Happy Birthday, Rebecca!

Well, we did what we vowed we'd never do. We had a birthday party for one of our children at Chuck E. Cheese. Oh my word, as if we weren't already the total suburban cliché...

Anyway, Rebecca has a lot of acquaintances but not a lot of friends I felt comfortable inviting to a birthday party where, as tradition dictates, gifts are exchanged. So we invited her one good friend, Chloe to go to Chuck's house with us to celebrate Rebecca's sixth.

I must say I now know why so many moms pick Chuck E. to host the party. It was so easy! We showed up, a host greeted Rebecca by name, nametags were already made out, balloons were blown up and a cake stand with Rebecca’s name on it declared our table.

Our host, Charlton, was excellent with both children and parents. I forgot the candles and matches so he scurried off to find both for me. He took our order, gave us our tokens and sent us off to the unbelievably crowded play room to play. When the pizza was ready he came and found us, ushered us back to our table and served us all the greasy pepperoni pie.

Just about that time Chuck E. came out and Charlton made sure Rebecca had her picture taken with him. He also arranged for Chuck to bend down so Rebecca could tell him just how old she was.

By this time over an hour had passed (felt like three) and it was time for us to use up the rest of our tokens. The girls had fun playing skee-ball, riding the little merry-go-round and several other car rides. They really did seem to have a good time.

Then it was time to redeem the tickets for the completely useless prizes. They picked out some washable tattoos, a slinky, a few bracelets and candy. It appeared a good time was had by both.

As we rode home Rebecca exclaimed it was the best party ever. And I must admit it was a good one for me, too. I didn’t have to cook anything and more importantly I didn’t have to clean my house before or after the party! I feel like I should send Chuck E. a thank you note.