the start of a new week chat

Lisa, what horrible pressure to feel from "society"! I think the other vacations you have planned sound wonderful--you'll do what's right and best for Riley and your family. You're not cheating her-that I am sure of!!  (I didn't get to Disney until my late 30's--there was just no money to do anything like that in the "old days". Our vacations were spent at my grandparents' and those times are some of my fondest memories--I don't think we went anywhere else until middle school or high school. But, I know those were the old days and "old school".

Jan, T minus how ever many days and counting--what an exciting trip!

That barracuda sounds fierce--yikes!

Tina, that is so sad about the Lab.

mrstjohnson

DH and I were talking about the whole Disney thing last night and making plans.  We talked about how there is so much pressure to take Riley there.  Not really from our family, but honestly from society.  Everyone asks - have you gone to Disney yet?  Like we are somehow subpar parents if we don't.  I know we aren't but it is annoying.  Now, out of principle he's rethinking it.  We are planning several vacation to amusement parks over the next two years (King's Island and a couple of Cedar Point trips).  But somehow we feel we are cheating her by not taking her to Disney World.  Definitely something we need to get over, but it's weird how it all works.

Ooops, 10:00 am is here

 

Well, from a person who hates Disney, don't worry about it. But then again, I do hate Disney. Honestly, I think now she might be just getting to the age when it's worthwhile. I've been to Disney so many times with my grandparents. My sister and I used to go down to Florida and stay with our grandparents for a month every summer. We'd go at least once of twice to Disney. By a little after lunch, most of the under 5 set was screaming and whining. Especially if you go in the summer, it's hot, it's a long day, it has very little shade, lines are long, and it is exhausting. Too exhausting I think for a little kid. Plus, if you go when they are too little, they have no memory of it. Sure, they'll see pictures, but they don't actually remember any of it for themselves. I'm not sure exactly when you were planning on going (I seem to remember it being in a year or two). Till then, she should be old enough to make it through the day without getting exhausted, and it being torture for everyone involved. FWIW, I live 15 minutes from Sesame Place. My niece, who is 18 months old has been there, because they run a special day for children with disabilities, and they got some extra tickets that way and took her last year. Other than that, my sister said she'll take her when she is older and asks to go. The tickets there, you automatically get two days when you buy one ticket, which I think is nice. A little kid just can't take in everything in one day. My friends who go often get season passes, and they just go for a few hours at a time. Lots of the people who come from out of town tend to go first thing in the morning, leave at lunch time, and come back after dinner for a bit, or they come in after lunch and leave at dinner time. The kids just can't make it through the day. My mom had talked about taking my niece to Dorney Park with us at the end of the summer (I'm going for my birthday for a bit at the end of August, I'm just going to get the after 5 tickets, since you can pretty much do everything there pretty quickly). I told my mom to take her to the fair next month instead. She's going to last for may a half hour to an hour on rides, the fair has lots of animals, and is 15 minutes from our house as opposed to an hour and fifteen minutes. It's a whole lot easier if she gets tired, or it's hot and she needs a break to take her home from the fair. I'll be the first one to get on rides with her when she's big enough to ride more than just stuff that makes slow circles and goes up and down, but until then, the fairs have an adequate supply of those sorts of rides.

 I about had a nervous breakdown last night...my 90 yo MIL is here for a visit.  She was taking the bus into Atlanta, and my son was to pick her up.  He hit a horrible traffic jam just south of Atlanta (accident)  and the cars were backed up for 15 miles.  Turns out the megabus drop-off is just a bus stop, not a terminal or anything.  I had been calling her for 30 min to tell her what happened, but she rarely uses her cell and didn't realize it was ringing.  She did finally answer, but here is this elderly lady sitting on her suitcase in 95 degree weather in the middle of Atlanta at 7 pm!!!  I asked her to see if she could see a restaurant or something to wait in....nope.  After a while, she decided to walk a bit and found a Best Western and stayed in the lobby until my son got there.  She must have looked like a pitiful homeless person.  All is well now, but I think I aged 10 yrs.

 Oh my gosh, Marty, that's terrible!!  The poor thing!!

As for Disney, I honestly think parents just brag to eachother about how much cooler their trip to Disney was versus someone else's.  They try to out-do eachother and give advice - like they do about childbirth and parenting.  How raising children got to be a competitive sport, I don't know, but I'll stick to dogs if I want to compete against others.  You are a great mom, and you do whatever the hello you want to do!  Just sayin'

Marty, I'm so glad your MIL was able to find a cool place to wait. 

I've only been to Disney once and saw a ton of younger kids having complete melt downs and their parents looking like they'd rather be anywhere but there.  My sis and I took her daughter who was 5 years old.  She couldn't ride a lot of the rides and was scared on some of the ones we could ride.  We spent most of our day riding the It's a Small World ride.  OMG, I wanted to rip the speakers out and stomp them after our third trip through that one.  Disney is best for older kids, from what I saw, unless you've got a child who enjoys standing in long lines and who knows any kids like that. lol 

JackieG

I've only been to Disney once and saw a ton of younger kids having complete melt downs and their parents looking like they'd rather be anywhere but there.  My sis and I took her daughter who was 5 years old.  She couldn't ride a lot of the rides and was scared on some of the ones we could ride.  We spent most of our day riding the It's a Small World ride.  OMG, I wanted to rip the speakers out and stomp them after our third trip through that one.  Disney is best for older kids, from what I saw, unless you've got a child who enjoys standing in long lines and who knows any kids like that. lol 

LOL! So true. In fact, I don't like long lines and I'd be the one having the meltdown - and I am 45!

