Saturday, April 18, 2009

Lord help me.

I don't know what shocks me more. The fact that ...

~ Ella's ticker at the bottom of the page says she is "4 years, 11 months, 3 weeks & 5 days old." ~
~*~ or ~*~
~ Her birthday party today is being held at Chuck E Cheese. ~

Wow. My firstborn is almost 5. More on that next week on her actual birthday. But today I'll will speak of the evil's of Chuck E. Cheese.

I fully planned on never telling my children of this place. I figured they would never want to go there if they didn't know it existed. Great plan! But I forgot about commercials. And how commercials somehow ingrain themselves on the brains of children.

(This is the part where the holier-than-thou non t.v. watchers can gloat and do their little dance of "well MY children don't watch tv." But we're tv watchers. And although the children usually watch movies, tv is a necessary evil for us. You try working from home with one, much less three children! If I sound defensive, it's because I am - even though I shouldn't be. I don't know why this topic bugs me so much. Nor do I know why many non tv watchers are SO damned smug about it. But anywho ... )

So. While Ella runs to tell me I need to "call now!" to buy the wonder hangers or one of the other 18 bajillion products hawked on television, she knows all about Chuck E Cheese. And my wallet will soon know of Chuck E Cheese. It's expensive! $15.99/child and that does not include any food or drinks for the adults. 11 children have replied "yes" to the invite so that's $176 for the kids alone! I haven't even thought of how much it will be to buy lunch for the 16 or so adults.

Chuck E Cheese can suck it. (after my daughter has a ~wonderful~ birthday though). Do they serve beer? ~wink~

28 comments:

Jules said...

Happy Birthday fun to Ella! Sorry we are missing it :( I didn't even tell the girls, what they don't know won't hurt them, right? Have a great time!

Oh - and I can't believe you let your kids watch tv *gasp*. Our kids NEVER watch the boob tube, lol!

Anonymous said...

i think they do sell beer... I mean they have pizza and you need beer to go with the pizza right? other then that, I have been to the big cheese only once and I'll never go back. It is almost the same as Circus Circus in Vegas... lots of kids and oblivious parents. :)

I hope you had fun!

Christina said...

Well I hope that Ella had fun at her party. I plan on never telling our child of that place, luckily we don't have one in our city. The closes one is in a horrible neighborhood so we'll never go.

Simply AnonyMom said...

I do not know if it is state by state, but all the CEC in Wa do serve beer (and wine) from tap.

As for food for the adults, once they see the food I doubt they will want to eat any!!

Good Luck and have fun (or at least try to)

Shea said...

Good luck Nancy! We did Chuck E Cheese once, I emphasize the once!

Some other fun places to have parties are: Cottonwood Park's Aquatic Center, Pump It Up, and Artsports. Pump It Up is expensive but the other two are pretty affordable and the kids have a blast!

Anonymous said...

That's the only saving grace about CEC... the beer! Happy birthday Miss Ella!

jenn said...

Wow! Happy birthday to your big girl!

And good luck with the hellhole... umm- I mean Chuck-e-cheese!

Michelle said...

Ours totally serves beer. My daughter had her 5th birthday party there... I think my ears are still ringing.

Anonymous said...

Wow...you are a brave woman. I H.A.T.E. Chuck E. Cheese!!!! Of course Brigid is begging to have her next party there as she too has seen the commericals! ugh. We have her 5th bday party in a few weeks but luckily I had already booked it at MyGym before she started asking for Chuck E.!!! Whew! I'm sure Ella had a blast. Hope you got a beer! :)
Heather

chicklet said...

Holy good gawd I hope they sell beer for you. At least you can be half corked - you know, like a responsible parent - when you pay that bill.

Jennifer said...

I haven't been to CEC since I was little and it was fun. The concept does not sound fun now!

My 18 month old LOVES cartoons...is that bad? When she wakes up I bring her to our bed and let her watch cartoons and snuggle with her. She probably watches way to much (since I let her watch other times too) especially for her age.

areyoukiddingme said...

We went to Chuck E's once for my nephew's birthday. It was 3 kids and 5 adults, and I believe that was the proper ratio. Good luck with the party, and I also believe they serve beer. Check for coupons - we had some in our junk mail this week.

areyoukiddingme said...

Also, I hope Ella has a fantastic 5th birthday!

Sarah said...

UGH. Chuck E Cheese. I recently turned down an "invite" there.

The pizza is actually good...it's the dreaded ball pit I fear. *shudder*

Sarah said...

Oh, and happy birthday, Ella! ;)

Niki said...

oh yes, they serve alcohol...I almost died when I read this article quite awhile back
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29189489.html

I live just far enough away from Milwaukee that I'm hoping by the time my daughter is old enough they will all be closed. That place reeks like feet from what I recall hah. Have fun.

Jen said...

I can't stand smug people. I survived the TV...I'm sure Jillian will too.

What a sweet mom you are to stand the evils of that big-ass mouse for Ella. How on earth can she be turning 5???

Tara said...

Your last line was going to be my comment here... Do they serve booze? And if not (yeah, yeah I know they don't) then you should seriously stock the bar for when you get home. But maybe not beer because by that time beer won't work fast enough. You're going to need some hard liquor. Maybe moonshine.

I wish you good luck, my friend.

(And happy birthday to Ella!)

Charlotte said...

I. HATE. THAT. PLACE. Enough said.

jill said...

Yikes! Good luck :) and Happy Birthday to Ella!

Beautiful Mess said...

ACK! I dislike Chuck! Although, the kids love it there *sigh* Good luck!

Traci said...

I hope you had fun. Peyton celebrated his birthday this weekend and I always think of your Ella during this time since they are the same age. =) We rented a bouncy house again this year $150 for 8 whopping hours! 1 1/2 of those hours were filled with about 10 preschoolers running around in the backyard. It was fun. =)

Morgan Owens said...

bwahaha *laughs and points finger at you*...just kidding. Goodluck, thats all I can say. LOL! You'll need it.

Happy Birthday Ella!!

Anonymous said...

5 is such a big one isn't it? TBB turned 5 last week, and wow, how in the world did that happen?

He kept asking for the Spongebob bowling party he saw on tv.

Michelle said...

How did the party go? Isn't it hard to believe that the kids are going to be (or in my case is)Five this year! This time just has flown but they are healthy and beautiful. Hope you were able to get through the party.

We'd be lost without the tv here too...got to have some insanity sometimes!

Heather said...

Happy birthday to Ella!!! Hope it's great. I'm sure it will be as my daughter would love me if we had her birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's. We're lucky that the nearest one is far enough away to be considered too far for her to have as a place that people from our area would go to for a party. At least that's what I tell her....

JW Moxie said...

Hope you guys had a great time! I'm probably a glutton for punishment, but I still like Chuck E. Cheese (though I personally prefer the old name of Showbiz Pizza). Dave & Busters is way cooler, though. Do you guys have those out there?

ICLW#10

PS: When are you coming to visit? I will nag until you get here. :)

Anonymous said...

Yes, they do serve beer! Well ours in Oregon do anyway :-)

~Leslie