Marrieds choosing not to have kids

[TKDisneylover]

My question too!

At Disney, we are generally too exhausted to party at night. We ALWAYS say we'll finally go to the Adventurer's Club, but we've never been! By the time we exit Epcot, we're more than ready to head back to the resort, have something to eat, and go to bed.

DH & I have been able to somewhat plan our "party" time. And we also take mid-day breaks to keep us going. I guess you could say we have our park touring to a science and do not do "commando" style. I think it also helps that we can schedule our trips during non-peak times so we get our rides in with minimal wait times and also using fastpass. And I will admit that I like to plan an itinerary with Tour Guide Mike's assistance.

To give you a little example: Disney-MGM Studios-5:50 dinner at the Hollywood Brown Derby (Fantasmic! is at 6:30 so "they" are there waiting for the show to begin and we are enjoying dinner & drinks.), then we see the 8:00 Fantasmic! EPCOT-6:00 dinner at Restaurant Marrakesh, then enjoy cocktails around World Showcase until Illuminations begins. Our Animal Kingdom day ends early because the park closes early so we head back to the resort, nap, shower, then head to Downtown Disney-7:00 dinner at Raglan Road then head to the Comedy Club & the Adventurers Club (which we have a blast at every time!) Hope I didn't just jinx myself.... I could keep going on but I don't want to bore you with our entire itinerary. I'll save that for the possible pre-trip/trip report.

 

[Liisa]

Wow... I got busy and missed about 4 pages of conversation. DH has been working crazy, my company just launched three new products, add in a couple sick days (I caught some kind of bug) and the puppy (the 100 lb, 27 inches at the shoulders 1 year old puppy) had a slipping patella (a knee cap that slipped out of its groove occassionally). Thankfully, I'm better, the puppy's knee is back to normal (if he didn't run around like a maniac and smack it into the door then it would never have been a problem in the first place. Crazy dog!) And now I'm catching up.

As for how DH and I met... we worked together at our first jobs out of college (he graduated a couple years ahead of me). He ended up being my supervisor on my first audit. And me, being a bit of a smarta**, decided that I was clearly capable of more than checking shipping documents. Needless to say, he wasn't impressed and we didn't speak much for a while. Then we get put on a second audit together that was much further away. For the sake of saving gas money we decide to commute together, stopping to get coffee and muffins on the way, by the end of the first week, we were friends, by the end of the second week we were dating. 10 years later, happily married with two dogs!

Madd... I know you've taken your niece / nephew (can't remember which, sorry!) to WDW. Did you do anything special in your planning. I was on a family board where the parents are going absolutely NUTS hand making autograph books, putting together goody bags for the plane, planning all sorts of special "things". Now I'm concerned. We are taking my 13 yo niece and 5 yo nephew in December. I bought them each a disposable camera, told them to bring some DVD's for our DVD player for the plane ride, and planned dinners that weren't too stuffy for the younger ones. Am I missing something? I kind of though WDW was entertaining enough?!!

Oh.. and my 2 cents, I think Mrs Reese was speaking a bit tongue in cheek when she mentioned that the kids were yanked back. To my recollection, she is a school teacher and certainly wouldn't condone any form of child abuse.

Good to see so many new happy CF'ers on here!!!

Liisa

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Oh.. and my 2 cents, I think Mrs Reese was speaking a bit tongue in cheek when she mentioned that the kids were yanked back. To my recollection, she is a school teacher and certainly wouldn't condone any form of child abuse.
Liisa

I'm glad you're so certain, but I don't find any reference to "yanking" a kid on a leash, tongue in cheek or not, to be acceptable.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

TKDisneylover, DH and I have also gone to dinner at Raglan Road with the intention of moving on to the Adventurer's Club....but we enjoyed the Irish band so much that we stayed at RR until it closed!

DH and I spend probably 90% of our WDW time at Epcot, so we've had a lot of grown-up fun in the evening cruising the Food and Wine Festival booths, eating at various table service restaurants, and (one of our favorite things to do) buying champagne at the France kiosk for me and beer at the UK for DH and running back and forth to catch as many British Invasion, Mo' Rockin', and Off Kilter shows as we can!

