Advent Day 20: Chuck E. Cheese

Today I took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.

I have been talking up today's surprise for a week. I told the kids that on Monday, we were going to do something REALLY COOL and REALLY EXCITING and they would start to giggle and Lucy would always ask, “What is it? WHAT IS IT?” And I'd tell them they could guess and they always guessed that we were getting a new cat or a new dog. Sorry, kids. Take your expectations down a notch or two or SIX HUNDRED. I swear, Lucy was already NAMING this new “baby kitty cat” she'd decided we were getting.

Admittedly, getting them worked up about Chuck E. Cheese was a big risk on my part. I can't remember if I wrote about it here, but nine or so months ago I suggested that we go to Chuck E. Cheese and Asher was clearly very anxious about the idea. I tried to explain what it was like and how fun it was for kids and his response was, “Maybe I could just look in the window.” So just before he opened his Advent envelope this morning, I said to Dave, “I'll bet you a hundred dollars that he doesn't want to go.”

Sure enough, after Asher opened the envelope and handed me the little slip of paper inside and I told him what it said, his response was, “Oh no.” But we got on the computer and watched a few videos and checked out the Chuck E. Cheese website and he seemed like he was warming to the idea. It helped that we were meeting one of his favorite friends and her mom (one of MY favorite friends) there, and he was really excited to see them. (Well, as excited as he tends to get.)

Chuck E. Cheese turned out to be a pretty big hit. The place was deserted, for the most part, and we never had to wait for games or rides and none of the kids had any concept of competition or tickets and we used a LOT of hand sanitizer and the whole thing was pretty fun to be a part of. It's not like we're going back every week or anything, but I'd totally do it again on a weekday morning. You couldn't pay me enough money to take my kids there on a weekend night. NO THANK YOU.

Asher's favorite was air hockey:

 

While Lucy favored this horse racing game:

 

We spent all our tokens and then sat down for a pizza lunch and exchanged Christmas gifts with our friends. Then Asher decided he wanted to climb through the play structure that ran around the ceiling. He didn't want to go alone, but Lucy and Kate are still too short to climb up the ladder that leads to the tubes, so we finally convinced Asher that he would be okay to go by himself. And he did! Except then (SIGH) he couldn't figure out a way to get down and ended up crying hysterically with his face pressed against one of the little windows that faced our table and I had to climb up inside the play structure and rescue him. Turned out that he did know how to get down, but the slide he was supposed to use was too dark and he was scared. When we got in the car to go home he assured me that, “Next time if I decide to go into the tubes, I won't go down the dark slide, I'll just go back out the way I went in.”

I mean, you guys, I know those play structures are designed to hold HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF POUNDS, but as I was climbing up there I was picturing the whole thing collapsing and the caption on the local news that read, “Woman JUST TOO FREAKING HEAVY; Collapses Play Structure on Poor Innocent Children and One Giant Animatronic Rat.”

Comments

[lindsay]

Very cute videos. You have done wonders to positively improve what I imagined a trip to CHuck E Cheese is like.

[HereWeGoAJen]

Elizabeth has not yet figured out that the ceiling tubes are up there. Because I totally know I would have to go up there to rescue her, so I haven't showed them to her yet. Ours seems to have little emergency hatches in it though, I've always wondered if they have a ladder somewhere for rescues.

[Carrie]

Oh my gosh, I totally had to climb up and rescue my son a few weeks ago and it was horrible! I'm pregnant and feeling enormous. And those tubes and ladders are just not made for adults. Congrats on making it out alive!

I don't comment much, but I've been reading your blog for years (since I was pregnant with my first and googled a hospital bag packing list - I then proceeded to waste my last few weeks of work going back and reading your entire blog!). Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm glad you are back to regular posting and I've really enjoyed reading about all of your fun Christmas activities.

[Life of a Doctor's Wife]

I would be terrified too, poor Asher! But at least he is not deterred from trying it again! Good for him!

[Jennie]

I used to work at Chuck E Cheese and had to climb into those tubes often to clean the little windows. Or hide out from my creepy boss. Either or.

Why I have not blogged about my time there is beyond me.

[jana]

glad to know I'm not the only one who has climbed through play equipment to resuce a child... or because it's funny.

[auntie]

Very cute videos! Lucy looks more like a Little Girl than a baby when she's on that horse - must be the birthday!

Also, the thought of Asher saying that he'd just look in the window at the Chuck E. Cheese is so precious...what a sweet boy!

[Kristin]

I should have known better. The first time I took Kyleigh to a place with the tubes all I could think of was how much fun she'd have. Fast-forward 40 minutes and here is the scene: My three-year-old crying hysterically in the highest tube, me on the ground FREAKING out at the prospect of having to go rescue her (confined spaces+me=panic attack)and after about 10 minutes of me trying to coax her down and her screaming "Mommy! WHY won't you come and get me?!" a kindly little grandma (no seriously, she wasn't a day under 75) took pity on me and climbed her elderly butt up into that playland to rescue my child. Lesson learned...

[nonsoccermom]

HahahahahahaHAHAHA!! I laugh because I, too, have been the woman in the play structure. Our sons would get along swimmingly.