Hell exists, and it is here in Ottawa

One of the things nobody tells you about when you have children is the number of times you have to leave your darling child at places you would rather not frequent. Of course, you don't know prior to having a child that you would rather not frequent them. You know after having had a child that you would rather not frequent them because you have already had to frequent them with your darling child.

Today was such a day with Ottawacker Jr. He was invited to a birthday party at Cosmic Adventures, which is a great place if you are a 6-year-old, and an absolutely appalling place if you are, say, older than that. The screams and yells of children, each louder than the next, provide an insight into the mind of Dante Alighieri. There is nothing insightful or inventive about The Divine Comedy, it is an accurate portrayal of the time he took his kid to a party in Firenze. 

Of course, the pain wears off if you are doing a drive-by-drop-off as we were. In we went, shook hands solemnly with the parents of the child hosting the party, shared knowing looks of commiseration and acknowledgement that we too would be in that situation soon enough, and ran out of there as fast as our arthritic legs would carry us.

There is a bond between parents of children of the same age. But it doesn't extend to offering to stay and help out at Cosmic Adventures. 

I have no doubt that Ottawacker Jr will return exhausted and beaming ear to ear. And that is just as it should be.