Dizzy Dizzy Disney

I just got back from a two-day trip with my 28 month old daughter and my three-month-old son. Now when I use the word trip I am not just implying that we left home and went somewhere, I mean trip as in the kind of places LSD makes you go and the type of trip that alters your senses and makes you come to life-changing realizations. Where did we go, I can hear you all asking.... The Happiest Place on Earth - Disneyland!

My sister, who has two ankle bitters as well, roped me into it and we thought it would be a great chance to meet up and let the cousins run amok and see their fav of the moment, Mickey Mouse. When I was a teen, my two best friends ended up having children and so I was a young 'Aunty' and then my sister pushed out two within two years and poof, I thought I knew children... then I made mine and felt child raising is a breeze... then Disney taught me a few valuable lessons no one could have taught me better.

Disneyland is now swarmed with young kids, and I mean young, babies that look weeks old with their tired and haggard parents pushing through the myriad of strollers. I was introduced to the triple stroller and every conceivable contraption for carrying a child, special parking has now replaced the small but convenient wheelchair parking areas and people are paid to monitor the strollers and re-park them in nice neat rows for you. I learned to love my double stroller and the ease with which it cruised the tarmac, folded in two seconds and was easy to explain how to open to anyone nearby who could help!

But once you get over the reality of the crowds, the children, the shrieks and cries you start to see things a little deeper. I think the most amazing thing is that no matter how many days you are there you will never satisfy your children. They will always want more. More rides, more candy, more Mickey, more attention. What they need is ignored and after being filled up on junk food and excitement they crash...hard... and usually after a tantrum of sorts or the short half-mile jaunt back to the hotel.

You see parents desperate to please their children, to get that perfect photo, to have a special mommy and me moment, to make memories and to ignore the fact that they are on vacation and should smile. That was me on the first day, my three month old broke me of that illusion and as I sat at dinner, exhausted and with a forlorn look on my face (one my mom lovingly caught on camera) I decided day two would be chilled no matter what, I would let my daughter ride the teacups all day if that made her happy and if we never took a stroll through Frontier Land so be it! My baby didn't care where we were as long as the persistent 85-degree sun was out of his face and mom was close by. So we slowed down instead of shouted, we played instead of pondered, we frolicked instead of frowned... and we headed over to the California Park and played in the water! Once we were on the "otherside" it was a pleasure, a dream, my little girl went on rides she felt were made for her. She dragged my hand to go see Monsters Inc even though she has never seen the movie and has yet to comprehend that monsters are meant to be scary. We sat front row for a great parade in the afternoon and watched a 3-D movie. No lines, no bother, no panic and no pressure.
We enjoyed our day and then it hit me, I remembered a saying from my youth. We used to say 'stop the madness' and take a step away from it all. I realized I forgot to just enjoy the moment, love being a parent and let go of being the kid. You have to let your children enjoy things how they perceive them. If you push them into a pose or throw them on a ride that you remember being great from your youth you lose them. You mold them, you make them what you are and what you wanted to be. I learned to let my children grow at their pace, call things by the name they deem correct and imagine their world to be their favorite place. I also realized I probably will not go back to Disneyland. It is a lot smaller now and more crowded. The food is rubbish and the price is a shock to the system. I will wait till my children corner me into going, they will have to beg till they are blue in the face or else wait till that magic age they can drive themselves.