Welcome to Chuck E. Cheese

Yesterday I called my parents and my Dad answered the phone.
"Hi.  Where are you?"
"At home. Why?"
"Oh, it sounded like you were at Chuck E. Cheese's."

I suppose he nailed it.  We live at Chuck E. Cheese's almost every day. :)  Riley and Eliza love to play and they often fight.  Either activity results in high pitched screams from Eliza.  Spencer frequently thinks he is part pterodactyl so he adds his two cents with an unexpected screech.  Running through the house and jumping on anything with elevation is constantly corrected without heed.  And of course, add to that a Sunday afternoon right after Church ended when the expectations of reverence were concluded and the bottled-up energy was let loose.

Now, even when there is no stir-crazy sibling play or squabble, and when Spencer is sound asleep, we are still Chuck E. Cheese.  Riley is a popular man.  This afternoon was a good example.  Riley set up a play date with one of the boys from school.  Shortly after Mason arrived, Tyler knocked on the door wanting to play.  I felt guilty turning him away, so I told him he could join the boys in the back.  Within 15 minutes, the next door neighbor Caeden shows up at the door in a Luigi costume looking for Riley.  Well, I couldn't say no to him, he had been trying to play with Riley all week and kept missing him.  Besides, who could say no to Luigi?  So we added another one.  Four 5-6 year old boys were running around the back yard screaming, laughing and beating each other with foam swords. Eliza looks up at me with those big blue eyes and says, "Mom, can I play with Kate?  I want her to come over and play with me."  You know what I said?  "Let's make cupcakes."  Chuck E. Cheese's is full for the afternoon.  I wasn't about to add 3 year old girl drama to our theme park.  You have to draw the line somewhere.

In some strange way, I kind of like living at Chuck E. Cheese's.  Even though the floor is sticky, there's sensory overload, lots of screaming and laughing, and the food isn't always great, every kid wants to go there.  And I want to be that place where every kid wants to go.  I love my kids, and I love that they are happy.  Welcome to Chuck E. Cheese's.