Make a Wish (and other organizations) ~ Wish Trippers UNITE! Volume FIVE!!

[carebearkidney]

question for veteran wish families - how do you explain to other young children (the healthy siblings) why they are not asked for their wish? I was telling my older son, William, (age 6) that people would be coming over to see Matthew and ask him what he wished for soon. He then got so excited and asked if they were going to ask him too. I told him it was just going to be for Matthew, but that we would be included for the wish. He then got teary eyed and said "but don't they care about me too?" Kind of broke my heart a little.
Have any of you dealt with that? What did you do? I know he will be SO excited during the wish - but the wish process, when everything revolves around Matthew...how do I keep William excited and not jealous, left out or resentful?
Thanks!

 

[Lilfoot93]

question for veteran wish families - how do you explain to other young children (the healthy siblings) why they are not asked for their wish? I was telling my older son, William, (age 6) that people would be coming over to see Matthew and ask him what he wished for soon. He then got so excited and asked if they were going to ask him too. I told him it was just going to be for Matthew, but that we would be included for the wish. He then got teary eyed and said "but don't they care about me too?" Kind of broke my heart a little.
Have any of you dealt with that? What did you do? I know he will be SO excited during the wish - but the wish process, when everything revolves around Matthew...how do I keep William excited and not jealous, left out or resentful?
Thanks!

Sorry he is going through that. I worry about my girls too. By the time we go on Trevor's wish trip they will be almost 5 and will probably feel the same way. I was thinking of letting them pick something to do while there also.

Jackie

 

[lorasmom]

We are back from our trip!

I'm EXHAUSTED, and at work today. Boo. Work < Disney.

Gabby had the BEST time ever, and she was so excited with everything. We were able to spend time with all of her grandparents, a lot of aunts and uncles, and her most favorite princess, Cinderella.

GKTW is really just as amazing as everyone says. Honestly, when we were planning, I couldn't fathom taking an entire day out of Disney to spend at a hotel. But YOU GUYS. I totally wish we had skipped a park day and really taken our time to enjoy everything GKTW has to offer. We spent about 4 hours exploring on Sunday evening, but it was not nearly enough.

Just to quickly recap, our week looked like this:
Thursday: flights delayed, and we ended up getting to GKTW at 11pm, instead of 6 as planned.
Friday: GKTW Orientation, Animal Kingdom from around 11-4, 1900 Park Fare for dinner (thanks to a Big Give giver ), and Magic Kingdom until midnight.
Saturday: Universal Studios IOA
Sunday: DTD, quick stop at the outlet mall to check out the Lululemon outlet, then exploring GKTW
Monday: Princess breakfast at Akerhsus, and EPCOT until close
Tuesday: Magic Kingdom
Wednesday: Breakfast at Chef Mickey's, fly home (boo!)

I still need to upload all of our pictures, and then I'll get started on our trip report.

in the meantime, if anyone has any questions, go for it!

 

[maroo]

question for veteran wish families - how do you explain to other young children (the healthy siblings) why they are not asked for their wish? I was telling my older son, William, (age 6) that people would be coming over to see Matthew and ask him what he wished for soon. He then got so excited and asked if they were going to ask him too. I told him it was just going to be for Matthew, but that we would be included for the wish. He then got teary eyed and said "but don't they care about me too?" Kind of broke my heart a little.
Have any of you dealt with that? What did you do? I know he will be SO excited during the wish - but the wish process, when everything revolves around Matthew...how do I keep William excited and not jealous, left out or resentful?
Thanks!

I totally understand this...

First - I should explain that I am not a Mom - so I totally know that I don't come close to having answers that really cover any of the things you guys are dealing with...

But I have spent a lot of time with several families that have to deal with this stuff.

Lauren, who you can read about in her TR below, went on her Wish Trip in 2008 and we had a lot of experience in dealing with this for her little brother. Her little brother is actually named William! And he had a really tough time with all of the Wish stuff. Here are my observations from watching them deal with that and what we wish we had done differently...

