It was a Saturday night. Yard work was done, the computer fixed and it was time for an evening of family fun at the pizza buffet and arcade. Emma was asked to help Deidre put her shoes on. Screams rang through the house after a fight broke out over the most coveted spot inside a large cardboard box converted into playhouse. Coins rolled across the counter and onto the floor as Laurel had emptied her piggie bank in the hopes for previous unused arcade tokens or quarter to be converted. Emma was asked again to help Deidre put her shoes on. I scrambled through my coupon drawer looking for coupons Laurel brought home from school for completing her reading assignments. We rarely eat out together as a family simply because of the expense and the hassle of getting everyone ready but coupons at least make it more of a possibility. I found two. Deidre was still barefoot.
As we drove to the restaurant ready to enjoy the adventure that awaited, a CRCT theme song was created by Madi, sung to the tune of YMCA and could be heard throughout the car from the back seat.
Once the minivan pulled into the parking lot, the fun was about to begin. Not only was this a pizza buffet but an all you can eat pizza buffet. Oh, AND an arcade. As we got in line, Deidre was already gone and grabbed a plate and began to help herself before the buffet was even paid for.
After each little girl consumed just one slice of pizza and two carrots, I would for the next 30 minutes hear phrases like "Mom, can I have another dollar"? "Mom the machine ate my token but the game didn't work." and "Mom the machine ate my dollar and I got no tokens." They had fun playing the games as each one would spit out a few of those winning tickets hoping to score big at the prize redemption center.....even if it was for just one Jolly Rancher.
In the midst of it all, kids in the arcade results in at least some quiet time for mom and dad which is, well, nice and needless to say, rare. We enjoyed conversation over thin crust supreme, cucumbers with ranch dressing and Sierra Mist. But as expected, quiet time is known to have interruptions. The one about to take place would be the epitome of them all.
I remember it well. The sound of a stack of the unbreakable plastic serving plates resounding throughout the dining room. It was as though it happened in slow motion. The 4-year-old excitedly came around the corner past the dining room attendant who was unaware that she was about to be the target of a child who has not mastered the concept of spacial awareness. Our facial expression changed on impact as we saw it coming. Only something like this could only be associated with the family who has to sit at the very long table in the back of the dining room. It then grew very silent.......... until we heard the sirens and saw the flashing lights.
"I won! I won!" Emma came running out of the arcade after winning the ticket jackpot on Wheel of Fortune.
There was I time when I was younger and in the outside world of being a parent. At the time, I remember feeling very lucky. But now that I am inside of that world ironically, I, much like Emma, think I am very lucky!
