And I can totally respect that. I certainly don't look down on anyone with those feelings, at all. There was once a time when I felt the same way (although, at that time, Disneyland had nothing to do with it). Your children deserve 100% of what you have. My wife and I weren't ready at one point in our marriage, and we knew having them before we were totally ready would be wrong, so we waited. Sometimes I feel like maybe we didn't wait long enough!
But now, it's kind of funny looking back. Although I do go to The Park without them sometimes, I can't remember a time when my overall Disneyland experience didn't involve my children. If I hadn't begun having children, quite honestly, I might still be waiting for my first trip into the 'Happiest Place on Earth'. Having children, and my love for my children, helped me love Disneyland even more than I would have initially, as hard as that might seem to believe.
I'm not a perfect dad in The Park. Truthfully, sometimes they drive me slap bonkers. Threats of never bringing them back fill the air, and I wonder what demon possessed me to make me bring them.
But when I have moments like the one below, and my family is all together and ready to enjoy whatever magic is in the air on any given day, it all makes sense. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
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| The Elliotts riding the monorail into The Park |
~Chad
2 comments:
Before kids, though I loved all my trips to WDW, my most memorable was my first (1986 as an eighth grader!), but now my most memorable moments are those with my kids. The first time we took all three of them there were moments of the vacation that I thought what were we thinking. My son was 3.5 and almost potty trained, but not quite, my middle daughter had just turned 2 and was in diapers. . . can you say terrible twos? full on when we arrived at WDW, not a day before, and my youngest was 10 months and not walking yet. There were some stressful moments, but also those moments of pure magic. As soon as we returned home, I couldn't wait to bring them back, which we did this year. Now I can't wait to bring them again next year . . . which will be our first trip without a diaper bag and I can't wait!
They make a difference, and in retrospect (maybe not while we're IN the moment) we love every minute of it.
:)
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