I Never Thought I’d See the Day

The boys and I spent the afternoon at a popular kids’ locale.  You know, the one with the giant singing rat, the second rate pizza, and the large assortment of video games that eat tokens like a mouse eats cheese.   

Yup, you got it.  That’s the one!

Chuck E. Cheese’s would normally be the last place I would choose to spend an afternoon.  I actually pride myself in having successfully avoided the place for the first thirty-four years of my life.  The boys had no knowledge of Chuck E. Cheese, good or bad, until that fateful day five years ago when Ryan’s very best friend celebrated her fourth birthday with the giant rat, and my boys were hooked.

There is a Chuck E. Cheese’s near our home, one we drive by frequently, and lately Ryan and Connor have been begging to be allowed to spend an afternoon playing Chuck E.’s games, even if they can’t eat the pizza.  And so this week, I decided to surprise the boys with a visit to see their old whiskered friend.  

Today after our co-op, we headed to Chuck E.’s place.  We arrived around 1:15pm.  There were two other families in the building, both with preschoolers.  It was quiet, and there were no lines for any of the games.  The boys had 25 tokens each.  They played for two and a half hours!  They played games on their own, and cooperatively.  Ryan shared his tokens with his brother when Connor’s ran out.  They had a blast, just the two of them.  And as they played, I read sixteen chapters in a lovely book, one I’ll be sharing with you on Monday.  At the end of their time, the boys combined the tickets they earned and purchased a Battleship game.  You see, if you get enough tickets, there are actually some good prizes at Chuck E.’s place, and together, Ryan and Connor had enough tickets for what turned out to be a fun game for them both.  They played that game,  both as it was intended to be played and in their own imaginative way, for over an hour this evening.

All in all, the boys… and I… had a wonderful afternoon, and that’s something I never thought I’d say about an afternoon spent at Chuck E. Cheese’s.  The boys are already asking when we can go spend the afternoon with Chuck E. again, and while I don’t anticipate this being a weekly, or even monthly event, I am not likely to be quite as resistant to visiting with Chuck E. during non-peak hours in the future.  

Tokens purchased at a great sale price, no extra money laid out for food,  two hours of cooperative playtime for the boys, and some peaceful Mom-time for myself…   I never thought I’d see the day… but today, our trip to Chuck E. Cheese’s was indeed… priceless.