One of the most artistically designed bathrooms in Tacoma is the Masa bathroom. It undoubtedly has the modern touch of class that makes you feel as though you are dining somewhere really special: square lifted sinks, metal counter top, heavy doors, and the best part of all¬" cool tiles surrounding the mirror by Tacoman Claudia Riedener. I know the Weekly Volcano has already written about how fantastic Masa is, so I won't go into detail on that part.

I go there because I love the food. I also love supporting my husband's old Bellarmine friend¬" John Xitco. What I always have a hard time remembering is that Masa is not a family restaurant where you want to bring your kids. I've tried multiple times, and I have to just realize that they cater mainly to Tacoma's adults. There's nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact, they do a fantastic job at it.

So as I'm there with some of my peeps, drinking the best margaritas around, I take a break for the bathroom. I enjoy Claudia's tile, and I think of other places that are more kid-friendly. I remember places that should be painfully obvious where all kids are welcome. I remember KAke and I last Wednesday night. I remember the My Little Pony World's Biggest Tea Party. I remember it all very, very well.

Is it wrong that KAke and I had purchased fifth row seats for the World's Biggest Tea Party more than a month in advance? Not in our book. Our girls are die-hard My Little Pony fans. Collectively they have at least 4,236 ponies between them. Most are duplicates, and we have to meticulously mark them all with initials specifying if each belongs to or  So it was a no-brainer for us to jump on Ticketmaster as soon as we heard the news of said T-Dome pony performance.

The girls were in awe; it was the night they had been waiting for. We had each dropped a pretty penny on some souvenirs, scored some good floor seats, and we were ready to have ourselves a grand teatime. Music was playing, ponies were singing, every pre-kinder in Tacoma was dancing and hopping. The ponies on stage encouraged the kids to get up, twirl, bounce, and act like a teapot. Fun, fun, fun!

Unfortunately, security was TIGHT. And by tight I mean personnel sitting up front at the foot of the stage (in case some punk ass 4-year-old pony groupie wanted to storm Pinkie Pie Pony). By tight I also mean rigid old hags who tell your kid to stop dancing with the pennant flag they sold us when we walked in, but let the other kids do it (thus making your child cry). And by tight I mean that same old hag who physically stops your child from dancing by forcefully grabbing your child by the arm and pulling her.

To all the moms out there reading this, I'm sure you'll agree with my next statement:

I have respect for the rules, and I am thankful that you are concerned for my child's safety. But if for any reason whatsoever, unless my children are about to hurt themselves or someone else, should you lay a single hand in a forceful way on them, so help you¬" you shall have to contend with the wrath of MOM.

I respectfully let the hag know what I thought of her actions, then told her to get the F out of my face. Thankfully she was sent home on the spot and some T-Dome supervisor came over and apologized on behalf of the Tacoma Dome. I think she's lucky I didn't run into her in the parking lot.

So maybe My Little Pony wasn't as kid-friendly as I thought it should be. There certainly was a lot of pressure for those kids to sit still and behave. I mean, I'm 35, and I can't even sit still and behave. Speaking of behaving, I quickly finish up in the Masa bathroom, eager to return to my own little margarita tea party. The party that Masa knows how to do up just right.¬" Steph DeRosa