Jessica
Thank you for your opinions. Maybe I misunderstood your original post. It may be a difference in communications styles. It is usually accepted that on forums and instant messengers that typing words in all capitals indicates raising of the voice, when this media is being used to communicate in leiu of a verbal exchange.
Now for ALL of us to remember ( yes that is raising my voice!)
Something I believe all of us can keep in mind however, is to read the original post and the question ask. Yes I did express concern about my son flying, and guilt of leaving him behind, and yes I did express that I could manage the situation of his behavior. ( BTW, there is a reason that I feel confident about that, because I have worked very hard with my son on the issue of actions in public places. I did not accomplish this by always leaving him at home. We do most every day to day activity together.)
The intent of the original post was how do you deal with that guilt when you feel it is best "for the sibling." Some posters "got that." Other honed in on feeling sorry for my son.
Just as a point of reference of the things I think about concerning my daughter:
1) I am a single parent that has custody of my children 80% of the time. I can not understand what it is like being a girl going into her teenage years living primarily with my father ...not my mother.
2) I am with my son 80% of the time. She is with him 100% of the time. Her mother is not going to take her on any " special trips." Never has, probably never will. Although her mother has all kinds of time to take "special trips for herself"
3) I have raised both a boy and a girl through the teenage years. I know how difficult that can be. How critical of a development time that can be. She will be 13 when we go to WDW. We are very close. It is a perfect time to spend some very special time together.
4) My daughter could not really give a hoot about going to WDW ( I know that will change one she experiences it
) She does very much care about the opportunity to go to Discovery Cove and getting to interact one on one with a dolphin. Something we could not do with my son, because we could not completely be sure that he could follow the safety direction necessary.
And with all that said.... I feel guilty because I love my son so much. But at times you need to do what you feel is right for others.
So thanks to one very wise poster, why not take my son at a different time, under different circumstances! Great idea that should have been right in front of my eyes. Why take my daughter with us. I addressed that in another post in this thread that it was about safety. And the paranoia that if I dropped dead of a heart attack or something, we would be 1200 miles away from home and he would be alone, with no one knowing how to comfort him, not being able to talk on the phone to his mother or anyone.
So the point is ( to all of us). Unless you fully have read all the posts. Unless you fully understand all the particulars. Maybe we all need to think, before we passionately express our opinions. And it is always best to remember that passion and compassion are two different things. The best support comes form people that have mastered both.