William is also a sick child - he had been in and out of the hospital for various things that year, too - so it was difficult to say to him that Lauren was "sicker" - and explaining everything was hard. For example, lots of people did not understand (even the adults) why Lauren got a wish, because "CP" is not terminal or life threatening in every case - but she qualified because hers is progressive - and they now are saying she probably doesn't have CP. So that made it more difficult because we were having issues with the ADULTS around her being understanding.

We did make a BIG deal out of the fact that Lauren got to wish for ANYTHING - she could have had a shopping spree and William would not have really been such a big part of it. We made a big deal that she chose something for her FAMILY to be a part of...and made that very clear to him.

We did something special JUST for William on the trip - we made a huge deal out of it and made sure he knew that it was HIS choice what to do that particular night. We went to the Pirates show (which GKTW has deeply discounted tickets for)...I won't bore you with the full story here but William enjoyed that night...the rest of us did NOT...but William had fun! I am not recommending the Pirates show, necessarily.

He really liked having "his" night. I recommend that, especially if you have just 2 or 3 kids - I am sure it gets quite difficult if you have too many people to please on that... but maybe they could have a meal that is "theirs" to celebrate.

MAW is different in every state - and even by regions within a state - so this varies GREATLY - but some chapters buy gifts for the wish child *ONLY* and make a big deal of things for the child....so if you anticipate some jealously, you may really want to "buy" a few things - simple, cheap things, even - that can be "treats" for the siblings if MAW comes and gives just the wish child gifts.

I totally think the wish child should be showered with gifts from MAW - and totally get that the wish child is the one that has been so sick...but it is hard for the siblings, too.

Anyway...we did have issues with this and Lauren's brother...you are not alone! That is what I love about this thread - people around here really do get it.

We are back from our trip!

I'm EXHAUSTED, and at work today. Boo. Work < Disney.

Gabby had the BEST time ever, and she was so excited with everything. We were able to spend time with all of her grandparents, a lot of aunts and uncles, and her most favorite princess, Cinderella.

GKTW is really just as amazing as everyone says. Honestly, when we were planning, I couldn't fathom taking an entire day out of Disney to spend at a hotel. But YOU GUYS. I totally wish we had skipped a park day and really taken our time to enjoy everything GKTW has to offer. We spent about 4 hours exploring on Sunday evening, but it was not nearly enough.

Just to quickly recap, our week looked like this:
Thursday: flights delayed, and we ended up getting to GKTW at 11pm, instead of 6 as planned.
Friday: GKTW Orientation, Animal Kingdom from around 11-4, 1900 Park Fare for dinner (thanks to a Big Give giver ), and Magic Kingdom until midnight.
Saturday: Universal Studios IOA
Sunday: DTD, quick stop at the outlet mall to check out the Lululemon outlet, then exploring GKTW
Monday: Princess breakfast at Akerhsus, and EPCOT until close
Tuesday: Magic Kingdom
Wednesday: Breakfast at Chef Mickey's, fly home (boo!)

I still need to upload all of our pictures, and then I'll get started on our trip report.

in the meantime, if anyone has any questions, go for it!

Hello!! I am so glad you guys had a great time!!

I totally agree...explaining GKTW is really impossible. Good news is...you can go back there and have a blast the next time you get to Disney! It is even more fun to go back - in my opinion!

 

[starienite]

Our wish grantors brought both Dev, our wish kid, and his sister Cassidy something. I also asked Cassidy what is something that she really wants to do at WDW, and we made that happen in some way. She had to change schools for 2 months and had to stay all day with her Nana while Dad was at work and I was at the hospital with her brother. I told her Dev that if she wanted to see a character and that meant that he had come with us and use the magic button that was going to happen. Lucky for him our chapter gave us MAW buttons to wear so he didn't need to do that, but I felt that she sacrificed and she deserved something to. They also gave allotted Dev more money for souvenirs, but I split it 50/50 (plus we really really budgeted the meal money so that was added to their fun money) to make it fair for both. (Bring few duffles for all the stuff you will get).

