Giving families the disney magic-If possible

[HappyLawyer]

I just did a post it and it made me think about my life. I am the poor kid who grew up worked hard and made a success of it. I feel for all the children in the world that will never have the experience of disney or a vacation period, all the travels i do now i had no opportunity as a child. I adopted my daughter when she was 2 1/2 now she is 8 we take her to disney every 2 years, we spend about 2 weeks there, she is one of 10 children and only 2 others were adopted into a family that can afford to take vacations. Since my mom was poor she did not go to disney as a kid and never got the magic i make sure she goes with us each and every time and i try to make it more special for her then my daughter, i know i waste a lot of money on the next trip in 2006 but we only live once, Each time i am at disney i meet so many adoptive parents, i love intorducing myself as an adoptive parent to them. Some of the families are obvious different races our is not my dtr and myself are both black, do we have any other families out there with adopted children. Share your thought on how special it feels to take them to disney.

I replied to another post and made me think about all the children who will never get to go to disney or travel anywhere. I just think it is a very special thing. I do plan to have 1 child, i don't think anyone can get me to go through labor more then once so we better have twins and i would like to adopt more children maybe 2 more, i cannot afford international adoption so i am a foster parent and God will give me what God sees fit i suppose. Anyway cherish all the moments good or bad and keep enjoying disney (despite the rate increases-lol)

[HappyLawyer]

i just really wanted to say how special it is the 53 people have read this thread and no one has any comment, thanks to you all.

[aec]

Thanks. your post really puts things into perspective!

[HappyLawyer]

thank you for taking the time to acknowledge it

[mjmcca]

I do cherish teh time i spent at WDW with my oarents when the 3 times i went with my mother andhte 1 time i was lucky enough to have both of my parents with me. They are now gone. I take my children as often as i am able to give them memories to cherish too.

[ebarj1098]

I'd like to comment. My sister has a "sorta" adopted daughter. She is actually her God Daughter, but she has full custody of her, with NO real parental rights. Her real mother doesn't want her so she has lived with my sister for 12 years now. She calls my sister Mom and her real mother "the woman". My sister works for a church and really has no money, but she gets my niece to special concerts and to WDW when possible. (We are going in June!) My sister would like to adopt or be a foster parent, but doesn't really see it happening, as a low-income single parent. I think it is important for all families to try to do these special family trips. I nearly come to tears thinking about how special WDW will be for my two DS. Just thought I'd share!

[HappyLawyer]

tell your sister it is not about the amount of money she makes, they will come in and look at the quality of her home, if she could look and see if there was some type of state assistance with the adoption expenses, she is doing an awesome thing

[mom4graceandlogan]

Hello Happylawyer!!!!! Guess what? I am an adoption attorney and plan to adopt myself in the next 2-3 years. I love your thread! I never got to go to Disney as a child and have great pleasure in getting to take my almost 4 year old daughter and am planning to take my one year old daughter later this year. I am the first person in my family to go to college, much less go on big vacations. I have two biological daughters. My husband and I are huge foster parent advocates and plan on adopting at least one possibly up to three children (maybe a sibling group) over the next five years. I work part time and do all types of adoptions(private, international foster care, independent, relative etc.) but foster care are my favorites. I do free consultations for anyone who will listen to me speak about the advantages(and disadvantages) of foster parent adoptions. State agency adoptions are my favorite. I used to represent the state in termination proceedings. I would say 1/2 of my state agency adoptions are disney fans, many are season pass holders, most stay at Fort Wilderness. ( we live in N. Georgia). My husband and I had planned on adopting possibly before we had biological children, but fate (and a big surprise) had other plans for us. Now we are waiting until our youngest is 3 until we take foster parent classes. You are absolutely right about income not being an issue for state adoptions. Much assistance may be available if people just ask. When we are blessed with an adopted child, we will be celebrating the adoption at Walt Disney World without a doubt.

