Where A Kid Can Be A Kid

I spent the evening at Chuck E. Cheese's with my 10 year old cousin. This is our ritual when she comes into town but this time was a little bittersweet. I realized that she's not going to want to go to Chuck E. Cheese's for much longer because she's starting to grow up. On the upside of all this is that her little sister is gonna be big enough to start to want to go in a couple years. And the little brother on the way will be right behind her. So I guess my days of taking kids to Chuck E's will continue for some time.

I remember what it was like when I was a kid to go to Showbiz Pizza Place. (For those of you who do not remember Showbiz Pizza Place please go to wikipedia and search for their page) Showbiz was my favorite place in the world when I was a kid. It rode in on the wave of video arcades back in the early 80's and it was the best place to have a birthday party. Back in the day this was their commercial:



I know it looks lame but it really was a great place to be. I can't vouch for their pizza as that was a lot longer ago than I want to admit but the atmosphere was out of this world. Soon they had "better" commercials:



I remember when Chuck E. Cheese's hit town a few years later. I was not impressed. That first Chuck E. Cheese's only lasted a couple years and I really thought that I'd seen the last of Chuck. But as time wore on Chuck E. Cheese's overtook Showbiz Pizza Place and Billy Bob and the whole Rock-afire Explosion were shuffled off into the memory banks of adults like myself. Showbiz Pizza Place and Toys R Us both remind me of how great it was to be a kid. I miss that stupid bear.