Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Steee-rike!

Strike as in bowling, that it, not baseball!


Today we went for our first "Kid's Bowl Free" bowling. It was a little crowded when we got there.  The bowling alley we went to has many, many loud, obnoxious games in the arcade, and laser tag and all that, so there was a lot of noise.

For some reason, I have a headache. Not sure why.

We finally got a lane after a 20 minute wait, but not without drama (see - what did I tell you before - a houseful of boys does not mean an absence of drama). I have talked to the boys about this before - sometimes I have to interact with another person - usually a cashier - like this time. When I do that, my head actually turns away from the Mad Toddler for a moment. Since the Mad Toddler is two, he senses my attention is elsewhere and off he goes! No one else notices. No one else sees. My head was turned for 40 seconds to give the nice young man our shoe sizes and to hand him my card, when I looked around and managed to see the flash of the Mad Toddler's shirt disappearing in the bowling lanes.

It was longer and messier than this, so I will spare you the details. Suffice it to say I was shouting like a banshee by the end (trying to make my voice louder than the combined noise of bowling balls, kids, arcade noise, and piped-in music). I think I amused some other moms and am sure I disgusted some. But, as I pointed out to the boys, that is the price they pay. They want to do fun things? Then, I may have to turn my head to pay for those fun things, leaving them to watch the Mad Toddler for a moment.  To quote one of my favorite book series - CONSTANT VIGILANCE! (name that book!)

The drama finally resolved and we got around to gearing up to bowl. It has been a while since I put on a pair of them there fancy bowling shoes and hit the lanes. And it showed!  But, oh! It was so much fun! Even the Mad Toddler had a good time. I would like to personally thank his guardian angels for protecting his feet each time he managed to grab his 5 pound bowling ball and haul it to the ramp before I could reach him (usually dropping it millimeters from his tootsies!). Who know a toddler hefting a 5 pound large, round weight could be so fast?



Romeo trounced us all. I managed to come in second, after finding a better groove in the later part of the game, ending with a strike! Cookie Boy came in a respectable third, followed by the Young Adult (who surrendered to the bumpers after a terrible beginning), and then the Mad Toddler.

I told the boys we would go back in the morning, but I totally forgot the US World Cup match in the morning! So, no deal, boys! Besides, we are going to purchase shoes. If we want to go bowling often, then shoes will pay for themselves in as little as a week!

3 comments:

Patty said...

Went bowling on Mother's Day since the weather decided to not cooperate. I found my groove after one sip of a beer! It was like magic!

Unknown said...

Hmmmm - I will have to try something like that, Patty! I don't like beer, so I will try something else! Greta tip :)

Anonymous said...

We bought bowling shoes at shoeline.com. Just make sure you know the correct sizes before ordering. Most of us needed one size bigger than our normal shoe size. I must admit we went into the shop at Plano Super Bowl to try on shoes before ordering online. What can I say? We are frugal.