 

[maddhatir]

Madd... I know you've taken your niece / nephew (can't remember which, sorry!) to WDW. Did you do anything special in your planning. I was on a family board where the parents are going absolutely NUTS hand making autograph books, putting together goody bags for the plane, planning all sorts of special "things". Now I'm concerned. We are taking my 13 yo niece and 5 yo nephew in December. I bought them each a disposable camera, told them to bring some DVD's for our DVD player for the plane ride, and planned dinners that weren't too stuffy for the younger ones. Am I missing something? I kind of though WDW was entertaining enough?!!

Oh.. and my 2 cents, I think Mrs Reese was speaking a bit tongue in cheek when she mentioned that the kids were yanked back. To my recollection, she is a school teacher and certainly wouldn't condone any form of child abuse.

Good to see so many new happy CF'ers on here!!!

Liisa

Hi Lis!

Glad to hear everything is OK now with you and your pup!

One year DH and I took our niece (3 at the time) and last year we went with BIL and SIL (niece then 4 and nephew then 2) They are going again this year- Next month actually, but DH and I are skipping-

MY SIL packed her DVD player for the plane and we had one woman comment to us that she had no idea there was a child even sitting behind us! She was SO good on the plane! Thank GOD! That was our worse fear- that she would act up on the plane. She loved it.

This is a good site to download Mousekeeping envelopes and games- When it was just Me, DH and Karlee (my niece) I let my niece pick out which envelope she wanted to give each day
http://www.mouseforless.com/downloads/tripdownloads.shtml. She was also in a stroller at the time- so I went to Joann Fabrics and got those pieces of fabric that come 5 in a pack- I chose Scooby b/c she likes him- I let her pick a fabric every day to put on her stroller so "she" can pick it out of the sea of strollers- She thought that was great that she found "her" stroller.

The luggage tags are cute- I chose one for each of us. Last year- (I forget where I found them) I printed out extra pics of all of the dwarfs for each one of us adults- I was Dopey, SIL was Happy, BIL was Grumpy and DH was Doc!

Both times I chose character meals for the kids. My nephew, Dylan, it was his first time to Disney last year- he HATED the characters- but both times Karlee loved them!

Wispering Canyon is so much fun with kids! Just keep the "asking for the ketchup" a secret from them and have them as for it! They may also like 50's Prime Time.

Your niece may not be too thrilled about this- but your nephew may like all the Kidcot stations in Epcot. Karlee had a ball coloring her masks and we told her to find the stations in each country and land.

OMG NO- I did NOT "make" an autograph book- we just bought her one and a pen and got in line with her and she learned to do the rest! She got to the point that she knew she had to have her pen and book!

For the plane- SIL just packed us snacks for her.

Let me tell you- DH now hates Disney b/c of all the anal planning I did the past few trips! We used to "wing it" when we went to Disney and would have a ball- until I found the DIS and started planning to "death" it ruined it for him and he said it is going to be a long time before he will want to go back!

So- just a warning- don't worry about planning too much like others do- just go with the flow- have a basic plan and ENJOY! That is my word of advice now that I have learned my lesson- learned too late- but I have learned!

 

[maddhatir]

TKDisneylover, DH and I have also gone to dinner at Raglan Road with the intention of moving on to the Adventurer's Club....but we enjoyed the Irish band so much that we stayed at RR until it closed!

OMG! AC is THE funnest!!!!!!!! We usually close the place. All you do there is drink and laugh....and laugh and laugh and sing while laughing!

It is a MUST do whenever you go! Be sure that you see the shows in every room! Don't miss any!

I said DH hates Disney now- he LOVES the AC club though. I am trying to convince him that I learned my lesson!

We have done a few F&Ws in the past and he really enjoyed that. I keep bringing up that MAYBEEEEEE we can to F&W next year and just wing it like we used too!

 

[PrincessKitty1]

OMG! AC is THE funnest!!!!!!!! We usually close the place. All you do there is drink and laugh....and laugh and laugh and sing while laughing!

It is a MUST do whenever you go! Be sure that you see the shows in every room! Don't miss any!

I said DH hates Disney now- he LOVES the AC club though. I am trying to convince him that I learned my lesson!

We have done a few F&Ws in the past and he really enjoyed that. I keep bringing up that MAYBEEEEEE we can to F&W next year and just wing it like we used too!

OK, I'm TOTALLY convinced that DH and I need to head to the AC when we go to WDW next month. Do we need to get there at opening and stay until closing in order to see the shows in every room??