 

[Moodyzblu]

question for veteran wish families - how do you explain to other young children (the healthy siblings) why they are not asked for their wish? I was telling my older son, William, (age 6) that people would be coming over to see Matthew and ask him what he wished for soon. He then got so excited and asked if they were going to ask him too. I told him it was just going to be for Matthew, but that we would be included for the wish. He then got teary eyed and said "but don't they care about me too?" Kind of broke my heart a little.
Have any of you dealt with that? What did you do? I know he will be SO excited during the wish - but the wish process, when everything revolves around Matthew...how do I keep William excited and not jealous, left out or resentful?
Thanks!

I got pretty lucky with this since Jayden has a twin. The MAW people never let Jesse feel left out. They brought them both gifts and had them both in on the conversations. They were awesome about including Jesse.

We are back from our trip!

I'm EXHAUSTED, and at work today. Boo. Work < Disney.

Gabby had the BEST time ever, and she was so excited with everything. We were able to spend time with all of her grandparents, a lot of aunts and uncles, and her most favorite princess, Cinderella.

GKTW is really just as amazing as everyone says. Honestly, when we were planning, I couldn't fathom taking an entire day out of Disney to spend at a hotel. But YOU GUYS. I totally wish we had skipped a park day and really taken our time to enjoy everything GKTW has to offer. We spent about 4 hours exploring on Sunday evening, but it was not nearly enough.

Just to quickly recap, our week looked like this:
Thursday: flights delayed, and we ended up getting to GKTW at 11pm, instead of 6 as planned.
Friday: GKTW Orientation, Animal Kingdom from around 11-4, 1900 Park Fare for dinner (thanks to a Big Give giver ), and Magic Kingdom until midnight.
Saturday: Universal Studios IOA
Sunday: DTD, quick stop at the outlet mall to check out the Lululemon outlet, then exploring GKTW
Monday: Princess breakfast at Akerhsus, and EPCOT until close
Tuesday: Magic Kingdom
Wednesday: Breakfast at Chef Mickey's, fly home (boo!)

I still need to upload all of our pictures, and then I'll get started on our trip report.

in the meantime, if anyone has any questions, go for it!

So glad to hear you had a great trip !!

How was the weather ? That's always my concern with summer.

Can't wait to see your pics !!

 

[Lilfoot93]

We are back from our trip!

I'm EXHAUSTED, and at work today. Boo. Work < Disney.

Gabby had the BEST time ever, and she was so excited with everything. We were able to spend time with all of her grandparents, a lot of aunts and uncles, and her most favorite princess, Cinderella.

GKTW is really just as amazing as everyone says. Honestly, when we were planning, I couldn't fathom taking an entire day out of Disney to spend at a hotel. But YOU GUYS. I totally wish we had skipped a park day and really taken our time to enjoy everything GKTW has to offer. We spent about 4 hours exploring on Sunday evening, but it was not nearly enough.

Just to quickly recap, our week looked like this:
Thursday: flights delayed, and we ended up getting to GKTW at 11pm, instead of 6 as planned.
Friday: GKTW Orientation, Animal Kingdom from around 11-4, 1900 Park Fare for dinner (thanks to a Big Give giver ), and Magic Kingdom until midnight.
Saturday: Universal Studios IOA
Sunday: DTD, quick stop at the outlet mall to check out the Lululemon outlet, then exploring GKTW
Monday: Princess breakfast at Akerhsus, and EPCOT until close
Tuesday: Magic Kingdom
Wednesday: Breakfast at Chef Mickey's, fly home (boo!)

I still need to upload all of our pictures, and then I'll get started on our trip report.

in the meantime, if anyone has any questions, go for it!

Sounds like she had a great time! Can't wait to see pictures and hear more about your trip!

