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Birthday Boy left overnight at Chuck E. Cheese

Blue Velvet said:
Is that why we haven't heard from emw for a few hours now? :p
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HA! You know I would have started a "HELP ME! I'm trapped in Chuck E. Cheese!" thread in Community Discussion. ;)

Ah, the wonders of Chuck E. Cheese. Bad pizza. Bad games. Screaming kids. At least they serve alcohol.

But how do you forget your kid, especially on his birthday? I can see him wandering off, and them having to look for him, but to not realize he's missing until the next morning? Terrible.
 
max_altitude said:
What's Chuck E. Cheese? A burger place or something? I've heard it spoken about in movies/tv shows but never quite figured it out. :eek:
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Basicly, it is the physical incarnation of a migraine.

Bright colors, flashing lights, loud kids screaming and running all over the place, toys, food and other objects flying this way and that.

I'd say iGary had it right. You'd be surprised to know that Satan is really a 6ft 4 upright-walking mouse.

The good news, hell has skiball and beer.
 
:eek: wow what crappy parents! Its sad to see stuff like that happen to kids.
 
Now that I think about it, every time we've gone to C.E.C. with the kids, they've been stamped on the hand and we've been stamped at the same time - I don't know how they let him in without a parent in the first place, if it really happened as they say.

I bet they just left without him, as opposed to him wandering back in when they were in the parking lot.
 
floriflee said:
LOL! I don't remember much from my one experience at Chuck E. Cheese, but I DO remember those creatures! :eek:
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Did they look something like this? :eek:

picture15wf.png


I'm 18 and I would still be scared if I encountered that in public!
 
max_altitude said:
What's Chuck E. Cheese? A burger place or something? I've heard it spoken about in movies/tv shows but never quite figured it out. :eek:
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Chuck E. Cheese is hell on earth. A co-worker of mine kept joking that he wanted to go there for his 49th birthday so I organized a party. They even had Chuck E. Cheese himself come out to lead us in a dance. Ugh. Here's the slideshow:

Chuck's Chuck E. Cheese Party
 
hmm crazy, but from reading the story it sounds like an honest mistake. I'm sure stuff like this happens quite often, it just doesn't always end up in the news.
 
steelphantom said:
Did they look something like this? :eek:

picture15wf.png


I'm 18 and I would still be scared if I encountered that in public!
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Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! *runs away screaming and flailing arms* :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

I'm going to have nightmares for weeks!
 
It would be forgivable if not for the part about the mother thinking she dropped her son off at the grandmother's house. You should definitely know whether your own son was in the car you were driving.
 
floriflee said:
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! *runs away screaming and flailing arms* :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

I'm going to have nightmares for weeks!
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Sorry... :eek: Actually, not really. ;-)
Somehow I knew that photo would get that kind of reaction! :p
 
dornoforpyros said:
hmm crazy, but from reading the story it sounds like an honest mistake.
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Well, I'm sure they didn't mean to leave him there, so in that sense it was an honest mistake.

But as a parent I can't imagine forgetting to bring my child home with me, or assuming that since I didn't have him/her they must be with someone else, even if I didn't make prior arrangements.

Hell, it's his birthday - if he was staying at grandma's, wouldn't you call to say "goodnight" or something?
 
As easy as it is to discuss the negligence of the mother here, and even though I agree with that to a large extent, it's not beyond me to imagine a situation with a 23-year-old mother, a day full of kids, an evening at Chuck's, trips at the end involving an change of kids, etc., resulting in a bit of confusion over where your child is, particularly as I get the feeling that the kid probably spends a lot of time at the grandmother's. I'm not sure that the "didn't know he wasn't in the van" story is anything more than an attempt to explain a situation in a way that doesn't result in jail time, but I can see this sort of thing happening without it being an unforgivable act of negligence. I'm sure we'll never hear the full and true story of exactly what took place, but I'm inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt for now.
 
I guess I disagree here with the "it could happen to anyone, it's a typical accident" statements.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I view children in a completely different way than handbags and pocketbooks, which may be forgotten quite often.

But how you just "forget" your child eludes me, regardless of circumstances.

Why the mother was not walking out right next to her child's side, personally helping him into the van, and fully knowing he's there is unfathomable.