 

[maddhatir]

OK, I'm TOTALLY convinced that DH and I need to head to the AC when we go to WDW next month. Do we need to get there at opening and stay until closing in order to see the shows in every room??

The shows are "revolving"

Allears tells you all about it!
http://www.allearsnet.com/btp/faq_adv.htm

- If you have never been- I would go when it opens just to be sure you do not miss anything. Be sure to check out all the pics and stuff on the walls, and relax upstairs when you are done seeing each room.

Kungaloosh!!!!!!

 

[kennancat]

sounds like more CF-Bliss is going around. We just got back from an amazing weekend at F&W doing nothing but eating, imbibing. I saw the best thing ever for keeping kids with the parents. It was a leash for kids! The kids wore it like a harness and the mother yanked them back when they tried to do anything. Now that's an idea!

I actually have to defend the leash for kids - in the right situation it is a good thing. My brother & sister-in-law have 6 kids (some biological & some adopted foster kids - but all ours!) and one of the wee-ones has some serious issues. Any time they go big places w/big crowds she is on her leash. She is never yanked, pulled, drug or mistreated in any way, but for her own safety (and the families sanity) it really is the best thing.

I would really hate to see a parent "yanking" a child on a leash because that's abusive. Zima-Cheryl's point on leashes is well-taken (she mentioned having a niece who needs to be tethered when they go out in public places, or she would run away, due to serious issues of past abuse), but to Mrs. Reese, I must say, YANKING would be abusive.

Just because I choose not to have children does not mean I think parents need to abuse their children to make them behave (and I'm talking about the "yanking," not the leash).

I'm glad you're so certain, but I don't find any reference to "yanking" a kid on a leash, tongue in cheek or not, to be acceptable.

Please, please no arguments about "kid leashes"! There are more than enough of those to go around on the family boards!

 

[maddhatir]

Please, please no arguments about "kid leashes"! There are more than enough of those to go around on the family boards!

ITA!

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Please, please no arguments about "kid leashes"! There are more than enough of those to go around on the family boards!

There is no arguing about kid leashes going on here. I understand that some folks think they are useful. The discussion is about YANKING kids on leashes. I worked as a pediatric RN and case manager for many years, and I WILL NOT let a comment , tongue-in-cheek or otherwise, about YANKING a child on a leash go by without stating that YANKING a child on a leash is abusive.

People should be offended and angry about abusive behavior, not making jokes (?) about it.

 

[zima-cheryl]

Thankfully, I'm better, the puppy's knee is back to normal (if he didn't run around like a maniac and smack it into the door then it would never have been a problem in the first place. Crazy dog!)

Don't you love it when the vet tells you to keep the dog from running around... yeah, like that will ever happen!?!? No matter how banged up they are they just keep going!

Did you do anything special in your planning. I was on a family board where the parents are going absolutely NUTS hand making autograph books, putting together goody bags for the plane, planning all sorts of special "things". Now I'm concerned. We are taking my 13 yo niece and 5 yo nephew in December. I bought them each a disposable camera, told them to bring some DVD's for our DVD player for the plane ride, and planned dinners that weren't too stuffy for the younger ones. Am I missing something? I kind of though WDW was entertaining enough?!!

All we did for the kids last year was make each of them a fanny pack. I put a disposable camera, some disney dollars, a small sunscreen & shoe/ID tag in each kids' bag. The kids are so excited about going to Disney they don't much care - I can relate to that feeling.

December should be great w/all the Christmas stuff up - the kids will have a good time.

 

[maddhatir]

YANKING a child on a leash is abusive.

People should be offended and angry about abusive behavior, not making jokes (?) about it.

I have a feeling she was just using the word "yanking" to describe the situation.

Maybe the mother was holding the leash and if the child started running- that would result in an unintentional....yank of the leash.

NO ONE here, just b/c we are childfree, would condone any form of child abuse. I am certain of that.

 

[maddhatir]

December should be great w/all the Christmas stuff up - the kids will have a good time.

Yes! Be sure to see the Osborne lights- Word of advice- do not go as soon as they open- wait a while- we waited until maybe an hour before MGM closed and it was not as crowded!