Jackie

 

[carebearkidney]

I don't want to seem ungrateful, but I do hope they acknowledge William in some small way too.
Thank you for the tips - I'll be on lookout for some small items to "surprise" him with definitely! I want this trip to be so special...for Matthew - celebrating his fighting spirit and defying all the odds, especially when so many doctors gave up on him both before and after birth. But William sacrificed lot too, just on a different level that sometimes gets overlooked...even by me. He had to give up playdates because Matthew couldn't be around germs. He also lost time and security due to us being separated SO much between his second and third year. I remember every time I'd take Matthew to hemo - he'd hold onto me crying, telling us to please come home that night. I used to always promise him we would, but had to break my promise too many times due to clogged hemo catheters, line infections or sky rocketing blood pressure/stroke watch.
He really is such a sweet boy, both of them are - I am SO blessed! I really don't think he'd say anything to Matthew about why he's getting all the attention, but I know he'd wonder about it. I guess I should just prepare myself for the possibility that some jealousy issues may arise, but maybe he'll surprise me. He usually does!
Thanks again!

 

[Momtokcc]

We are back from our trip!



Gabby had the BEST time ever, and she was so excited with everything. We were able to spend time with all of her grandparents, a lot of aunts and uncles, and her most favorite princess, Cinderella.



I still need to upload all of our pictures, and then I'll get started on our trip report.

So glad to hear that Gabby had such a great time! I can't wait to hear about your trip and see your pictures!!

 

[Momtokcc]

Some Trips to share!!!!!


One of the BEST things about this thread is that we can all support each other as we plan our trips!

I have been gone quite a while - but we have had about 5 - so far - that I have found that have popped up in the last week or so.... so I am going to post all of them here....

You guys go say hello!


Momtokcc (Cade) Wish Trip! MAW/?? Dates TBA - hoping for October



Amber Greenawalt (Savannah) Wish Trip! MAW/?? Dates TBA!!

GavandGraciesMommy (Gavin) Wish Trip! MAW/?? Dates TBA - hoping for Oct 2012

carebearkidney (Matthew) Wish Trip! MAW/?? Dates TBA!!

Lilfoot93 (Trevor) Wish Trip! MAW/?? Dates??


A couple of these have not been seen by many folks yet - so hopefully we can go by and say hello!

Maroo,
Thank you so much for doing this! I just wanted to let you know that Cade's trip is actually not with MAW, it is with Magic Moments. The story is sweet, bittersweet actually. His speech therapist submitted his name, her son was supposed to be going but he passed before his trip and she asked me if she could refer Cade. Anyway - I just wanted you to know.

 

[Momtokcc]

question for veteran wish families - how do you explain to other young children (the healthy siblings) why they are not asked for their wish? I was telling my older son, William, (age 6) that people would be coming over to see Matthew and ask him what he wished for soon. He then got so excited and asked if they were going to ask him too. I told him it was just going to be for Matthew, but that we would be included for the wish. He then got teary eyed and said "but don't they care about me too?" Kind of broke my heart a little.
Have any of you dealt with that? What did you do? I know he will be SO excited during the wish - but the wish process, when everything revolves around Matthew...how do I keep William excited and not jealous, left out or resentful?
Thanks!

I don't have any answers for you - not a veteran wish family, but I can relate to the jealousy thing. My youngest definately gets jealous...of everything. Even all the medications Cade takes every day. He wasn't with Cade when he was asked about his wish so we didn't have to deal with that part, but he definately doesn't really understand when Cade gets things because of the issues he deals with. I try to explain, but I sure don't really feel like he gets it...he's only a little boy.

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

Hey guys!

I had introduced my nephew Holden to you guys a few months ago. Well, today Holden is exactly 2 1/2 and is now officially eligible to "make a wish". His mom actually got a call today from Make a Wish - she called back but had to leave a message though :-(

I'm also happy to report that as of his last bone marrows aspiration, everything came back negative !!!!! The word remission is now in our vocabulary! He officially ends treatment next month! It's been two long years but he made it I'm so proud of that little guy!!! Having been diagnosed at 6 months, all his live has been cancer and hospitals and chemo so I'm so happy life will be "normal" soon.

As for his Wish, well, all he talks about is "Mickey Mouse", "Disney World" and "Mickey boat" so we'll see. We took our son on a Disney Cruise last Christmas and Holden loves looking at the pictures and pointing at the water which is where he got "Mickey boat" from. I'll try to keep everyone updated.

Also, just for fun, this is Holdie two weeks ago receiving his chemo after his spinal tap and aspiration. Big brother Trey was there for moral support. Look at all that hair now!!

