Anyone read the "Disney World" column that Dr. John Rosemond had in today's paper???

[ilovediznee]

Dr. John Rosemond writes a parenting column in tons of newspapers. USUALLY I agree with him on parenting, such as parents being in charge, children need to learn manners, etc, but today's column really burned me.

A lady wrote in saying that they took their 2 & 3 year old girls to Disney World and said that took them because they are usually good in public places. The children, however, were terrors and they said it was the worst trip they took because the kids went wild as soon as they got through the gates.

His Answer: Is this a joke? What were you thinking? The fact is, the older one "might" retain some vague memories of this psychedelic experience, but the 2 year old will forget it in one week. My recommendation: Dont' take a child to Dizzy World - that's what HE called it - until they are at least six years old.

Then he went into all the stuff about exposing them to fairs with rides and large crowds.

This made me really mad. Based on what the writer put in her statement, they have done that and I can tell you that our daughter, who will be 5 in a few months, has been 6 times to Disney! She remembers things that I don't and it really ticked me off that he said that!

Just wanted to vent.

DianeDisney - leaving with my 4 year old in ten short days!!

 

[JimB.]

I took my DD to WDW for the 1st time @ 13 months of age. Does she remember? 'Course not. But WE do.

She was a great little, bug eyed. laughing kid that enjoyed herself. It was on her NEXT visit she developed the pathological fear of large furry animals. Truly. Didn't give the mouse a hug for another 3 years.

I like Dr. Rosemond's columns, but this one did not really apply in our case. Some kids "work well" in theme parks. Some don't. It's up to the parents when it is time to cry uncle and change plans & tactics. That's why you can rent baby sitters for your kids there. It worked for us.

 

[amyup]

People crack me up! My parents asked us why we would spend so much money going to DW because our 2 and 4 year old wouldn't remember it. "We will remember it" was our answer. Seeing those little faces light up was a memory that will last me a lifetime.

And as for children misbehaving in DW, Disney vacations are the only vacations where my children are "model" children. They are great and can't stop talking about our trip!

I just don't get it when people recommend you wait until children are 6 and up to go to Disney.

 

[skuttle]

I hate when people say stuff like that! We're bringing DS for the first time in December...he'll be 2 1/2 at that time. I know he probably won't remember much years from now. But I DO know that we will remember his reactions to things and hopefully he will enjoy everything in that moment. That's all that matters to me. We're going on vacation to enjoy the vacation...I don't care how much DS remembers. However...now with digital cameras, laptops to download pictures to, and tiny video cameras...we'll easily be able to refresh DS's memory in the future.

 

[Blondy876]

We took our oldest when she was 4 and my parents kept asking "why are you taking her now, she won't remember a thing?" My response was that there are a lot of things going on in her life before she gets to the point where she will "remember" it should we just stick her in a room until then? We went to Disney for us as much as for her, and we will be going back again when our youngest is 2. And the only reason she will be that old is because we have to save up.

It sounds to me like the man who wrote the article has never been to Disney and wouldn't be any fun there anyway.

 

[disneygals]

Yes, I saw it and yes, it's misguided to use the "not remembering" excuse. If that's the case why do anything with a toddler if they won't remember? And it's not even true, my dd remembers Mr Toad's wild ride and she was 3 or less when she went on it. The only time that it would make sense to wait is if you despise WDW and are only doing it for the kids!

As for tantrums, sorry, with younger kids they can happen anywhere, wdw, Walmart, the car, the family room...etc.

 

[MsLeFever]

Well - sure they may or may not remember....but let's say they don't.

With that arguement we shouldn't bother taking them to visit their grandparents, or buy them toys, or take them to a movie.....Really why enhance their life at all until they are old enough to remember it?

 

[Poohnatic]

That's very interesting. I have to disagree.

The first trip we took our kids, oldest had just turned 4 and youngest was 21 months. There are several things that we ONLY did on that first trip.

Now that we live down here, my now 5 year old is bugging us to do things again-that we did on that first trip. We haven't mentioned them, but he remembers them. I know it depends on the kid (heck, there's things my DH forgets we've done), but I would think my son is a typical kid. Most kids will pick up SOME memories of the trip.

And I agree-sometimes we do something as parents to see the reactions and it's okay that that the kids don't remember. It's enough that we do!

Suzanne

 

[momof2inPA]

Way to go John Rosemond! Maybe he'll clear out the parks a little for next year!

Note: I have always thought this guy was an extremist nut who had an abusive/neglectful childhood. His stories about the way his mom ignored him when he was growing up are just sad, but it's sadder that he advises other parents to do the same. My kids have gone to WDW since they were babies, and all of our trips were lots of fun for the whole family.

 

[Kallison]

We took our first trip when our kids were 4, 5 and 7. Sure the little ones don't remember much, but it was a great trip, they believed in the characters. On our fifth trip just a few weeks ago they were 10, 12 and 14. That trip was fun too. My oldest went on TOT twice in a row the first time, we ran from morning to night and ate nothing but popcorn and mickey bars. Got drenched on Kali River Rapids. Every trip at every age has made different and unique memories.

 

[tar heel]

I detest John Rosemond. I've had the displeasure to hear him speak three times -- told the same anecdotes each time. He's brought in a lot b/c he lives in our area, and I have to go each time to see what kind of nonsense the schools will be embracing. While he has some good, common sense ideas, he also has some warped ones. I'll take Dr. Brazelton (whom he sometimes attacks in his columns without mentioning his name) over him on that topic any day. When Rosemond starts ranting about TV, I swear it makes me want to go watch Sponge Bob.