Have you been to Disney at that time of year before If so- I am SURE you know what to see

 

[Liisa]

Thankfully, I have been at that time of year. It's GORGEOUS!!! Which is why we chose it. My MIL hasn't been in 20+ years and her husband is from Portugal and has never ever been. I think they are in for such a treat!!!

I know what you mean about the Osborn lights. The night we have that scheduled there are 2 Fantasmic showings... so I plan on hitting the Osborn lights (or whatever they are called now) during the first Fantasmic show... I did that a couple years ago and it was pretty deserted.

44 days and counting!!!

 

[Liisa]

P.S. Madd - I just noticed the lack of Johnny Depp photos... What happened?!! They are one of the reasons I check for your new posts!

 

[TXTurtles]

We are taking my 13 yo niece and 5 yo nephew in December. I bought them each a disposable camera, told them to bring some DVD's for our DVD player for the plane ride, and planned dinners that weren't too stuffy for the younger ones. Am I missing something? I kind of though WDW was entertaining enough?!!

Liisa

What fun! Sounds like a fantastic combination - your niece will be old enough to really have a good time connecting with and that's an age where personal attention really pays off (even when they don't let you see it!) and she's old enough to help you with her little brother (they're sibs, right?). I'd consider packing a coloring book or whatever will keep him occupied (his mom should know what his magic occupied item is) if lines are too long or he just needs something comfortingly familiar to do - but yeah, I don't think their lives will be forever ruined if you don't have daily presents for them or homemade pillowcases with embroidered princesses or all that other stuff. We got whatever we packed for ourselves and I think we all turned out fairly normal!

One thing about 5 year olds - great age (though I'm partial to 4s but that's me) but over stimulation, even if you're taking it easy, is a risk. I remember when my youngest brother was that age he hit a point probably 4 days in where if he saw or heard another thing he was just going to completely loose it - his mind just couldn't handle all it was trying to take in. I think at that point earmuffs and a blindfold would have been the best thing in the world for him but can you imagine the looks that would have gotten!

 

[maddhatir]

P.S. Madd - I just noticed the lack of Johnny Depp photos... What happened?!! They are one of the reasons I check for your new posts!

I have my Halloween Johnny in my siggy right now. Nov 1st I will add back the lucsious one of him lying across the bed.

AND- now with the new siggy rules- I cannot fit a lot in the "box"

ETA--- right at this very minute I am watching The Ninth Gate and my baby is looking soooooo goooood~!



.

 

[Liisa]

TXTURTLE and Madd,

Thanks so much for the advice on bringing the little ones. Hugely helpful. And yes, they are siblings so I'm sure my niece will be a big help with my nephew. Having only been down with my husband or other adults, I'm excited to see the magic from a younger perspective!!!

The one thing I did make for them is one of those paper chains with a chain link for each day until the trip. I figure, if my young nephew can visually see how many days until vacation, it might alleviate all the questions my sister in law would get about "when are we leaving"!!! Anything crafty beyond that... not so much. But I have nothing against spoiling them with some nice store bought purchases once we are there!

Good morning everyone!

 

[ChisJo]

well...yesterday reaffirmed my decision to stay child free. I sometimes sit on the fence with this, but know that I would not want to have any children at this point in my life (I'm 30, soon to be DH is 37). We talk every now and then about having kids (rarely), but he says he can't imagine kids in our lives for at least another 8 years - that would make me 38! I don't want kids that late in life....plus, that would make him 46 - I don't think he would want a new born at 46! Albeit, I couldn't imagine kids in our lives sooner than that anyways! We talk so often about our plans in life....our travels we want to do, the career choices we want to make, and our retirement, and everytime we talk, we never talk about the possibility of children being in that picture. We know that we are too into building our careers, travelling the world, and now we want to buy some vacation property in both Orlando and Hawaii, to get away when we feel the stresses of work are finally too much for us.
We still get the pressures from others ("when are the kids coming?") but for the most part, people are understanding of our plans. Will we change our minds? Unlikely....I like how there are others out there that can understand our feelings. I hate how others can be so closed minded to our choices - I wouldn't argue with someones beliefs or choices if they chose to be catholic while I'm Christian. That's just ignorant.....But, as long as we live in a society where people believe that we are supposed to have children to fulfill our destinies, we will always have that outside pressure. But for now, I am content at being consumed by my career, my travels, my loving and most beautiful cat, but most importantly, the love that I have for the man I am going to be with for the rest of my life.