Last Friday I made a huge leap of faith. I decided that I would join my husband on his business trip to Orlando. This may not seem like a big deal but for me it means spending a significant amount of money and traveling with only one of my three kids. I recently went on my first vacation with only one child, my son, and it was great. He wanted to attend a video game competition in Las Vegas, so I took him. I am not a video gamer by any means, I just never got past Frogger as a kid. He loves video games and at 15 he really enjoys that scene. But back to this trip.
This trip gives me the opportunity to travel with just my husband and my youngest. J has to work two of the 5 days we are there so it will be just me and the littlest one. I booked five day park hopper tickets so we could enjoy Disney. It is going to be VERY busy and this isn't a week I would have booked if I was paying for the entire thing but the weather will be nice and we are great at finding things that don't require hours of line standing.
I love Disney. I have been to Disney World three times and Disneyland a few more than that. I remember every trip vividly from my first trip to my honeymoon to our trip last year. We have taken all three kids and Q. The last two trips my x-husband joined us so he could spend time with his kids while we were in Florida. My house is filled with pictures from each trip and memories of the adventures that were included. Everyone has a favorite part and enjoys sharing their memories when asked.
My mom comes to, it is a normally a large family trip.
The littlest one is a BIG princess fan.
Last year's trip was a family reunion because we met my sister's family there and got to hang with my nephews, aren't they cute!!
Yep, that's my X with my two eldest and Q the boyfriend. I vacation with my x and my current husband and they get along just fine. The both think my eldest needs longer shorts, my youngest is the cutest and I need to relax more. We all had beer at Epcot and the kids got to hang out with their dad when he wasn't busy defending our freedom and in my book that pretty awesome.
The memories and spending time with my family is what makes it one of may favorite vacation spots. All the other spots in my top five list involve hiking and camping so this is something completely different. Disney is the one vacation we take where I get to relax, I don't have to cook or clean or drive. I have a hard time relaxing, I'm a control freak that way. I'm the mom that is annoyed you don't help but more annoyed when you don't do it my way so I just do it... At Disney, I don't have that, I make reservations at restaurants, I go on rides, and we stay in a hotel that someone else cleans. I actually get to enjoy my family and not spend all day solving (or teaching them to solve) their problems or ensuring they are cared for.
Sounds great right? I certainly think so but then the nagging in the back of my head starts....
That's a LOT of money to spend for a week's vacation.
The oldest daughter will/is not happy about not being included.
This is five full days of PTO and you are busy at work.
You won't have time to workout and that's going really well for you.
.....
Oh yeah, don't forget this morning when eldest daughter pointed out that the basement toilet is leaking and need replaced .......and the carpet got wet again, and ..... and....
That's when the voice got real loud and shouted... "Why are you going on vacation!!??"
I took a deep breath. I had two options here, I could cancel my trip and recoup any money I had spent and do all of the things that I 'needed' to do at home and at work or I could reframe my point of view.
I took it one step at a time:
That's a LOT of money to spend for a week's vacation. Sure, but it is cheaper than it would have been another time. Is it worth the fun and memories we are creating? Yes. Will there be ways to save money even while we are out so we can make sure we are cost effective? Yes. Are we going into debt to afford this? No. Ok, problem one solved.
The oldest daughter will/is not happy about not being included. Is she asking to be treated like an adult now that she graduated high school? Yes. Does she have a job where she makes money and could vacation herself? Yes. Are you doing a solo trip with her later this year? Yes. This is was solved with a quick conversation, lucky for me eldest daughter is pretty reasonable.
This is five full days of PTO and you are busy at work. This is a lame excuse, I have plenty of PTO and work is always busy.
You won't have time to workout and that's going really well for you. Again, lame. I will get tons of walking in everyday and can find time to run, I've done it the last three times we've gone and missing a couple workouts hasn't killed anyone, especially if they run a 12 minute mile.
Oh yeah, don't forget this morning when eldest daughter pointed out that the basement toilet is leaking and need replaced .......and the carpet got wet again, and ..... and....
This one was a little harder but just like work something is always needing repaired at my house. It has gotten o the age where things are just getting old and need replaced. I was actually pleasantly surprised to find out that it was only the toilet this time not the shower or the water heater, again. Lucky for me, I am handy and can replace a toilet in an afternoon. I might even have time to do it tomorrow.
I could be bummed out and annoyed that I have to do this right before vacation or stressed but I choose not to be. Sometimes, most of the time, life happens and it isn't always great stuff. Many of the things that happen are annoying, hard, stressful and have the opportunity to get you down. I let those things happen to me but I try not to let them keep me down for long. I am grateful to have a good job where I have enough money that I can replace the toilet and still go on vacation, although I would love not to spend that money.
