Sticky Man

Everyone has those "moments" when your kids embarress you ...well, this one was a battle between "embarressed parent" and "avid scrapbooker".

We recently went to Austin Park and Pizza for Ryan's birthday. As usual, it was "me" and the kids. This year we had Ryan, his friend Dillon, Mason, and Jackie. With one adult and 4 kids the odds are in favor of an "incident" of some kind occuring. Well, this year we had the incident of the "Sticky Man".

It was later in the afternoon, I was sitting in the snackbar guarding our table, phones, camera, etc...and basically enjoying the airconditioning while the kids ran amok. Out of the corner of my eye I notice Ryan and Dillon throwing things up against the high wall above the pool table area. Of course the objects they were hurling would hit the wall, bounce, and come flying back down and it was only a matter of time until the poor people walking by were going to be pegged. So, I leave my post to go "threaten" the boys as to the "throwing objects" indoors. I give them the annoyed "What are you doing?" and the reply was, "my sticky man is stuck on the wall". Sure enough, HIGH up the wall is a very tiny, obviously very sticky, man. (it is one of those "sticky" toys...about an inch big, worth maybe a nickel at best, that is won using "tickets" from the arcade.) I answer, well you will never hit it again and you are going to hit someone so count sticky man as lost and move on. No, Ryan wants his sticky man...I suggest that maybe it will "un" stick in time and fall down if they just wait...No, it is stuck they say as they continue to hurl things at it. As small as he is and as high as he is...you are never going to hit it ! Well, people begining to stare now...so I tell Ryan to go ask the man behind the prize counter if they have any way to get it down. As Ryan starts over, I rush back to my table, not wanting them to know it is MY child that has the sticky man stuck to the wall. (which I never thought to ask WHY sticky man was there in the first place. will ask later). The man, I see from my "distant" vantage point says no and so the boys are again throwing things at the wall. The mom in me can't stand it and I again go over and tell them they are going to hit someone and to STOP throwing stuff. "BUT MOM !!!!!!!! I then ask how "sticky man" came to be on the wall. "Well, he didnt' stick to anything down here so we wanted to see if he would stick to that wall." At this point some other workers were walking by...I suggest Ryan ask someone else to help and again run to my safe, it isn't my child, hiding place to watch. These two guys laugh, and motion to Ryan to wait a minute. Sure enough, these two kids come back with a VERY TALL ladder and by this time Ryan and Dillon have quite the audience. Here is the dilema...do I stay hidden so all the people staring don't connect me to this scene or do I get pictures for the scrapbook...the AVID scrapper won out and I grabbed my camera and got pictures of the "sticky man" rescue. All this for sticky, nickel valued toy. Ha. ha. And as the guys that help them left, they told Ryan, "by the way, that thing sticks to walls..." and they left laughing. Kuddos to these two guys though, for going WAY above and beyond their job description and helping kids out over a worthless piece of junk that meant something to the kids. Thanks guys !!!!!!!!!!