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Friday, December 07, 2007

Scary Mouse, Scary Ride, and Scary Photo

When I was in first grade, I really wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Everyone talked about how much fun it was. It was the "in" place to go. After completing a summer reading program at the library and winning a gold foil chocolate medal (it was the summer Olympics), a friend's parents suggested that we all go to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate. I was beyond excited. When we pulled into the lot, I tossed my chocolate medal in the back seat and dashed through the front door. I thought it was fabulous. When I returned to the car, I found that my medal had melted, but I felt it was worth it for the thrill of Chuck E. Cheese.

Yesterday my older son (OS) attended a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. I was ecstatic to have the excuse to go to Chuck E. Cheese OS had never been to Chuck E. Cheese before, but once I said the three magic words "birthday," "party," and "pizza" he could hardly wait.

We walked into Chuck E. Cheese, and it wasn't anything like I remembered it to be. Of course the one I went to was in Chicago, but even still, this looked really different. There were a ton of games and rides which the kids were thrilled to play. There was a seriously creepy animatronics band on stage which some of the kids, including OS...alright and I...didn't like. (Imagine the Disney Country Bear Jamboree musicians on pot.) If you're not in the know, Chuck is a mouse. He actually comes and greets the birthday boy and his guests. OS was not impressed. In fact, the closer Chuck came to him, the close OS edged over to me. I was pleased with OS's good instincts. I hovered over my younger son (YS) when Chuck approached, since Santa had brought him to hysterics over the weekend. I was prepared to wrap him in a big hug at a moment's notice. Much to my surprise, he loved the mouse. In fact, YS wanted to rub his pizza covered fingers all over Chuck's pudgy cheeks. Go figure!

After eating some not-so-great pizza, which the kids absolutely loved, we ventured out to play more games. I carefully steered clear of the most terrifying ride in the place. Was it a roller-coaster or super-spinning ride? No. It was a ride that took your child's photo while he was riding it. In my prior encounter with this terror-spawning device, I reached out for the piece of paper that it printed, and instead of seeing a cute photo of YS, I saw a not so cute but totally terrifying photo of my middle. Seriously, I think it's the worst picture I've ever had taken. Obviously pizza stains covered the "See what you look like when you're 9 months pregnant with your 4th child" label. The photo was so terrifying that two of my friends wouldn't let their son ride it because they were scared that their photos would be taken.

If I had a fireplace, this photo would have gone right into it. Yet, one more reason to want a fireplace! Instead, I have to look for a top secret location to hide this photo so that it can't be found and used as blackmail me some day. (No, Big Giraffe, the scanner is not a good "hiding place.") I considered putting it in my compost heap, but at the rate that it's breaking down, the picture would still be around 3 decades from now. On a positive note, when I caught a glimpse of myself in my swim suit at the crack of dawn this morning when I went swimming, I was genuinely pleased with how much better I looked than in the picture. Perhaps the mirrors have a "see what you look like if you keep working out" feature built in them.

After cake (regular and then ice cream) was eaten, they gave high school wall-colored cotton candy to the birthday boy (I'm thinking that there was something wrong with the dye?), who then opened his presents.

Of course the scariest moment of the evening belongs to the Big Giraffe. He came directly from work, so he did not arrive at the same time as the boys and I did. I left the party a few minutes before he did, and they almost didn't let him leave with the boys because he did not have the appropriate hand stamp. Apparently one of the employees took OS aside to have him vouch for the Big Giraffe. With a four year-old, it could have gone either way, particularly at 8pm in the evening of a nap-free day. Fortunately, OS chose that one time not to be silly, and they all made it home safely.

The boys had a blast! This morning OS was talking about how much fun he had. As for me? Well, given the chance, I would have much preferred to eat a gold foiled chocolate medal. And this time of year, it wouldn't have melted. Where's that Hanukkah gelt when I need it!

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Chuck E. Cheese is pretty scary

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posted by Alex Elliot @ 8:06 PM   4 comments
4 Comments:

  • At 12/08/2007 1:27 AM, Blogger Suzanne said…

    I thought we had Showbiz Pizza when we were kids, but maybe Chuck E Cheese came later. Eventually, they took over Showbiz, but I went there for Marc Rubinstein's birthday party in first or second grade and had the greatest time ever. Come to think of it, Marc Rubinstein also had a carnival game themed bar mitzvah. He had some good parties and was a nice guy to boot.

     

  • At 12/08/2007 10:41 AM, Blogger Kami said…

    I agree with you, the Chuck E's pizza is a close second to cardboard... we don't have the scary band but we have Giant Robot Chuck E. that strikes fear into all children who encounter him.

    Obviously these places are designed by people who either don't have small children or haven't had them for some time

    :-)

     

  • At 12/08/2007 11:31 AM, Blogger Whirlwind said…

    Chuck E. Cheese is the last place on earth I'd like to take my kids! We went to a party there last year and it was awful. Sure the kids had a blast, but I was completely overstimulated! That and Einey (the oldest) got discombobulated up in the overhead climber thing, luckily a friend led her to safety. And I had to climb up in the thing to grab Moe, who while not stuck, was insistent on getting up there(she was 2!)

     

  • At 12/08/2007 11:43 PM, Blogger Suzanne said…

    Sometimes I wonder if the other people who read this blog think that I am a total lunatic, as my comments never are in sync with anyone else's. Of course, this makes me laugh.

     
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Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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