 

[Lilfoot93]

Hey guys!

I had introduced my nephew Holden to you guys a few months ago. Well, today Holden is exactly 2 1/2 and is now officially eligible to "make a wish". His mom actually got a call today from Make a Wish - she called back but had to leave a message though :-(

I'm also happy to report that as of his last bone marrows aspiration, everything came back negative !!!!! The word remission is now in our vocabulary! He officially ends treatment next month! It's been two long years but he made it I'm so proud of that little guy!!! Having been diagnosed at 6 months, all his live has been cancer and hospitals and chemo so I'm so happy life will be "normal" soon.


Welcome aboard! I am glad he will be getting his wish! What a cutie! And yay for end of treatments and remission. That is wonderful news!



I have finally figured out how to post pics and link my trip report! It only took 2 months

Jackie

 

[carebearkidney]

Welcome Holden's Aunt! So happy for your family that he is doing so well.

 

[Indykjt]

Thank you everyone for the kind welcome! We received a call today from our local chapter to get more information about Braden. They told us we should hear from our Wish Granter's within the next 2-6 weeks. Hopefully sooner rather than later, as we would like to aim for a mid-October trip, so as to avoid Braden missing school. He missed more than 50 days total last school year due to surgeries, so we want to make sure we try to minimize that!

I realize it may be too soon of a time-frame... but we can hope, right?

Also, my wife started our PTR, which is linked in my signature!

 

[carebearkidney]

I realize it may be too soon of a time-frame... but we can hope, right?

Also, my wife started our PTR, which is linked in my signature!

Fingers crossed on hearing soon! We were told we had a 2-3 week wait to hear from our wish granters, today was week 2....AAAAHHHHH! I can't wait! Still listening out for the phone (even taking it in the bathroom with me when I shower) hee hee.

heading over to read your PTR!

 

[maroo]

I don't want to seem ungrateful, but I do hope they acknowledge William in some small way too.
Thank you for the tips - I'll be on lookout for some small items to "surprise" him with definitely! I want this trip to be so special...for Matthew - celebrating his fighting spirit and defying all the odds, especially when so many doctors gave up on him both before and after birth. But William sacrificed lot too, just on a different level that sometimes gets overlooked...even by me. He had to give up playdates because Matthew couldn't be around germs. He also lost time and security due to us being separated SO much between his second and third year. I remember every time I'd take Matthew to hemo - he'd hold onto me crying, telling us to please come home that night. I used to always promise him we would, but had to break my promise too many times due to clogged hemo catheters, line infections or sky rocketing blood pressure/stroke watch.
He really is such a sweet boy, both of them are - I am SO blessed! I really don't think he'd say anything to Matthew about why he's getting all the attention, but I know he'd wonder about it. I guess I should just prepare myself for the possibility that some jealousy issues may arise, but maybe he'll surprise me. He usually does!
Thanks again!

Maroo,
Thank you so much for doing this! I just wanted to let you know that Cade's trip is actually not with MAW, it is with Magic Moments. The story is sweet, bittersweet actually. His speech therapist submitted his name, her son was supposed to be going but he passed before his trip and she asked me if she could refer Cade. Anyway - I just wanted you to know.

Thank you so much for clarifying that! I find myself typing "MAW/GKTW" without thinking! There are LOTS of non-MAW trips on the DIS - so I gotta remember to check that. I will fix the link for yours.

Hey guys!

I had introduced my nephew Holden to you guys a few months ago. Well, today Holden is exactly 2 1/2 and is now officially eligible to "make a wish". His mom actually got a call today from Make a Wish - she called back but had to leave a message though :-(

I'm also happy to report that as of his last bone marrows aspiration, everything came back negative !!!!! The word remission is now in our vocabulary! He officially ends treatment next month! It's been two long years but he made it I'm so proud of that little guy!!! Having been diagnosed at 6 months, all his live has been cancer and hospitals and chemo so I'm so happy life will be "normal" soon.


Welcome aboard! I am glad he will be getting his wish! What a cutie! And yay for end of treatments and remission. That is wonderful news!