[HappyLawyer]

Hello Happylawyer!!!!! Guess what? I am an adoption attorney and plan to adopt myself in the next 2-3 years. I love your thread! I never got to go to Disney as a child and have great pleasure in getting to take my almost 4 year old daughter and am planning to take my one year old daughter later this year. I am the first person in my family to go to college, much less go on big vacations. I have two biological daughters. My husband and I are huge foster parent advocates and plan on adopting at least one possibly up to three children (maybe a sibling group) over the next five years. I work part time and do all types of adoptions(private, international foster care, independent, relative etc.) but foster care are my favorites. I do free consultations for anyone who will listen to me speak about the advantages(and disadvantages) of foster parent adoptions. State agency adoptions are my favorite. I used to represent the state in termination proceedings. I would say 1/2 of my state agency adoptions are disney fans, many are season pass holders, most stay at Fort Wilderness. ( we live in N. Georgia). My husband and I had planned on adopting possibly before we had biological children, but fate (and a big surprise) had other plans for us. Now we are waiting until our youngest is 3 until we take foster parent classes. You are absolutely right about income not being an issue for state adoptions. Much assistance may be available if people just ask. When we are blessed with an adopted child, we will be celebrating the adoption at Walt Disney World without a doubt.

That is so awesome, i am a big advocate also, my goal is to take over te department of children and family services here in il, one day hopefully, we are the first generation of grandcildren to graduate, all except the two 8 year olds, and te 1 year old grandchildren are college graduates-i am the only to accumulate multiple degrees -ha ha-hope my sis is reading this

[blestmom]

Anyway cherish all the moments good or bad and keep enjoying disney (despite the rate increases-lol)

Thank you for the beautiful post, and for the positive message!
:love:

[sandyluvsdisney]

I think there are so many things that kids don't get to see or do, i went to Disney as an adult, my parents couldn't affort to send me anywhere either, and of course i fell in love with it, and now that i have my DD i plan to take her as much as i can.
This thread make us think of the blessing that we have around us and we take for granted and sometimes we don't even notice how blessed we truly are.

[lemondog]

Thanks for your post!!! We are also adoptive parents. Our 3yo was adopted from Russia at 6 months of age, we also have biological twins who are 10-months old. My DH grew up one of 6 kids, without a lot of money. They never, ever took a family vacation. I was more priveleged, I guess. We took several trips to WDW as a kid, as well as other places.

Since he never had family vacations he doesn't see the value of them. I, on the other hand, want so badly to give our children what I had -- the memories that come from family vacations. But he doesn't see it. I have convinced him we need to go to Disney. Like you said we only live once. I want to see the magic in my children's eyes -- and his too! I hope they all find it just as magical a place as I do.

Angela

[Deesknee]

I think what you do is trulymagical.
My parents could never afford to take myself or my brothers either. We now usually take my mother with us. Seeing her face is almost as special as seeing my kids faces.

God bless you and all you do.

[HappyLawyer]

I think what you do is trulymagical.
My parents could never afford to take myself or my brothers either. We now usually take my mother with us. Seeing her face is almost as special as seeing my kids faces.

God bless you and all you do.
i understand, it is so funny cuz my mom always asks me how much did all this cost, and i tell her it cost a dollar did i get a good deal or what, i love watching her rund back and forth to the coasters, she did her best for me, now i want to give her many happy memories

[tigger1963]

Happy,

I gotta say, I like your "dollar" idea. We're taking my mom to WDW for the first time this spring. I've mentioned elsewhere on this site that she was a single mom who took us to Disneyland every year (albiet with packed lunches). We looked forward to it all year long and it instilled a real love of the Disney experience. She just retired, so she's finally got the time to come along with us. All her kids and their families are going to meet up and spend 10 days together for her first trip to WDW. She's been hounding me on what it will cost and what she needs to pay, and I keep saying "you paid your part about 35 years in advance". From now on I think I'll just tell her it cost a dollar.

[KAC2005]

My brother and I are taking our foster brother to WDW in July. He is 8 and he came to stay with us when his dad was ill and is now staying with us pemenantly because his dad died. When we were there last year he didn't go as my mum wanted us to have a holiday on our own, but we missed him and realised how much he would have enjoyed it! I really can't wait to take him, he's been excited out of his mind since we booked and we've still got six months to go. Although he can't read (he has learning difficulties) he likes to sit with us and look at the DIS boards. He likes seeing all the photos!!