 Ugh Disney.............never been, never wanted to go. Even as a child I was happier to play in a river than go to a tourist trap so no help here. My younger sister has gone with her DH & kids a few times - then again she's always been a keeping up with the Jones type

It's 11:36 and I want my lunch!

Marty I am so glad your MIL is fine - poor thing

Lisa I am so very sorry that video made you cry - same here but so darn powerful here's the link for anyone interested LINK

The thing with Disney is I am afraid she will outgrow it by the time she is 7 LOL  She seriously LOVES rides.  That's why we go to the amusement parks so much - she has serious thrill issues.  Plus she is very into the Pixar movies (Wall-E, Toy Story, etc.) and want to go while she is still into them.  However, budget dictates that we probably aren't going until 2014.  We are definitely not a "keep up with the Joneses" type people.  However, we do go on vacations alone and people have no problem questioning wether we should be putting that money towards a "Disney Vacation". Nevermind the fact we do a family vacation to Palm Springs every year.  Oh well, it will sort itself out - always does.  I never ran my life listening to other people not going to start now.

Marty - you must have been so freaked out yesterday.  Thank goodness she's ok.

Don't worry about it Karen - I cry at all those types of things.  It's gotten to the point where I have to turn off the St. Jude commercials on TV.  LOL  I am a mess when the U of M children's hospital commericials come on during the games - I'm quite a site.

wow - that's a great video and another reminder of how small all my problems are in comparison.

(((Marty))) - I'm so glad everything worked out okay but yep, I'd have been in total panic mode too.

Where I grew up was only about an hour away from the original Disneyland and I still didn't go until I was about 13. I love the place though and understand why it's such a huge attraction. I used to want to ride the latest and greatest thrill ride but the last few times I've been on them, I've found I'm not as brave as I used to be.

Oh my gosh!  Poor MIL!

I am 58 years old and HAVE NEVER BEEN TO DISNEY!  I have not been damaged by the lack of a visit.

Mike went with the Marching Band in middle school (the one in FL) and Ryan went to the one in CA as his senior class trip in HS.  They had a good time, but neither expressed an overwhelming desire to go back again.  I'm just saying.......

I personally think that if its something you can do, a couples vacation is a total must.  It keeps that glue in the marriage nice and tight.  Heavens, its not like you're dumping your child in boarding school so you can globe trot!  Riley will probably appreciate Disney more at a little bit older age....it can be pretty overwhelming for little ones from what I've heard.

Back to work.....

 Cathy - I hope Shane feels better soon. 

Jan - you must be EXCITED!!!!  Hopefully you'll share some pictures

I'm officially on countdown to Myrtle Beach.  We start the drive Sunday.  I think we have just about everything figured out in terms of the drive down, hotel stays and the drive back.  First week long vacation in two years, so I'm pretty happy :)  

I went to Disney as a kid, and while it was fun I can't say I liked it anymore than other amusement parks I've been too over the years.  I've liked other places better as a kid and now as an adult.  I have no real desire to go back to Disney.  I'm a huge fan of roller coasters, so Cedar Point is really my current favorite place.  As a kid, I really liked (though it has been closed and I think they're working on reopening it fully) Ghost Town in the Sky in North Carolina.  That place holds some very dear memories from when my grandparents lived down there and the fun we had at that park.  

Back to our routine now that SIL and MIL are gone.  I'm always so happy to have our house back after we've had houseguests.  It was so nice to get up this morning and eat my oatmeal in peace without having to feel like I had to hold a conversation with anyone other than Ruby!  DH was sick for their whole visit and is still dragging a bit . . . I'm so hoping I don't catch his germs.  I went a bit overboard with Clorox wipes around the house for the past few days!

I'll wait to watch that video at home this evening.  Too much work on my desk to risk an emotional break, and it sounds like I'd be affected by it.

We had "high heat" all weekend (about 88 degrees).  It's nice to wear shorts for a change.  Someone reminded me that summer here doesn't start until July 5th, and it was right on schedule this year!

Marty, so glad you MIL is okay.  What a scary thing for you and her -- it could've been a bad situation.

Paige, I had a dream about you last night, sort of.  I was walking past a big old farm-house, and through the front window, I could see a room with a big bed in it and a Doberman lying on it.  In my dream, I said to myself, "Oh, this must be Paige's house, because there's Gracie!"  I have no idea what your house looks like, but I was certain of it in my dream!  Weird how dreams are.

Did anyone else hear the Heart song in their head when Jackie mentioned the barracuda?

Oh, for the record, I have never been to Disney World. I've been to Disney Land once -- I was in my late 30's. I was nearby for a business trip, and my boss insisted we spend an evening there.  Kind of odd to ride roller coasters and go in haunted houses with your boss. 

I remember a family with a young child in front of us in line, and the kid was crying with exhaustion (it was after 9pm). I got the clear impression that the parents were determined to get their day-pass money's worth and weren't leaving that line for anything. I told my boss I felt like crying too -- we had worked all day, and my feet were killing me from hoofing around the park!