A Trip to Chuck E. Cheese

Yesterday was President's Day. We had the day off work and daycare was closed so on Sunday we made plans to go to the Grove with another family. We told Jackson of our plans on Sunday night so he would have something to look forward to in the morning. He got excited, talking about the fountain (a smaller version of the one in front of Bellagio in Las Vegas), the trolley, and the various toy shops.

When we awoke on Monday morning the sky was dark and rain poured in torrents. Since the Grove is an outdoor shopping center, we knew there was no chance of going. We talked to the other family, canceling our original plans, and made an alternate plan to enjoy our family time at home. We ended up watching a movie together and taking a short post-nap walk around the block when the rain stopped.

But just when we were planning to get dinner ready, Jackson had a mini-meltdown. "I want to go to the Gwove! When are we going to the Gwove!" I was amazed that he remembered. We didn't mention a word about it once we canceled our plans. "I'm sorry," I told him, "we couldn't go because it was raining this morning. We'll go some other time." He was inconsolable. I realized that he had probably been waiting all day long to go to one of his favorite places. And I felt like this was a dilemma to work through. Ian and I have been wanting to let our no's be no's. We want to be clear with our boundaries and let him know that we can't be manipulated when it's important. But at the same time, we also want Jackson to understand that our yeses mean yes. We want him to know that our words can be trusted.

So Ian and I conferred for a moment and tried to think of a fun indoor place where we could grab a bite to eat. After running through a few options, I had an inspiration. Wasn't Chuck E. Cheese supposed to be heaven on earth for little kids? I didn't know. I had never been there. We did some online sleuthing and made a plan to head down to the nearest location, just 5.4 miles away.

I was a bit overwhelmed when we arrived. Kids everywhere. Games everywhere. Noise. Jackson was so incredibly happy. He ran from activity to activity, calling out to us to come and see what he had found. We ordered our food, got some game tokens, and followed Jackson around feeding tokens to whatever game caught his fancy.

When our dinner arrived we sat down and ate. Ian was looking contemplative, and Jackson's gaze was captured by the flashing lights and buzzing sounds all around us. Kiran was happily sucking her knuckles so I was alone with my thoughts. I couldn't believe I was there. I couldn't believe we just made up an impromptu plan to bring Jackson to a place that many families reserve for very special occasions.

Then Ian piped up. "Did you eat out much when you were a kid?" He was on the same train of thought I was. We both grew up experiencing some financially tough times. Both of us remember having mostly home-cooked meals, with meals out only on special occasions (and only Chinese food and Red Lobster all-you-can-eat crab specials for us). We learned to think of meals out as luxuries and enjoyed them as such. But our current lifestyle hasn't been like that. We eat out quite often - at some pretty nice restaurants. And we enjoy traveling and some of the finer things in life (like massages and spa days).

And so we rejoiced in how blessed we are that an impromptu trip to Chuck E. Cheese can take place without concern to budget. But we desire to also convey gratitude so that our children don't take these things for granted. ...and don't expect that any random day will end up with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

Clarice