My Mother’s Day Mistake

One of my friends gave his wife a really nice Mother’s Day. He made her three meals–great meals–and washed every dish he dirtied. For lunch, he took her on a picnic to the best-rated park in Santa Barbara, where they strolled through manicured gardens and spied turtles and baby ducks. Kudos to him.

I took you to Chuck E. Cheese’s. Hurray for me, the king of romance. First, we dined on lukewarm pizza topped with processed chicken, after which I served you by throwing away every Chuck-E-Cheese-printed paper plate we used. Next we strolled along gum-ridden carpets and spied sugar-high adolescents and screaming toddlers.

How did I end up taking you to Chuck E. Cheese’s for Mother’s Day? (Well, technically, it was the day before Mother’s Day, but it was our Mother’s Day celebration. We couldn’t do Mother’s Day on Mother’s Day because I had to work on Sunday.) It all started the week before when we were driving to your mom’s house and you asked me what I was going to do for you for Mother’s Day. I said that some of it was a secret and some of it was up in the air. Just then, our daughter saw Chuck E. Cheese’s and started begging us to take her there (she had never been). “That would be fun!” I said. “Yeah, it would!” you said. From there, my memory of our conversation is fuzzy. But somehow, we decided that we would go there for Mother’s Day. Did I strongly suggest the notion and you reluctantly agreed or did I merely suggest it and you happily agreed? Or did you suggest it? Who knows. But, I distinctly remember asking, “Are you sure that sounds like a good Mother’s Day to you?” And you said yes.

Fast forward to M-Day. You woke up, not to the rising scent of french toast or bacon and eggs, but to the primal screams of our children for Chuck E. Cheese’s. “Chuck E. Cheese’s–where a kid can be a kid!” they cried. Over and over.

When we got in the car, I noticed you were bothered. “What’s wrong?” “Are we really doing Chuck E. Cheese’s for Mother’s Day?” you asked. “Isn’t that what you wanted?” “I said it would be fun, but that’s because I thought you had other stuff planned for me. You do have other stuff planned, right?” Awkward silence. “This was all you planned for Mother’s Day?!”

After a little discussion, we agreed that Chuck E. Cheese’s would be for the kids and that we’d do Mother’s Day another time. In fact, I’ve set a date for it: May 26th. I know of a nice park we might try.

So goes my version of the story.

PS: The friend I mentioned above was inspired by this blog to do something romantic for his wife once a week. She doesn’t know about this commitment of his.

PPS: Another friend of mine was similarly inspired.

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