A Dad Can Be A Kid!

Today is Charlie's friend Jackson's birthday. Jackson invited us to join him at Chuck E Cheese's. We accepted the invite and joined the party. I have not been to CEC since I was a child and my last memory of that place was a dark, loud, smelly one.

The CEC in our area has been recently remodeled. The exterior looks nice and clean, but I had my doubts about the interior. It is not easy to keep a building filled with wild children new and shiny for an extended period of time. Food, snot, drool, juice, milk and who knows what else gets plastered on handles, the floor, walls and tables. 

We arrived at CEC and I prepared myself for what I was sure to be a crazy experience. We opened the door and made our way to hostess podium where we were promptly stamped with invisible numbers. I was quite impressed that they took extra measures to protect our child from theft. He is a desirable child if I might say so myself. My first impression was a good one. Everything looked clean and neatly arranged. The building was well lit and open.

We met up with Jack and wished him a happy birthday. He was excited to see us as usual. Charlie was drawn to the animatronics performing on the stage. He bypassed lunch and went straight to fun time. What the heck, it's Jack's birthday.

Charlie took his typical five minute observation break and made himself aware of his surroundings. We strolled over to the area designated for token rides. Charlie immediately fell in love with the Bob The Builder bulldozer ride. The only catch was that he did not want it to move. 

He ran around getting more excited with every ring of a bell and flash of a light. He could not focus on one game or ride. Charlie wanted to do everything all at once. How was I supposed to win any tickets if the boy would not stay with me for 30 seconds without finding something new to advert his attention.

At some point between the bulldozer and the ball popper game I caught the ticket itch. I had to win! Tickets, tickets, tickets! I could not get enough. 5 here. 8 there. I was going to be the ticket champ. I played hard to win as many as I could. I got mad when I saw 7 year olds with armfuls of tickets running around like they were so cool. "Oh, you are so awesome kid. Now watch me whack-a-mole. Wham, wham, wham! You're a winner! Here are your two tickets!

I blew through $12, worked up a sweat and challenged a few 5 year olds to water gun races and only won 127 tickets. Actually I only won 98. I grabbed the other 29 out of machines that kids walked away from. "Pay attention kid. You snooze, you lose."

Now came the moment I had worked so hard for, Cash-in. I strutted my way to the counter with the boy by my side. We were about to show them who was boss. Our eyes widened at the sight of all of the amazing prizes. Our heads lowered as we were reduced to the lower levels of prize bins. Sorry Charlie. Daddy failed you this time. Luckily Charlie was absolutely thrilled with his 50 cent slinky, 25 cent spoon, 5 cent stickers and 7 cent whistle. 

Chuck got me this time, but the time with my family and friends was well worth it.