Java Jungle.  A God send for parents with hyper rug rats.  When the weather won’t allow your kids to play outside,  this two-story,  multi-level,  indoor jungle gym is the answer.  Guaranteed to burn 200 calories every 15 minutes and extend the mid-day naps of tikes everywhere.  A free, wireless Internet connection allows parents with laptops the ability to surf the web between bathroom breaks and juice box replenishment (this place also makes a mean pretzel bread and cheese  sandwich).

After you sign in, everyone migrates to the coat room where kids store their jackets and everyone – parents included – leave their shoes behind in numbered bins.  The play area is a ‘ socks only’ joint.  Today I noticed some rule breakers.  Adult rule breakers.  Keep in mind a large winter storm just  hammered our locale with 8+ inches of snow, so the entry way and coat room floors were a bit of a wet mess.  This takes some careful tip-toe negotiating, as one does not want to incur wet socks for the subsiquent 2 hour romp.  I was looking forward to getting into the ‘socks only’ dry zone and setting up my computer.  Apparently there were some parents who didn’t want to get their hosiery wet by KEEPING THEIR SHOES ON.  Go figure.

There’s a Japanese tradition where  shoes are left outside the doorway of a ‘Shofuso’.   Evidently any remnants of this ancient practice were cast aside while entering Java Jungle today – at least with our Asian friends who were hosting a birthday party.  For shame.

Then there was the (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) father who arrived in sneakers and sat down behind me – in the aforementioned ‘no shoe’ zone.   As his child voiced concern about stepping in something wet, his reply struck me as I heard him utter, “No hun,  daddy’s shoes are dry.”

I managed to leave Java Jungle with dry socks today.  Although my 3 1/2 year old managed to soak his shirt, pants AND socks from a drinking fountain, water spitting contest.  Ah, the best laid plans…