I have finally figured out how to post pics and link my trip report! It only took 2 months

Jackie

It will be neat to see what he decides!! Thank you so much for sharing it with us! NED will be awesome!!

Thank you everyone for the kind welcome! We received a call today from our local chapter to get more information about Braden. They told us we should hear from our Wish Granter's within the next 2-6 weeks. Hopefully sooner rather than later, as we would like to aim for a mid-October trip, so as to avoid Braden missing school. He missed more than 50 days total last school year due to surgeries, so we want to make sure we try to minimize that!

I realize it may be too soon of a time-frame... but we can hope, right?

Also, my wife started our PTR, which is linked in my signature!

I hope they are able to give u the dates you need!

So glad that you have joined us!

I will put a link to your pre-trip report on the first page of this thread so we can all find you!

 

[yeti5353]

question for veteran wish families - how do you explain to other young children (the healthy siblings) why they are not asked for their wish? I was telling my older son, William, (age 6) that people would be coming over to see Matthew and ask him what he wished for soon. He then got so excited and asked if they were going to ask him too. I told him it was just going to be for Matthew, but that we would be included for the wish. He then got teary eyed and said "but don't they care about me too?" Kind of broke my heart a little.
Have any of you dealt with that? What did you do? I know he will be SO excited during the wish - but the wish process, when everything revolves around Matthew...how do I keep William excited and not jealous, left out or resentful?
Thanks!

I dont think there is an easy answer, find out if the wish granters will be bringing sibling gifts, if not ask them to pick up gifts you left out side for the others. Make sure to plan something special for the whole family and maybe play up the family wish.

I have a bit of an opposite problem. my ten year old wish child wants to make sure her sister 13 is not left out of anything. I have planned some special things to happen just for her on the wish trip but easier to do with the age and personality difference. Molly is really pleased that she can provide us all with a special vacation so maybe that will work out that way for your family too.

 

[jessmomto3]

Hi, I'm Jessica. I'm wife to Vidal and mommy to Cristian, 11; Jaden, 7; and Logan, 4. Logan is our wish kiddo. He was born in renal failure but wasn't diagnosed until a month old. He started dialysis at 5 months and received a kidney from a deceased donor at 18 months. The best call of our lives. He will celebrate his 3rd kidney-versary September 4. He was approved for a MAW trip to DisneyWorld. . Right now we are scheduled at GKTW in Nov but my husband feels like we should wait another year so our son will remember it more. I'm feeling inpatient. .

And in other news, Karen (matthew's mom) is one of my best buddies.

 

[jessmomto3]

question for veteran wish families - how do you explain to other young children (the healthy siblings) why they are not asked for their wish? I was telling my older son, William, (age 6) that people would be coming over to see Matthew and ask him what he wished for soon. He then got so excited and asked if they were going to ask him too. I told him it was just going to be for Matthew, but that we would be included for the wish. He then got teary eyed and said "but don't they care about me too?" Kind of broke my heart a little.
Have any of you dealt with that? What did you do? I know he will be SO excited during the wish - but the wish process, when everything revolves around Matthew...how do I keep William excited and not jealous, left out or resentful?
Thanks!

Karen, when Logan made his wish Jaden was there. They took them both into a room to pick out a toy and then said they could open them. Then one of the wish granters told Logan to come color and Jaden came with us to talk to the other wish granter. Jaden was so busy with his toy that he didn't really think much. Jaden seems to be oblivious a lot of the time though. A few times he has asked why Logan gets something (usually to drink whatever he wants-gotta keep that kidney hydrated) and I tell him that Logan earned it the hard way and that his struggles are not over. Logan always wants everything to be fair for his brothers though. When he gets stickers at the doctors he gets one for both of the brothers too and the other day he was asking when Jaden and Cristian would have their kidney-versary and I told him they didn't have one so he said, "that's not fair!". More than likely they will bring William a toy too but it might not hurt to have one on hand. Glad I read this before I sent out matthew's outfit. My kiddos were involved in asking Logan what he wanted as his wish and so I think they felt included.