I said, we really HAD to go.
Today was the big day. Last night little man was so amped up and excited to go he could barely go to sleep. This morning, he was tootin a whole different horn. He didn't want to get changed this morning, we came downstairs and he didn't want to eat, he didn't want to put his shoes on, he told me he didn't want to go, he just wanted to stay home and sleep on the sofa. WHAT?!? Daily I beg, bribe, and plead with little man to take a nap, and today of all days, he tells me he doesn't want to go play with kids, he wants to stay home and sleep! And to top it off, little lady decided that today, of all days, she was going to take a long nap. (she is usually good for 40 minutes, but today she was sleeping over an hour before I said.. shit, I gotta go wake up the bear)... By the time I got them both up and ready, tear and snot free, it was 11am... the party had already started and we still hadn't left the house. If this girl wasn't such a rare find in the mommy friend world, I would have said f-it.. were going to call out sick, but I didn't, we got in the car and we left. We finally got there around 11:30, and thank GOD little man changed his mind about the whole thing when we got there. As soon as he saw the blinking lights, and huge assortment of games he was IN. And little lady, bless her little soul, was so well behaved the whole time. She just hung out in my moby wrap the whole time, happy to be there watching her big brother enjoying the games.
The party went really really smoothly for having a room full of three year olds. I only wanted to smack a little kid once! And that was a little boy who was sitting next to little man, he apparently didn't want to sit there and screamed at his mom "I do NOT Want to sit next to THIS boy!"... I don't think that her and I could be friends in mommy world... her kid was an asshole, and she was a pushover. (of course he could actually be a really sweet kid that was having a rough moment, and she could have just been exhausted because, well toddlers are f*cking exhausting!)
Little man even told me he had to go potty 3 times while we were there! A few weeks ago and he would have just pissed his pants! The whole thing was going great.... then it was time to go. Moment of truth. I am always, without a doubt, inevitably the mom carrying out the screaming toddler because he is not ready to go. I told little man to gather his things, it was time to go, so what does he do? He takes off his shoes.. and goes and sits next to the birthday girl. At this point, everyone else had left, and my friend, her husband, her sister, parents and their 5 month old were just trying to get the hell out of there. And who was holding them up? My little man, shoes off, giggling away with their daughter, who also did not want to leave because she had company. I tried the whole "OK, we are going to leave you here." And my friend chimes in with "Mommy is going to leave, you are going to have to come stay at my house."... Without missing a beat he replies "OK. Wait, Do you have a potty at your house?".. she says "yes, we have a potty"... "Ok", he looks at me"Bye mommy" My friend looks at me, desperate to go home, I am equally as desperate... little lady had been up for 3 hours (she is usually only good for 2), and was strapped to my chest like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. So again I BEG little man "Can was PLEASE put shoes and coat on and go home." He just looks at me and smile.. he knows he is winning... I have little lady strapped to me, I can not physically pick him up over my shoulder and drag his little ass out kicking and screaming like usual. My friend, as a last effort says "what if I help you with your coat, then will you go home with mommy?" We look at each other, look at him, hoping and praying we don't have a scene on our hands... "OK, lets go home." PHEW.. Crisis averted!
Chuck-E-Cheese... today you were alright in my book... maybe.. just maybe we will return.
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