KAC

[HappyLawyer]

My brother and I are taking our foster brother to WDW in July. He is 8 and he came to stay with us when his dad was ill and is now staying with us pemenantly because his dad died. When we were there last year he didn't go as my mum wanted us to have a holiday on our own, but we missed him and realised how much he would have enjoyed it! I really can't wait to take him, he's been excited out of his mind since we booked and we've still got six months to go. Although he can't read (he has learning difficulties) he likes to sit with us and look at the DIS boards. He likes seeing all the photos!!

KAC

well you tell him at disney he will have no time for any type of reading only fun fun fun

[Disfreek]

I do have to comment on this post as well. My parents could not afford to take us on vacations when we were growing up. Dad worked & mom stayed at home with us. WE went as a family in 1985. My mom & dad have both passed away and even now when I go to Magic Kingdom or Epcot I remember all of the fun we had on that family vacation to WDW.

I think that is one of the reasons we have gone so many times. I want my children to experience the Disney Magic. :)

[all4fun]

HappyLawer, I found your post to be very touching. That is so great that you're a foster parent and have adopted. I especially love your last comment about only being pg once. That made me laugh.

We are very blessed and have taken our neices and nephew to WDW. Next week we're taking the youngest sibling (9yr old neice) on her first trip. We're so excited for her. I just can't wait to see the look on her face when we get there. She is really excited. I feel so fortunate that we are in a position to be able to do that. (Plus, she'll help us entertain our 20 mos old ds - yes we do have ulterior motives!) :D

Cheryl

[Madi100]

My parents got divorced when I was ten years old. That first summer my mom saved money and flew us out to California. We stayed with family, but she took us to Disneyland. She said it would probably be the last time she could ever afford it. She was right. She got remarried a year later, and we couldn't afford to ever do any "big" vacations. There were five kids in the family then. Last January when we went we took my mom and we paid for most of her trip. She did some babysitting a few evenings, but it was just an excuse to get her to go with us. She loved Disney World, and I think that some day in the near future I'm going to have to take her back, just her and I.

[Amirah95]

You'll never know the "magic" if you've never been to WDW. Is this a true statement? My mother's idea of a "magical vacation" for her children was vacation at a dude ranch in the midwest and she knew about WDW the whole time. LOL! I just think that all good parents want their children to experience all of the positive things they have experienced in life and there is nothing wrong with that. DH and I are also happy to be able to wisk our DD on vacations some call dreams. :)

I contract work in many social divisions with the State of NJ and they are having the hardest time placing black and hispanic children. Thank you for adopting domestically!

[mamaprincess]

We are blessed. I live in a precious storybook like new development with an awesome husband and 3adorable little girls. Not far from us is an extremely impoverished forgotten community. A 16 year old used to braid my twins hair who lived in this community. Everytime I picked her up I was so devistated inside. My husband grew up in impoverished conditions. I have never known a day of struggle. It is my dream to figure out a way to pass on the magic of disney to children like that sweet little girl who will nwver get a chance to experience the pure joy of being a child in such a magical environment. I have no idea how to begin to realize this dream but I know i must figure it out. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[LibertyLover]

Happylawyer,

I really liked your post. My husband and I are taking our (adopted) daughter to WDW for her first visit in a little over a week. We are also taking his 24 year old daughter with us for her first visit because when my DH was married to his first wife, she didn't want to spend money on taking the family to WDW. Then they divorced and he had no money to take the kids. But, on the theory that it's never too late to have happy childhood, we're taking DSD. While we are in Orlando we are going to get together with a couple who were with us in China and adopted a little girl from the same orphanage as our DD. I can't wait to see my DD's face when she realizes for the first time that she is seeing Mickey.

:jumping4:

[Billmel]

Just thought I would add my story...I have a 20 year old adopted daughter who is the love of our lives...I have only been able to take her to WDW 5 times since I adopted her when she was 3. It has not been the easiest journey but it has been one I would do over again. If you think it is special and amazing to take your child (adopted or not) try taking your DGD by my adopted DD, now that was a joy. We went in May 04, with my DH, DD, myself, and DGD, she actually started walking while waiting in the lobby for dinner in the castle...she walked right into Cinderella's open arms...I always told my DD that I may not have given birth to her but I carried her in my heart just the same...and that she was special because she was chosen.