At 6 years of age, he should have never been out of his mother's sight long enough for her to "forget" him.

Especially since they didn't know until the following morning. Do they not walk their kid indoors at night, and see them to bed? That alone is poor parenting.


It is neglect and irresponsibility. There's no two ways about it. The parent(s) is/are 100% to blame here.
 
Josh said:
I guess I disagree here with the "it could happen to anyone, it's a typical accident" statements.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I view children in a completely different way than handbags and pocketbooks, which may be forgotten quite often.

But how you just "forget" your child eludes me, regardless of circumstances.

Why the mother was not walking out right next to her child's side, personally helping him into the van, and fully knowing he's there is unfathomable.

At 6 years of age, he should have never been out of his mother's sight long enough for her to "forget" him.

Especially since they didn't know until the following morning. Do they not walk their kid indoors at night, and see them to bed? That alone is poor parenting.


It is neglect and irresponsibility. There's no two ways about it. The parent(s) is/are 100% to blame here.
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Wow! Are you a parent? Have you ever had responsibility for a six year old? Until you do, why don't you keep your comments to yourself. The only thing the mother was guilty of is not ensuring her child new his address and his phone number.
 
Ugg said:
Wow! Are you a parent? Have you ever had responsibility for a six year old? Until you do, why don't you keep your comments to yourself. The only thing the mother was guilty of is not ensuring her child new his address and his phone number.
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The fact that this mother is being defended for not watching her kid, not doing headcounts, not walking him from the car to the house, not seeing him to bed, is absolutely disgusting. He is 6 years old.

What did she do, just get out of the car and walk inside and crash on the couch, oblivious and careless of her son's whereabouts?

Sorry - there is no defense for irresponsibility. The fact that her child went so long without her ever trying to interact with him is sickening. It isn't about just leaving him at Chuck E. Cheeses. It's about the fact that she left him there, drove home, got out, and went to bed without once ever attempting to speak to, see, or interact with her child. Had she tried, she would've became aware he was not around.

If you forget your child, and are not aware of his or her prescence and location overnight - or even defend people who do such a thing - you've got no business being a parent.
 
Ugg said:
Wow! Are you a parent? Have you ever had responsibility for a six year old? Until you do, why don't you keep your comments to yourself. The only thing the mother was guilty of is not ensuring her child new his address and his phone number.
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I am a parent, and have responsibility for a 5 1/2 year-old and a 2 1/2 year old. And I completely agree that she should have known where her child was.

While I don't believe this was some form of intentional neglect, I do believe that it is a parent's responsibility to know where their child is when they're leaving a restaurant, regardless of who else is there.

We had a big celebration for a dance recital on Saturday with both sets of grandparents, our kids, and 4 other families, for a total of 8 kids and a bunch of adults. We went to a restaurant that had none of the controls over matching kids to parents that C.E.C. does. Everyone managed to get home with their kids and no one was left at Portillo's overnight.
 
Applespider said:
Did you read the article? If that had been the case, I'd have agreed. But it's not.
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Per the article:

When Lacqetta Monroe got to her mother's Deerfield Beach, she unloaded some children and took some older ones to a skating rink. She said later she believed Michael had been among those she'd dropped off and had assumed he would spend the night with his grandmother.
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That sounds pretty oblivious to me. She drops some kids off, assumes one of them is her son, and drives off? She had several opportunities - at the restaurant, at her mother's house, at the rink, at her house - to validate where her son was. She didn't.
 
Applespider said:
Did you read the article? If that had been the case, I'd have agreed. But it's not.
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The Article said:
She said later she believed Michael had been among those she'd dropped off and had assumed he would spend the night with his grandmother.
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Responsible parents don't just assume their six year-old child is going to be some place overnight.
 
It's easy to be judgemental about this but if you've ever had the experience of trying to keep track of a bunch of young children at a party you might think differently. Also how come it took the place so long to realise he was on his own?
 
Chundles said:
My idea of hell is a cruise. I can't think of anything worse than being stuck on some boat in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of people who are happy to be stuck on a boat in the middle of nowhere.
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i've never heard my feelings regarding cruises described more eloquently
 
aricher said:
Damn shame. Mmmm, Portillo's overnight. I might just have to head over there on my lunch break.
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Eat some french fries for me. :D
 
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