When Sam told me he wanted to have his birthday party at Chuck E Cheese this year, I grimaced and tried to tempt him with Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells. After all, I had managed to avoid having to attend any parties at Chuck E. Cheese, and all of my friends' statements about overly sweet pizza sauce and the smell of urine and out-of-control noise didn't really ever make me think I was missing out. I had dropped Sam and Eva there a couple of times but the dinging of the arcade games and the long lines to pick up the prizes with all the tickets they earned had left me sure that I would never actually have my own child's party there.
"You don't want to bring some friends to Great Wolf Lodge?" I spoke to the rearview mirror. "Remember how much fun that was? I thought you wanted to bring just a few friends and have birthday weekend like last year?"
"But I have too many friends," he said. "And I can't pick. How many people can I invite if I have a party at Chuck E. Cheese?"
Not knowing how the whole thing worked I told him 10 or 15 depending on what it costs, and he set about making his list. His best best best friends from St. Mary's that he misses all the time because they now go to St. Stan's and he's in public school. His new buddies from The Y after school program. All the new friends he's making in first grade. Kids from the neighborhood. How could he narrow it down to just 3 for a weekend at a water park?
He made his list. We sent invites to all 11 boys in his first grade classroom and I emailed all the moms from St. Stan's, the moms who have been our community since the kids all went to preschool together. A few invites by text or facebook to moms I don't know well, and we ended up with 19 yesses. Add a 4-year-old sister and a couple of friends to keep her company, and you've got yourself a big party.
And you really are going to hear me saying this: Chuck E. Cheese was an awesome choice. The fact that they have security up front and kids can't get out without the adult that let them in was a godsend. It allowed me to let the kids go and run and play and just be kids without me freaking out about having them in control and accounted for. And we had a party coordinator who handled the timing and the pizza and the drinks and the buckets of coins and the ticket blaster machine. ("Come on Sam. You can do it. We believe in you," the boys were saying as he put on the goggles and crawled in the booth to try to catch as many tickets as he could.) And I got to briefly meet parents that I didn't already know and quickly touch base with friends I've known for years. And the kids had fun! All 19 of them.
A few kids didn't want anything to do with Chuck E so they hung back with the Moms, but here are all the crazy ones who rocked out with Chuck.
Pokémon Cake
Eva's Favorite
Sam's Best Girl Friend
Ticket Blaster
2 comments:
I cringe at the thought of these kind of parties but they make our kids so happy. It's hard to compete with that. Really, really hard.
Glad it was fun. I also didn't like Chucky Cheese much but the kids' do. Sam's best girl friend looks like she is a tom boy. :) Adorable.
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