1997-Lesson #2

The biggest thing I remember about 1997 was taking my daughter to Disney World. Considering I grew up in Florida so had been to Disney World dozens of times it seemed natural to take my daughter. Besides we lived nearby, it was a less than 3 hour drive. But since I had been so many times I did not expect the reaction I had there. I guess over the years I lost the facination with the "magic" of Disney World. Instead I went for the "fun" of the rides. Parades? Oh yeah Disney World has them, they are a great time for rides because the lines are shorter. Characters? Yeah they have those too, they are always creating groups that get in my way.

My daughter was 15 months old when we took her to Disney World for the first time. I don't remember a fascinating in awe look as she saw Main Street and the castle like you see on commercials. But she did find the castle interesting, then again it was dressed up as a giant birthday cake for the birthday celebration, what could wouldn't find a huge cake interesting. I do remember her first ride on It's a Small World though. There was so much for her to see she couldn't sit still. She couldn't decide which way to look first and was just looking everywhere, noticing everything. That was when I started looking. I opened my eyes and saw all kinds of things I had not noticed on my many rides. I decided there was so much to see that we rode again right after so she oculd see everything she missed. She was calmer on that second ride and got to really enjoy it. I also remember trying to leave Epcot Center another night. On the way out it was late so I was in a bit of a hurry. But Emma spotted the fiber optics in the sidewalk. The lights that illuminate little spots in the sidewalk. She was extremely fascinated. She made us stop and slow down as she watched and watched. Then she tried to pick them up and could not figure out what they were if you coudln't pick them up. We spent a good deal of time "inspecting" the fiber optics. Of course on that trip we also did things I hadn't done before; character meals, meet and greets, parades, fireworks shows, etc

Those were just the start of years of slowing down to "smell the roses" so to speak. As time went on it was stopping to pick flowers, blow dandelions, collect rocks, discover Hungarian Pill Bugs, and so much more.

Lesson #3 is Take Time to Enjoy Life

Of course this lesson is a lot more complicated than that. Children learn through exploration so taking the time to let them is important. We do not always have time to do this though in our busy lives. The best thing to do is plan extra time into your day so you don't have to rush and you can take time to collect the rocks along the way. Everyone will be happier this way. This is especially important on vacation. Vacation is a time where you don't "have" to do anything. Yet so many people try to fit so much into their vacation that it is overscheduled. Then their "vacation" becomes rushed just like everyday life. When planning your vacation with child(ren) give yourself a LOT more time then you need so you can fully enjoy each site. Also give yourself down time. The down time is great for a nap to make sure a toddler or baby doesn't get cranky. But it is also a great time for older children to be able to go to the ice and soda machine at the hotel, use the hotel pool, collect brochures about various sites to look at, etc. My kids love hotels no matter how many times they have been. I joke that we don't need a vacation, we could just go stay at the hotel down the street. If you have to rush be sure to warn the kids ahead of time that you are in a hurry. They have no clue you are in a hurry if you don't tell them. If they don't know they won't understand why yuo are so short with them when they don't hurry or why you keep hurrying them along. If you find you are hurrying along on too many occasions then be sure to schedule in a child led trip. A trip to the park which includes a walk that they control. A walk where they can collect, notice and examine at their pace. My kids even enjoy child led trips to the mall. A trip where we have time for them to bring their doll stroller to push, a trip where they can walk at their pace, a trip where they can take time to smell the candles or sample the lotions.

If you have trouble with the idea of spending so much time enjoying life with your children try looking at it statistically. If the average life span is 70 years, what is a child's first 5 years? It is only 7% of your life. Does that single digit sound like so much to give up?