Really, I am a very responsible parent, despite what this post may convey.

Yesterday, on a total whim, I took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. Yes, by choice. In the middle of the week. On a school night.  When they had homework that needed to be done.  And instead, we threw caution, and our educational standards, to the wind.


But boy did those kiddos have fun.  Sure, the pizza was mediocre at best, and the 10 cent tootsie pop and 25 cent plastic toy laser gun (which was the size of my pinky finger) that Middle Child won with some of his tickets at the prize counter were useless as it will probably be broken before he finds it under the back seat to play with it again......

Regardless....it was the fun that mattered.  At least that's what the voices in my head keep telling me.  And I tried hard to really focus on listening to them instead of Chuck E. Cheese and his band of maniacs who were singing silly renditions of some of my most loved 80's classic hits.  I thought for a moment I might go punch him in his big fat furry grey head, but decided that would only cause drama at the party that was going on across the way, and the birthday child would probably start crying and everyone would blame me.  So I let that table of kids have their fun and then when the last piece of cake was eaten, and they loaded up the balloons and presents as quickly as they could, because....hello....it was a school night, and my goodness, look at the time, it's almost 7:30, we must get these kids home and in bed.....well, I just sat there admiring that bunch of ROOKIE mothers and smiled.

The rat will go away now, the party's over. Thank goodness. And we basically had the place to ourselves....it's all in proper planning y'all.  Wear those newbies out and stay in it for the long haul!!!

The priceless random memories you'll see here in the random photos from our random night of fun....in the middle of the week, on a school night....when really, all the experts would have said we needed to be home finishing up that homework. 

I scoff in the face of those "experts".  

 The boys had a grand, I mean GRAND time shooting hoops, among other various ticket yielding game machines as well.  And Middle Child at one point in the night came over to the table to proudly exclaim...."Mama, look (showing me a stack of tickets) I hit the JACKPOT."  Yes, indeed you did.  And so did I....my kids are awesome.

They had a blast being the only two, seeing as how NO ONE else was in the joint, dancing on the blue screen on stage, being showcased on the Chuck E. Cheese big screens.

In between pizza bite breaks, and coke refills, and game playing, Baby Girl would stop to take a moment to feed the tickets that were piling up on the table.  And then she'd promptly bring me back the little receipt showing she had accrued  33!! , or 65!!, or 78!!, or 27!! tickets for all that hard work she had just exerted on the skeeball ramps.   Good for you Baby Girl, for all that's worth....you might get a sucker AND a plastic bracelet!  You go girl!

At which point I remembered I had been toting around an old receipt for the kids in my wallet.  Until I brought it out again, I had not realized I had been toting it around for 2 1/2 years.  That's dedication folks.  Or guilt.   You see the reason I had it in my wallet and it had not been cashed in for a prize before was because 2 1/2 years ago my patience as a mother had not reached the level it has now.  At that particular point in time I had been so frazzled waiting and watching the agonizing choice between two Chuck E Cheese sticker sheets or a miniature parachute army man....that had went on for 20 minutes one afternoon in the middle of the summer....I broke.  And I snatched up the ticket receipt (placed it in my purse for later) and firmly announced that no prize would be allowed that day.  So, as it may not have been one of my finer moments of motherhood, I was able to redeem myself from it now....in this moment.....when Baby Girl squealed with delight at having 154!!! to add to her stash.

Two years later, and we still spent an AGONIZING amount of time at the prize counter.   Carefully choosing swirly pops and pop rocks candy and tootsie pops and plastic laser guns and "fake barf" (big hit, as 2 of my 3 had to have it). 

And the "prizes" turned out to actually cost around $6.75 each when you calculate the luck/skill ratio of the games played with the tickets each produced.

Let's just suffice it to say, I could have bought enough bags of tootsie pops to feed the entire school (even those who didn't want to do their homework) and a real laser gun, even, for the amount we spent.....but the memories wouldn't have been worth half as much as what I witnessed for the night of fun. 

Like this precious moment from the Chuck E Cheese sketch pad.  Aw.....so sweet. I may cut it out and frame it....it was worth the $57 we spent on horrid pizza and cheap prizes.

But don't count the night as a complete loss.  As the responsible parent that I am, we did stay until 2 minutes to closing.  We shut them down my friend.  And in another moment of wonderful motherhood.....since it was a school night, in the middle of the week, with homework left to do, I also allowed the kids to drink from the fountain machine until the proverbial cherry coke well was almost dry.  Caffeine, so late?  Why not.

And already past their bedtime, at 8:58, with caution still thrown to the wind, I wheeled out of the rat's parking lot and noticed to my viewing pleasure the neon lights of Krispy Kreme were blinking HOT! NOW!.  

I took it as a sign from above that I deserved a HOT! NOW! doughnut......and my kids did too.  Because, in my opinion, you can't reach maximum SUGAR! CARB! EXCITEMENT! overload until you add a Krispy Kreme to the mix.

So there you have it.  We braved the scene at Chuck E. Cheese and lived to tell about it.

Chuck E. Cheese----where a kid can be a kid, and a mama can savor each and every moment....that's bringing her closer and closer to getting her very own prescription of prozac.