Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Fuck-Me Cheese

On Sunday, the girl had a birthday party for a friend. Thank goodness it was a late afternoon party, since we had mr b’s 50th birthday party the night before and there was some serious ass-dragging going on. But we somehow managed to get ourselves to the party on time, and I managed to stay upright, and not punch anyone the entire time. What’s that? It doesn’t seem like an accomplishment to not punch anyone at a child’s birthday party? Well, I forgot to tell you the party was at Check E Cheese.

Ahhhh, now you understand, don’t you? Hungover at Fuck Me Cheese: not so fun.

The party was for a friend from day care. She is the daughter of an old friend’s sister. I’ve talked about my friend Tammy before – she died in 1992 of a brain tumor. I usually re-post my story of her every year on her birthday and this year, I was in the middle of my own crazy and I missed it – I thought about it a few days before and then forgot. I was on my way to the party when I remembered. I felt bad, though I guess it’s more about not thinking about her that day than an actual blog entry. It happens, though – she’s been gone almost as long as she was alive. It’s hard to imagine what she’d be like today. I’d like to think we’d still be friends, that we’d have kids who played together.

I got to the party and saw her sister, and then her mother, and then another sister and a cousin and it hit me. They all look so much alike. I can look at them and imagine what Tammy would look like today. I had to fight back tears. It’s a weird thing to feel grief for someone and then think, damn, I can’t let myself show it, because who am I to grieve - my grief can’t compare to theirs. But it’s still there. It’s still mine.

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OK, on to other things – like the assholes at Fuck Me Cheese. Good lord. I understand that your kids drive you crazy. I understand that you need a break. Believe me – I UNDERSTAND! However, just because the insane mousehouse has the hand-stamping kidnapping prevention does NOT mean that your child should just run around completely unattended. There was one little girl who latched onto the girl in the games area. She only had a couple of tokens left to the girl’s full cup. When she ran out, the girl was giving her some (because she is a rocking, make-your-mom-proud, OMG-my-kid-is-awesome sharer), but this kid wouldn’t quit. She wanted tokens, tickets, whatever. She wanted to play this game, not that game. When the girl had finally had enough and wouldn’t give her more tokens, she looked me square in the face and demanded more. “I need more tokens!” I told her she needed to go ask her mom or dad. She said, “They don’t have any” Well, I’m sorry then kid. Where the fuck were her parents? This went on for over an hour and I never once saw an adult anywhere near this kid. Not once.

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And let’s talk about the hand stamp system. When the girl and I left, you couldn’t even read the hand stamps anymore, after washing our hands a bunch of times. And yet, they let us out. There was no way they could tell for sure that the girl belonged with me. So Mr and/or Mrs. I Need A Break From My Kid need to step up their give-a-shit a little.

And she was the only one. During my two and a half hours there, I had to help a kid get strapped into a ride, help a toddler off of another ride, get an employee to fix a game for another kid, stop not one, not two, but THREE insane children from throwing skee balls instead of rolling them. Also - seriously – skee-ball for toddlers? Worst idea ever. I watched multiple children almost get their skulls cracked open by the flying spheres of death.

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Sadly, Fuck Me Cheese wasn’t the worst experience of my weekend. No, that would be reserved for the girl jumping on me and knocking my camera to the cement floor. The lens popped off and won’t stay on properly. Awesome. I’m heartbroken over it. I love that camera. I mean LOVE it. It’s not the best camera, but it’s the best one I can afford, and I saved and bargain shopped for a long time before I got it. And I’m not sure I can afford to have it fixed – or if it’s even possible. I know I can’t afford a new one. But damn it, I need to do something, because it’s my one “thing.” I don’t like fancy jewelry. I don’t buy designer purses or shoes. I don’t spend money on clothes. I’m not a gadget lover. I get my books free from the library. I don’t care about new, fancy cars. But I ADORE my camera.

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I can’t wait to get some photos up from the party (pre-camera/heart break). I didn’t take any candid or party photos, but I did take ones of every guest wearing a special Make Fun of Mr B Getup. It was awesome. More on that later.

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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've only done the CEC thing one time. Peanut was about 15 months old. He loved it. I wanted to kill every kid in the place but him. It'll be cold day in Hell when I go back voluntarily.

Unknown said...

I hate CEC. Horrible place to have to take the kids. Sorry to hear about the camera. I love mine and like you, researched and shopped until I got just the right deal. I hope you can get it fixed!

Unknown said...

I kind of love Chuck E. Cheese. You can sit and eat pizza while your children run around knocking other kids out with the skee balls and then stealing all their tokens. What's not to love?

As for the camera, what kind do you have? Is it an SLR or a point and shoot?

Lisa said...

There should be a law against that place, seriously. We must solve this camera issue. What kind is it?

Swistle said...

I hate C.E.C. sooooooooooo much. MADHOUSE.

Karen Bodkin said...

I've never been, nor will we ever go. If my kids want to go, they can drive themselves there once they have kids. I've heard so many bad things about that place there's just NO WAY.

Corrin said...

My friend's daughter was injured at CEC when she hit her head on a screw that had lost its cap in the ball pit. The manager then referred to the young disabled employee that helped her as "the retard".

Burgh Baby said...

The only way I can be bothered to go to Chuck's is if it's a weekday, it's snowing outside, and there is absolutely nobody in all of Pittsburgh willing to drive. That makes Chuck's nice and empty. If it's empty, I don't have to hurt anyone's kid. All it takes is one unwatched monster and I lose my mind.

Anonymous said...

I have not been to CEC with the children yet. I have very vague memories of going as a child -- it was loud. I have been to like places, only with large play/climbing areas, rather than a video arcade. And, yeah, some kids drive you batty and some break your heart. (or that was my experience. I wanted to bean a kid with balls from the ball pit to see if he liked it, and a different kid, I wanted to hug.)

I'm glad you survived. And sorry your camera didn't.

ciao,
rpm

Jennifer said...

argh so sorry about the camera :( I'm with you on that one- my clothes are always on sale, my purses are $15 from Target. But I loooove my fancy camera. It's My Thing. Hope you can get it fixed/replaced soon!

Michelle said...

Ya know, I hate CEC. Really hate it. I went to two birthday parties there and was MIS-ER-A-BLE. Then we had a fundraiser there last Wednesday, and it was actually sorta pleasant. And somewhat empty. And relatively quiet. Ahhhh. We might actually do that again one day. Just not for a birthday. Or a weekend.