Jiving at Jabbers

As a follow-up to seeing my sister’s kids last night in their Halloween costumes, I offered to take her boys to Jabbers so she could have some time to herself.  Those boys were excited to spend time with their favorite uncle, although in reality they didn’t spend much time with me directly because we went to Jabbers.  It’s a place with lots of open space and toys for children to play under the supervision of a parent or guardian.  I’ve never been here before, but the kids have, so they knew the drill.  As soon as they were in the door, they took off their shoes and wanted to go play.
Eventually I was helped by the one staff member present who didn’t seem to have much interest for providing efficient service.  She was slow as molasses and nowhere near as sweet.  But once I got in, I was somewhat impressed by the offerings.  There’s lots of things there to entertain the kiddies and some really nice seats for the adults.

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They also have a café with the usual overpriced fare.  When my nephews started asking for a treat, I gave them a choice.  They could help me do some grocery shopping and get a treat there at the store, or they could just play longer at Jabbers.  In the end, they manipulated me into getting both.  They started by saying they wanted to play.  Then at the end when we went to leave, it became apparent that they were going to be a huge problem for me without some sort of treat to satiate them somehow.  So we rushed to Winco where they were good helpers (for the most part) in helping me with my shopping and got a treat in exchange.

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As they were quietly consuming their selected goodie in the back seat of my car, I realized that this is why the candy and soda pop industries are thriving.  This is why McDonald’s happens even though it’s not high in nutrition.  Parents worn down by the day and their kids are susceptible to giving their kids whatever just to get them to be quiet and contained.  I’m not sure how I’ll be with that challenge since I’m still single.  Wait — actually I do know because I just succumbed to it today!  I guess that makes me normal.

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I did enjoy my time helping out my sister and hope that I can do so again in the future.  Only next time, I suggested to her, maybe I could take just one of the boys instead of both and then take turns spending time with each of them.  Unless of course we go back to my place to watch Legend.  They were pretty mesmerized by that movie last night!

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