H and I were recently invited to our neighbor’s kid’s birthday party. There such a nice family and great neighbors. The party is at Chuck E Cheese. I haven’t set foot in one of those since our kids were little…H took D there for a kindergarten friend’s b-day party once and that was the first and last time he ever went. I was stuck taking the kids there for birthday parties from then on. Luckily, it fizzled out once a new play place (that was cleaner, had better food, had food other then pizza, no arcade games, and had a quiet room for parents and private party rooms) opened up and the kids got older.
We never had our kid’s parties there or took them there ourselves. I think it’s a casino for kids. H thinks it’s loud and annoying. Our kids went there enough with friend’s families or for a birthday party now and then. According to my younger co workers, it’s the indoor trampoline place that’s the hot birthday party venue for the elementary school set. Or the cooking store that does cooking classes for kids…
Is Chuck E Cheese still a thing? Should H and I go? Anything to be prepared for (haha!)?
Any funny Chuck E cheese stories?! Any Chuck E Cheese horror stories?
My one time experience to Chuck E. Cheese was 16 years ago for a co-worker’s daughter’s bd party, I still remember the sticky floors and the nasty smell. Lol.
Not to mention it is a high season for flu, I would find a reason to decline if possible.
@Nrdsb4 I guess so! I’ve seen commercials for it from time to time. And it’s located in the same center as the movie theater we go to. The one we went to with our kids back in the day is now a mattress store…
I’ll talk to H. We like the family, so we may drop by! I’ll remind H they serve beer and we aren’t going to be chasing after rambunctious kids!
@momofsenior1 haha! H is the same. I feel the same way too, but I think I have a higher tolerance for this sort of thing then H does.
@makemesmart I don’t remember that part of it (probably tried to block it from my memories), but I can only imagine the germs in that place! Good point about it being flu season!
D told me to look up “parents tweet about Chuck E Cheese”
The only good thing about that place was that it served beer and wine. If you care about this family and would be missed, bring your gift and get out as quickly as you can!
I remember watching in horror as a toddler took off his dirty diaper in the ball pit. Nope, nope, nope.
So nice of your neighbor to invite you guys. I’m sure they’d be happy if you gave your regrets and stopped by with a little something for the birthday kid.
The party is really all about the kids. Ours was ok and my kids liked it pretty well back in the day. I was glad when they were no longer interested.
I went there a few times when my daughter was younger. We spent $30 on games to collect a hundred tickets, so we could cash them in for a $0.50 set of vampire teeth. Now that she’s a teenager, we throw our money away on cooler things.
@HImom Yes we were very flattered. I think we may just drop by. Our kids liked it when they went, but luckily they weren’t overly interested. And by the time S was going to birthday parties, it really wasn’t a popular place to go for parties.
@sushiritto Yep! I remember D when she was a kid, complaining that we never went to Chuck E Cheese. She went at least a few times with her friend’s family. And went to at least a few bday parties there. I talked to some mom’s of kids in her class and most of them said except for taking their kids there for other kid’s bday parties, they avoid the place. So I guess, not everyone goes there that often…
Our kiddos were pleased when they gave tokens for report cards—20 tokens for all As or something, fewer for Bs. S was always happy to claim tokens for good grades.
My kids have never been all that fond of arcades. They DO love pizza (even there). They didn’t like the costumed creatures — Disney or Chuck’s.
It’s definitely “a thing” as a piece of Silicon Valley history (founded by Nolan Bushnell, who also founded Atari). So was Fry’s Electronics back in the day.
The arcade plus pizza/fast food format is still really popular for tween boy birthday parties, but Dave and Busters seems to have cornered that market nowadays.
@Twoin18 I forgot about that. Sounds like a fact my son would know!
Yes, it is still popular. We have a pizza place/brew house near us that serves good pizza, wings, salads, and sandwiches, and an impressive selection of craft beer. They have an arcade, but it’s in a soundproof room that is separate from the main dining room and bar area. They also have a private party room. H likes the live music this place has on Friday nights. This place is popular for kid’s parties and I love that the arcade is in a separate sound proofed room.
We have a Dave and Busters in our area. I’m pretty sure they took away a lot of business from Chuck E Cheese when they opened.
@HImom We had a bowling alley near our house that gave 2 hours of free bowling based on a good report card. I didn’t know Chuck E Cheese did that too.
When D, was a bit older…say, 2nd, 3rd, 4th grade, bowling parties became quite popular. I became very well acquainted with our local bowling alley during those years. D had her 8th birthday at a paint your own ceramics place. She also attended a gymnastics party, dance party, and bead making party. Bowling alley parties were not much of a thing when S was in school. He went to a lot of lazer tag parties…so different with boys!
Of course my kids also went to pool parties, sleepovers, beach parties, movies and lunch, etc.
One of my D’s close friends always had unique birthday parties. She had a beach party where all the girls learned how to surf. Another year all the girls learned how to fence, the theme was Princess Bride. She also had a karate party and backyard camp out. Oh and there was the 15th birthday party kayak/picnic.
S also went to a party where someone did cool science experiments. And he got to make slime!
No wonder, I haven’t been to Chuck E cheese in years…
@Groundwork2022 The one the party is going to be at is the only one I know of near us. The one we took our kids to is no longer a Chuck E Cheese. I can’t think of any others in our immediate area.
@conmama Well we have had the family over for dinner and we’ve gone to their place for BBQ’s. If we don’t go, we’ll head over and give him a gift another time.
Well, if the pizza is good…
It is weird to be invited as adults, I would not want to be sucked into gift giving to random neighbor kids. I would just disregard the invite as a bit of a throwaway comment really. Do you know them really well? Have you socialized a lot?