 

[julia & nicks mom]

Julia has been three times and still remembers EVERYTHING from our trip last October - plus she looks at the pictures everyday - she may not remember every detail for her whole life but she will certainly remember the fun and build on her memories each time we go - creating a genuine love for Disney that will hopefully shared with her own kids!!

my MIL wants to take us on a Disney cruise in 2007 when our kids our 3 1/2 & 5 1/2 and I told her how much fun I think they would have and they would always remember that she took them on that cruise and what a great memory it would be for them and she said - oh they won't remember a thing about it but I know they will have fun while we are there - well I remember family vacations from when I was 6

 

[DVCLiz]

I too detest this man - hey, maybe it's something about living in North Carolina, tarheel! "Extremist nut" is a perfect description.

 

[Belle0101]

My youngest was only 2 years and 2 months old the first time he went to Disney. And I'll agree in that he really doesn't remember it. However, I will never forget when he met Eeyore, his then favorite character, for the first time. While Eeyore was signing my other son's autograph book he poked Eeyore in the stomach and said "I touch he!" and then giggled for the longest time. I feel so fortunate that for once I had my camera all ready and caught that exact moment of giggling. It's completely priceless to me.

He doesn't remember it and he's moved onto other characters now but I'm so thankful to have that memory.

Now that I think of it, he won't be 6 until Ocotober. By that time he will have been 5 times and there's nothing that I would trade for all those memories. Let alone all the memories with my oldest son - spending our very last day of vacation at MK looking for Peter Pan, his then favorite, finally to find him late afternoon. He was so sure we'd never find him and then when we finally did he was nearly speechless.

 

[powellrj]

LOL its funny how different people read things differently! I read the article and I didn't read it like that! I thought he was saying that if you want to make it a once in a lifetime trip, don't take them that young because they won't remember it. Sure when you take them every couple of years its not a big deal, but I thought he was talking about people that take them once at such a young age and expect them to remember it for a lifetime!

About the behaving, I thought he had some good points too. He was talking about kids that have never been ANYPLACE like a local zoo or park and then you take them to Disney and expect them to know how to behave. Lets face it, we are not the people the article was targeted at. We are families that take our kids out in public at young ages so by the time they get to Disney they have been to stores, malls, petting zoos and they know whats expected of them when they are out in public.

I think the whole point of the article was don't take little kids that have never been out in the world on a trip to Disney without making little side trips first, and don't take kids on a ONE_TIME trip to disney at that young of an age. Wait until they are older, if you only plan on going once as a family!

 

[becka]

I am another that never understood the "they won't remember anything" argument when it comes to taking kids to WDW. Somehow this is only an issue when it comes to WDW. No one ever told me that when I took Nathan to the zoo for the first time when he was 11 months.

We took Nathan when he was about 21 months and we knew that he would not remember anything about the trip but DH and I will never forget. We had so many priceless memories and we have stories to tell Nathan as he gets older about his first trip. He will at some point be able to remember our stories and see the pictures from his first trip so it is not like he won't get anything out of it ever.

 

[RitaZ.]

I have always thought this guy was an extremist nut

I totally agree with you.

 

[golfgal]

I have to laugh at some friends of ours that did the same thing, took kids to Disney at ages 2 and 3 because they usually behave in public (well THEY thought they did, none of the rest of us that knew their kids thought they behaved, lol). Well, guess what, their kids were little terrors the whole trip, according to the dad. I have to agree that I wouldn't have taken my kids to Disney at that age, and we didn't. I just don't think it would have been that much fun for us. If you take your kids to Disney at that age with realistic expectations of what a 2 and 3 year old can handle, no, they can't stay at MK until 3 am just because it is EMH, then you will be fine. My guess is that this Dr is refering to the parents who are screaming at their kids to stop whining at 10:00 at night because they are at Disney and gosh darn it, you better behave because we are spening a lot of money on this trip.

 

[Annette_VA]

I detest John Rosemond. I've had the displeasure to hear him speak three times -- told the same anecdotes each time. He's brought in a lot b/c he lives in our area, and I have to go each time to see what kind of nonsense the schools will be embracing. While he has some good, common sense ideas, he also has some warped ones. I'll take Dr. Brazelton (whom he sometimes attacks in his columns without mentioning his name) over him on that topic any day. When Rosemond starts ranting about TV, I swear it makes me want to go watch Sponge Bob.

My thoughts exactly. I've seen his references to Brazelton & that just turns me off - he has to resort to childishly bashing another expert? Please

And, I did see the column yesterday & wanted to smack the man after reading it.

I'm sure my mom probably saved the column for me, too. Ugh.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Well, I went with my neice when she was 4 and several times in later years (she's 12 now) and she is just fine.

At 4, she slept through a lot in her stroller. We took her back to the hotel for naps and pool time every day in the afternoon.

But she certainly seemed to have fun when she was awake and meeting the characters. She enjoyed going on the kids rides. She was actually fascinated by some of the things in Epcot.

I'm looking at a picture of her at WDW at age 4 right now that I have framed on my desk. In it, she is at Epcot, meeting Pooh and Tigger and she has a big smile on her face. I love that she has grown into a smart and sweet 12 year old but oh how I wish she could be 4 again. Just for one day...