My Real Life

I suddenly realized that I have been remiss and have forgotten to share with you an exciting event from last weekend.

The boys’ birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.

Until this year, we have been able to get away with celebrating the boys birthdays by having the grandparents over for dinner on each of their special days.  No parties with friends.  Family, cake, presents, and we were good to go.

Monkey Girl didn’t have her first birthday party with friends until she turned 6, and it seems as though Monkey in the Middle somehow knew that 6 was the magic age around here.

So, in December, he started dropping hints that he would like to have a birthday party with friends this year.

Hints like, “I want a birthday party this year.”

So, we started talking about what type of party he would like.

Monkey Girl has always asked for mystery-themed birthday parties where we invite a few friends over, make up mysteries, and she and her friends solve them.

Frugal, fun, easy.

Monkey in the Middle?

He wanted Chuck E. Cheese.

Grandma overheard and said that she wanted him to have whatever he wanted, and she’d foot the bill.

However, Baby Monkey was listening intently to all of the birthday talk and decided that he, too, wanted a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party this year.

Grandma said, “If it’s fine with Mommy and Daddy, I’ll take care of that, as well.”

Hard to fight the generosity of a grandparent, especially a grandparent as stubborn as my mom, and so we agreed.

Each boy was allowed to choose four or five friends and we sent out the invites. 

Monkey Girl was also allowed to invite her cousin, who is her age, so that she had someone to play with.

It was a great time.

Chuck E. Cheese always has the potential to make a parent crazy, but Real Man and I went into it with the attitude that it really is a magical, fun place for a kid (especially our kids who never go there) and so we were going to relax and let it be whatever it was.

And, as I said, it was great.

They played with their friends, ate their pizza, ate their ice cream, waved at Mr. Cheese and had a blast.

The party lasted for an hour and a half, and after the guests left, we stayed with the monkeys for another hour or so and let them play and collect tickets and chill.

It was a great day for two great boys.