Me and the Rat

There is something you should know about me: I hate Chuck E. Cheese. Loathe it. It is my version of Dante's Hell...and a very base one. My reasons are many: It is loud. It is expensive. The food is bad. Just the whole experience is not for me. Fairyland, Disneyland, Happy Hollow, the zoo: I love them all, but Chuck E. Cheese is part of the parenting experience I could do without.

I am so committed to avoiding the place that I will skip a party and send a gift anytime a party is held at Chuck E. Cheese. But this week, all of my escape tactics failed me and I landed in Rat Hell twice. We had two unavoidable commitments at Chuck E. Cheese. Why? Well, the rain in Northern California forced two birthday parties that I alreadyRSVP'd to indoors, and there was no backing out. Unfortunately, both parents selected the Mouse House as Plan B.

So, there I was a relunctant participant in not one but two Chuck E. Cheese (CEC) parties in two days. Yesterday, I tried to be optimistic. I told myself..."You know they have remodeled. It is supposed to be cleaner and the food is supposed to be better." In 20 minutes, I realized that my optimism was ridiculous. Nothing has changed. The place is a nightmare.

However, to experience the true inferno horror of CEC, you need to take my two kids alone to CEC and try to keep track of them...both of them. And Maggie is fast. Very fast. And La Nina doesn't listen. Ever. The good news is I survived. Good luck to the next poor soul who takes them. But it won't be me again. It wasn't worth it.