Seven-Ten Split

Man, bowling alleys are not what they were in the 70s. This is the part where you all elicit a collective groan at my continual comparisons between my childhood and Haley's current experiences. Its hard not to do. So much has changed in that time. The topic of discussion today is bowling. One of Haley's friends had their birthday at the bowling alley this past weekend. The minute the invitation arrived in the mail, I must admit my first response was confusion. "Bowling? For kids 5 and under?" However, keep in mind that the last time I was in a bowling alley was in the 80s and it was painfully obvious from the interior that when the place was updated last, the blending of lime green and mustard yellow was considered a good decorative fashion choice.

What a difference several decades make. Gone was the dreary dim cavern where old men put pencil to paper to mark their Xs and /s under a yellow haze of cigarette smoke. The bowling alley we went to on Sunday was a lively family affair. Balloons and attendants in party hats, brightly colored balls, music videos playing on the monitors, as well as cartoons depicting the fate of pins with scared animated faces whenever someone got a strike... And the most puzzling of all (for me anyway), a large assortment of toddler-sized bowling shoes. There was a time when I would ask for a pair of size nines at the rental counter and be turned away. This place had enough pairs of size T8 bowling shoes that every kid in our party and the two other kids parties that were going on simultaneously could hit the lanes. And they were velcro!

For kids Haley's age, the bowling alley puts up gutter guards that don't allow the balls to fall in. In addition, they provide a small ramp that is just about chest height for the kids. Haley would pick up her ball with both hands and waddle over to the ramp that was placed at the foul line. She'd heft the ball onto the ramp and give it a good shove. I don't think she quite understood about the pins, because immediately after pushing the ball, she would run over to the ball-return without seeing how many she knocked over. Still, she had a good time and seems interested in doing it again. Now... about renting those size nines...