Vacation without the little one

[drakethib]

We are not the type of parents who leave our kids for "us time" in the first place, but of all the places to not bring a child, Disney World seems the most cruel . If you want to get away from your child, why go somewhere that she loves? Plus, you'll be surrounded by kids the entire time!

If you do go, I hope you won't tell your child where . It sounds like the grandparents are willing to have her, but is your child happy with them? None of mine would have wanted to be away from me when they were two, even though we live near their grandparents and are all very close.

We are thinking about WDW because we are DVC members so lodging will cost us nothing. RT plane tickets are less then $420.00. We have AP's so admission will be free. Long story short for under $650.00 we will be going somewhere that we really enjoy for our anniversary. (WDW is where we went on our honeymoon).

Our little loves "PAW" (her grandfather) and Layla (long story = her grandmother) and goes nuts every time they or we visit which is quite often.

 

[drakethib]

Thanks all for the responses no matter if you were for or against my topic.

A little background on my family.

As a child I would spend weeks and summers with my grandparents. I had a good family life with my immediate family and I really enjoyed the time spent with my Grandparents (These are some of my favorite childhood memories).

We are blessed with a wonderful healthy daughter, she is the most precious thing in my life. We do not need a break from her, but we need a break from being a grown up. (Yeah, I know what you are thinking about this statement).

My wife and I both have stressful jobs (She is an Engineering Manager for a Chemical Plant and I work in the Business Services group for the largest US Refinery Company). We have just got done building a new house, selling our old one, gone through a couple of transitions at work, being a parent for the first time, we just need a break. Maybe we are bad parents, but this is what I think we need. My wife and I used to be able to finish each others sentences, now we just feel tired and grumpy towards each other. This is year number 7 for us. Our bills are paid, college funds have are set up, our bosses are happy, all of that grown up stuff is taken care of.

WDW is one of our favorite places that we have ever been. We started going to WDW when we were dating. We have traveled to other placesbut always seem to float back to WDW. I believe we have been 15 times since 1998. (Hence we bought DVC).

I made reseverations this afternoon so we are going and will have to deal with the guilt as it comes along.

Will we regret it? No

Will we feel guilty? Probably

Will we miss our little one? Without a doubt

Will it be good for us to recharge? I think it will.

Again, I appreciate the input and words from all.

 

[DVCLiz]

That one line is the only one that I raised my eyebrow at....while I agree that if you feel that you need to be alone with your wife by all means go on a mini vacation. But I question what is so trying in your life that you know that you need a break??? Although I don't know you or your situation, I'm just a little curious because I have never said that I need to go away from my children, my DH and I both work FT and go to college- he goes PT and I go FT, and unless something astronomical happened in my life I don't think that I could say that I needed a break from my kids. That is what you are saying, isn't it? (I'm not saying that I wouldn't/don't like to go away while the kids are at mommoms for a day, or pack them up to spend the night so I can study for a midterm every now and then.) My thoughts are that my DH and I choose to have children and they are our responsibility, not anyone else's. Have fun though!!

So your needs are different from someone else's - big deal.

OP - go and have fun.

 

[toyac]

That one line is the only one that I raised my eyebrow at....while I agree that if you feel that you need to be alone with your wife by all means go on a mini vacation. But I question what is so trying in your life that you know that you need a break??? Although I don't know you or your situation, I'm just a little curious because I have never said that I need to go away from my children, my DH and I both work FT and go to college- he goes PT and I go FT, and unless something astronomical happened in my life I don't think that I could say that I needed a break from my kids. That is what you are saying, isn't it? (I'm not saying that I wouldn't/don't like to go away while the kids are at mommoms for a day, or pack them up to spend the night so I can study for a midterm every now and then.) My thoughts are that my DH and I choose to have children and they are our responsibility, not anyone else's. Have fun though!!

Ooohh, I can answer that...SHE.IS. TWO!!! I have one of those and I can't wait for the trip I am surprising my husband with for Valentine's Day. We are taking the kid's to WDW this November so won't feel bad at all cuddled with my honey. Parents burn out b/c parenting is an exhilirating yet exhausting job. You are right, a child is the responsibility of the parents. But a lot of times there are many people in a child's life that would love to help lift some of the burden.

OP go and enjoy yourself. My grandparents and parents always took trips by themselves without the kids. Being that 99% of the people in my family stay married for life, I'll follow their lead. in fact, my grandmother always reminds me or my order of priorities: GOD, spouse, kids, family, and then everything else. People have forgotten that children grow up and get lives of their own; too many people end up splitting after 20 and 30 years of marriage b/c they have forgotten to do just what you are doing now: you children are a product of a good marriage, your marriage is NOT a product of your children.

 

[bzzymom]

I say go for it. DH and I haven't had a get away alone since 1999. We went to Cedarpoint in Sandusky, Ohio for a few nights. It is 8 hours away from home. We had never been there before and we love coasters and we wanted to ride them together, not baby swap them. After I got there, and saw how nice a place it is and how nice it was for children I felt guilt. I got over it and the next year, we went back, took DS and my in-laws came along to help out with watching DS during the rides. It turned out fine after all, but I felt guilty while I was there.

 

[abolanwoski]

That one line is the only one that I raised my eyebrow at....while I agree that if you feel that you need to be alone with your wife by all means go on a mini vacation. But I question what is so trying in your life that you know that you need a break??? Although I don't know you or your situation, I'm just a little curious because I have never said that I need to go away from my children, my DH and I both work FT and go to college- he goes PT and I go FT, and unless something astronomical happened in my life I don't think that I could say that I needed a break from my kids. That is what you are saying, isn't it? (I'm not saying that I wouldn't/don't like to go away while the kids are at mommoms for a day, or pack them up to spend the night so I can study for a midterm every now and then.) My thoughts are that my DH and I choose to have children and they are our responsibility, not anyone else's. Have fun though!!

You are right - you can never judge what others are going through or how much a person can tolerate before they need a break for sanity's sake. Allowing your parents to have quality time with your kids while you refresh and regroup is not abdicating responsibility. I really does take a village to raise a family and I have fantastic memory of the time I spent with both my sets of grandparents as a child (without my parents ruining the fun by enforcing bedtime and veggie eating) I am now continuing that tradition by letting DD hang out with her Pappy while DH and I repair the damage done by military deployments (both of us) and 80+ hour work weeks with every third night on call away from home (welcome to residency) When I am home, every waking moment is devoted to DD, so when the time comes, I do need the break. It makes me a better parent, not a worse one.

Enjoy your trip to WDW. Sleep, eat late, have sex and pretend for a few minutes that only your spouse exists. When you come back, your kiddo will regale you with hair-curling tales of late nights, ice-cream dinners and will be no worse for the wear.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

You are right - you can never judge what others are going through or how much a person can tolerate before they need a break for sanity's sake. Allowing your parents to have quality time with your kids while you refresh and regroup is not abdicating responsibility. I really does take a village to raise a family and I have fantastic memory of the time I spent with both my sets of grandparents as a child (without my parents ruining the fun by enforcing bedtime and veggie eating) I am now continuing that tradition by letting DD hang out with her Pappy while DH and I repair the damage done by military deployments (both of us) and 80+ hour work weeks with every third night on call away from home (welcome to residency) When I am home, every waking moment is devoted to DD, so when the time comes, I do need the break. It makes me a better parent, not a worse one.

Enjoy your trip to WDW. Sleep, eat late, have sex and pretend for a few minutes that only your spouse exists. When you come back, your kiddo will regale you with hair-curling tales of late nights, ice-cream dinners and will be no worse for the wear.

Maybe you'll bring back a little souvenier!