I just try to make each day end on a good note. Remember the good things and the time we spent together. And next week should be full of more of those moments.
This trip gives me the opportunity to travel with just my husband and my youngest. J has to work two of the 5 days we are there so it will be just me and the littlest one. I booked five day park hopper tickets so we could enjoy Disney. It is going to be VERY busy and this isn't a week I would have booked if I was paying for the entire thing but the weather will be nice and we are great at finding things that don't require hours of line standing.
I love Disney. I have been to Disney World three times and Disneyland a few more than that. I remember every trip vividly from my first trip to my honeymoon to our trip last year. We have taken all three kids and Q. The last two trips my x-husband joined us so he could spend time with his kids while we were in Florida. My house is filled with pictures from each trip and memories of the adventures that were included. Everyone has a favorite part and enjoys sharing their memories when asked.
My mom comes to, it is a normally a large family trip. 
The littlest one is a BIG princess fan.
Last year's trip was a family reunion because we met my sister's family there and got to hang with my nephews, aren't they cute!!
Yep, that's my X with my two eldest and Q the boyfriend. I vacation with my x and my current husband and they get along just fine. The both think my eldest needs longer shorts, my youngest is the cutest and I need to relax more. We all had beer at Epcot and the kids got to hang out with their dad when he wasn't busy defending our freedom and in my book that pretty awesome. The memories and spending time with my family is what makes it one of may favorite vacation spots. All the other spots in my top five list involve hiking and camping so this is something completely different. Disney is the one vacation we take where I get to relax, I don't have to cook or clean or drive. I have a hard time relaxing, I'm a control freak that way. I'm the mom that is annoyed you don't help but more annoyed when you don't do it my way so I just do it... At Disney, I don't have that, I make reservations at restaurants, I go on rides, and we stay in a hotel that someone else cleans. I actually get to enjoy my family and not spend all day solving (or teaching them to solve) their problems or ensuring they are cared for.
Sounds great right? I certainly think so but then the nagging in the back of my head starts....
That's a LOT of money to spend for a week's vacation.
The oldest daughter will/is not happy about not being included.
This is five full days of PTO and you are busy at work.
You won't have time to workout and that's going really well for you.
.....
Oh yeah, don't forget this morning when eldest daughter pointed out that the basement toilet is leaking and need replaced .......and the carpet got wet again, and ..... and....
That's when the voice got real loud and shouted... "Why are you going on vacation!!??"
I took a deep breath. I had two options here, I could cancel my trip and recoup any money I had spent and do all of the things that I 'needed' to do at home and at work or I could reframe my point of view.
I took it one step at a time:
That's a LOT of money to spend for a week's vacation. Sure, but it is cheaper than it would have been another time. Is it worth the fun and memories we are creating? Yes. Will there be ways to save money even while we are out so we can make sure we are cost effective? Yes. Are we going into debt to afford this? No. Ok, problem one solved.
The oldest daughter will/is not happy about not being included. Is she asking to be treated like an adult now that she graduated high school? Yes. Does she have a job where she makes money and could vacation herself? Yes. Are you doing a solo trip with her later this year? Yes. This is was solved with a quick conversation, lucky for me eldest daughter is pretty reasonable.
This is five full days of PTO and you are busy at work. This is a lame excuse, I have plenty of PTO and work is always busy.
You won't have time to workout and that's going really well for you. Again, lame. I will get tons of walking in everyday and can find time to run, I've done it the last three times we've gone and missing a couple workouts hasn't killed anyone, especially if they run a 12 minute mile.
Oh yeah, don't forget this morning when eldest daughter pointed out that the basement toilet is leaking and need replaced .......and the carpet got wet again, and ..... and....
This one was a little harder but just like work something is always needing repaired at my house. It has gotten o the age where things are just getting old and need replaced. I was actually pleasantly surprised to find out that it was only the toilet this time not the shower or the water heater, again. Lucky for me, I am handy and can replace a toilet in an afternoon. I might even have time to do it tomorrow.
I could be bummed out and annoyed that I have to do this right before vacation or stressed but I choose not to be. Sometimes, most of the time, life happens and it isn't always great stuff. Many of the things that happen are annoying, hard, stressful and have the opportunity to get you down. I let those things happen to me but I try not to let them keep me down for long. I am grateful to have a good job where I have enough money that I can replace the toilet and still go on vacation, although I would love not to spend that money.
I just try to make each day end on a good note. Remember the good things and the time we spent together. And next week should be full of more of those moments.
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