[paigevz]

I did grow up without a silver spoon. However, I did have spoons. I wasn't under the poverty line, rather just above it. I have more in common with coworkers born a generation before me, because I grew up with the absolute necessity of hunting, fishing, raising livestock and gardening in order to stretch the few dollars actually earned through my parents' small town business.........we also cut wood in the fall for our fireplace in winter (our only heat source) and when I had to have my appendix out at age 19 is the first time my parents ever bought an air conditioner, for me, since it was summer and the dr. said I would be more susceptible to heat. However, my mother and her sisters saved for years to take all us kids to Disney World when I was 17. Funny to say, I think it was just as magical for me at that age as it is for 7 year olds who go for the first time.

My dh grew up in poverty, in a migrant-work family, and spent his time traveling with the crops. When younger, he stayed in the car to watch the babies while his parents picked. Later, they all picked together. He didn't go to Disney World until our first trip with our 4 year old.

My dh and I both were adamant we were going to college. Our parents were supportive, and we made our way through on grants and loans. We just paid off those loans this year! :Pinkbounc The year after we graduated there was a hiring freeze in the teaching profession in Oklahoma and Kansas.......our "home" states..............dh could find no jobs with his psychology degree.........we both got Christmas jobs with the postal service. Before that, right before Thanksgiving, we finally decided we needed help, and our parents couldn't give it to us. We applied for food stamps. The lady at the office asked if we had enough food for three days..........we had to think about it a moment, and then I said, we do have that bag of potatoes.....so we decided we did have enough for 3 days. The coupons didn't come for 5..........we were soooo happy to see those!

After we got our temporary jobs at the postal service, we discontinued our food coupons, no longer needing them. When the temp jobs were just about to end, dh found work with a new start-up company. After the summer, I got a head start job. The next year, I applied to Texas schools and was hired, and dh transferred. We rented a 3 bedroom house. Then our son was born.................no more house..........we had no idea how much a child would cost! We sold our pets, moved into a one bedroom apartment. The next year, we moved into a two bedroom. The next year, we bought a small house. Dh switched companies. We started trying for another baby, and were diagnosed 2 years later with secondary infertility. We wanted to adopt through the state.............we didn't have enough money for international adoption, and felt we'd like to help a child here. We did not want to foster though, because our child, now 4 years old, wanted a sibling so badly, we thought it would hurt him tremendously to have one come and then leave again. We took him to Disney World, and meanwhile went through three-month visits for 2 years, and it became too hurtful to keep having our child interviewed "Do you want a brother or sister? Would you share your toys?" and then no sibling ever coming and hearing our son "I told him I would share. Didn't he believe me?" We had asked only for a mobile child (our house not being functional for a non-mobile child), of any race, younger than ds (his request, and we felt he should have that right). The not fostering was the big hold-up, and we feel, large caseloads on our constantly turning-over social workers had a part to play, too.

When ds was 6, on another Disney trip, we decided to look into infertility treatments, and right after ds turned 7, had our second son. We still know we have more children waiting for us, and do plan to adopt when the boys are older. We are struggling with whether or not to try to have another birth child in a couple of years. With our combined salaries, a line of credit, and priorities focused firmly on our family, we have been able to take yearly vacations, and every other year is Disney World. We are currently having a new house built, twice as big as the one we own. We are slowly paying down years of debt built over "making ends meet" since the birth of our first son. We live in a socio-economically depressed area, and I see people I grew up with and my dh in the faces of the kids I teach every day. I tell them they can do it.........they can be just like dh, teachers in our school who grew up similarly........and I give them plenty of examples of others who have done it, too. I tell my own children about the world.........all of it, and nurture in them a desire to help. We have a houseful nearly every night at dinner time of neighborhood kids........many of them my older son's friends, many of them current and former students of mine. My sons will give away their most prized possessions without blinking an eye to their friends, and I am extremely proud.

The worst part of living and teaching these kids, though, is while some are being raised in love, like dh and myself, and with hope for the future, and celebrations..........many are not. They strengthen my resolve daily, to someday find my own children who are not yet with me and bring them home to a family of celebrations, love and hope. I salute the rest of you who are looking for your kids, and those who have found them.

Adopted or not, kids help make, like Lilo says, O'hana........family.