Monday 23 April 2012

More annoying than an indoor play center


Well, I think I’ve done it! I’ve found a place more annoying than an indoor play center. A place with more noise, more unsupervised screaming children. A venue of  impending dread when it comes to every party invitation brought home. A place that I am more relived to leave than any other……

…You must be asking ..What is this hellish location? What could possibly be worse than smelly unsanitary play equipment, smeared by endless nappied bottoms and sticky fingers…. not to mention what is lurking at the bottom of the ball pit….a place where in a ‘Lord Of The Fly’s’ way children appear to push, hit pull hair, bite, stab others with forks (OK I’m exaggerating a little here…I hope!)

In a way, I’ve almost come to like indoor play centers now…they are tame. In days gone by I would be the mum sliding on the slides and playing in the ball pit with my toddlers…squeezing through tight tunnels and jamming myself into impossible locations (often whilst pregnant) to retrieve a crying distraught child…I would be the one needing a nap in the afternoons….



….nowadays, my kids are older and I can almost drink a coffee in peace, and maybe even read a few paragraphs of a book…(I send my eldest child in to the fray to defend the youngest…hee hee hee).

So, what could be worse than an indoor play center???......

A games center….

A Games center has recently opened in our part of town. It contains seemingly hundreds of arcade games and side-show games (think pizza planet in toy story). It also has a dodgem car track, a lazer- tag gaming maze, even a few lanes of 10-pin bowling!
Sounds fun doesn’t it?.......

Now factor in the most awful doof-doof-doof music at a volume that is impossible to hear yourself think, let alone hear the voice of your child! The center is swarming with hundreds of excited kids trying to win it ‘big’ on the games machines…many of which seem to be shooting games that I really really dislike!  It is dark and stuffy and there are flashing lights everywhere…talk about over-stimulation! Everything costs so much money…you could easily go though $50-100 with a couple of kids and be left with a few trinkets as ‘prizes’. In my opinion these places are way worse than those tame indoor play centers….

You may well be asking why do I go to these places at all…why put myself through the pain and frustration….well, I do it for my kids. Just like when they were toddlers at the play center, their happy red smiley faces…hair stuck to their foreheads with sweat…the excitement of anticipation of being taken to one of these places and their sheer joy is hard to begrudge…so like thousands of other parent, I dutifully take my kids…once to play centers…now to games centers.

Because the games center is my kids favorite place at the moment, I took my niece and nephew there along with their unsuspecting parents…Hee hee!

You can see in the pictures the kids had an absolutely fantastic time…us parents…not so much. I think they headed off in their car, back to county town Australia, thankful to be diving far far away from the doof-doof of the games center…

I’m just glad that I won't be teaching my nephew how to drive!!


Sharing today over at Diary of a SAHM for #TeamIBOT....Have a great Tuesday and pop over to read some awesome blog posts!


15 comments:

  1. I've always hated game centres, even when I was the target audience. I'd look at the pocket money in my hand and think "well, I could buy guaranteed chocolate and teddies, and my brother has a sega" and off home I'd go.
    Pity, apparently it was the social dating scene of high school!

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  2. I don't think much as changed...I noticed a few older kids, nervously holding hands with a wry smile on my face...

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  3. Oh a definate no go zone for me...luckily we only have a small game centre at the movie complex and my kids know not to even ask as it already stresses the budget to see a movie...as for indoor toddler centres...we do it for the kids but gee its hard...glad those days are behind me now :) xx

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    1. Thanks Jen! It really does stretch the budget....we only go for parties and special occasions...but still it feels a bit like throwing money away!

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  4. I totally understand. I do not like them. I feel like I need to disinfect every surface before I touch can anything. Then the screaming child and distracted parents on top. Not fun. Rachel x

    For #teamIBOT

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    1. Thanks! It's amazing what we put our selves through for our kids ;) (first world problems...I know!)

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  5. I think my ears are hurting already!
    :-) xx

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  6. We took our son to Movie World on the weekend, we have the passes. He wanted to ride the dodgem cars. Fine, we go in, he and hubby get in a car, and while they're having their ride, I proceed to crap myself about 8 times, b/c some guys were playing that game where you use the hammer to hit the circle and try to get the marker to go all the way up the pole? Yeah, I never did get used to it. I couldn't wait to get out of there.

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  7. I don't know why they just have to have that music so LOUD!!...my ears were ringing for hours!

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  8. Now that I'm a parent I can understand why mum never let us go. They are an absolute waste of money, crowded, way too noisy, the list goes on (geez I sound like an old biddy). I get it now!!

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    1. Thanks Kell. I think your Mum might have been on to something!!

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  9. Nup. Never liked the game centres, either. (May have had something to do with me being totally crap at every possible arcade game known to man.)

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    1. Mandie...imagine trying to explain some of the games to a 7 year old...especially when they last for all of 3 seconds!!!

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  10. Oh goodness, the idea of this does make my mind boggle out of control.
    We went to an indoor play centre last week, as a result of all the rain we'd had.
    It was mayhem! I messaged my friend who was on her way letting her know it was flippin' nuts... just so she knew what she was getting herself into. I find they can either be really good or really stressful, just depending on the number of children, the type of children and then there are days that are just better than others.
    Not looking forward to the games centre action though xo

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    1. Good point! I quite enjoy taking my son to our play center with a friend during school time.....It's pretty quiet and gives him a chance to get some exercise. But on a rainy weekend...Ouch!

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