Mom Who Needs Help Surprising College Age Dd !!!!

[groberaew]

We had a family trip planned for December 2007. Tentatively. Dh and I have decided to move the trip up a whole year and go this Dec. I'd like to surprise my DD (18) with the trip.

Do you have any good ideas on how I could do this ?

We leave about 3 days after finals end. So she won't be missing any classes. I just don't know when to tell her. I want her to be able to pack and prepare for the trip. We'll be there 10 days over Xmas .


How would you like to be surprised ??

thanks in advance !

 

[monarchsfan16]

You could wrap up a box with a copy of the hotel reservation in it (maybe black out the price if you don't want her seeing that). After that shock wears off if you have any other documents you could hand those to her. Or you could hand her a copy of the plane reservations and let her figure it out by your destination if you are flying...
Or you could start with little things. Wrap up things like sunscreen, a little Disney figure, just random things that would represent the trip and/or be useful on the trip (film? digital camera memory card?), then build up to the hotel confirmation/plane reservation etc

 

[SweaterInJune]

I'm not so sure this would work for you, but it was THE best! When I was 7, I had been dreaming of going to WDW as long as I could remember, but my family, divorced, never had the money to go. We lived comfortably, but vacation was always Dad and I camping--which, don't get me wrong, I LOVED!

Anyhow, unbeknownst to me, my father had been saving for a trip to WDW. He organized it all with my mom, but neither one of them told me. I was all packed up to go camping, or so I thought. My father picked me up and we had gotten about 3 hours away when I looked in the back of the truck. We had no camp gear!!! I instantly got nervous and asked my fatherd,"Why didn't we bring the tent?" "Oh, we're not going camping..." he replied calmly. "We're not?!" I was terrified! "No, I thought we'd try something else this year...There's a book about where we're going in the glove box. Why don't you get it out..." I struggled with the glovebox in my father's old truck and out fell a Birnbaum guide to WDW. My jaw hit the floor and stayed that way for several minutes. I was absolutely speechless. I thought it was a joke, but it wasn't! And, it was wonderful!!!

So, my guess is you're flying, but maybe tell her you're going to the beach. and then closer to the trip, give her an early Christmas present to magically reveal the true destination or something... That's my idea anyhow...

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I'm a mom & no longer a student, but I saw your post on the main page. I hope you don't mind me chiming in. How about sending her Disney themed care packages throughout Dec. After all, it's a mom's duty to send care packages you know. How about starting with Mickey shaped rice krispie treats. You could also send chocolate dipped Mickey pretzels, Disney cookies, etc. Keep checking the budget board on this site. People are always posting their Disney treat finds from Walmart, Target, etc. After you ply her with sugar, send her a few Disney, Christmas decorations for her dorm room. Just when she's sure her mom has been ingesting a bit too much "pixie dust" , send her a WDW luggage tag. Now that she's positive you've lost it, send her a Disney Christmas card asking her why she's reading the card instead of studying. Tell her she needs to do some serious studying & get it over with. She's got clothes to pack for a trip to WDW & "insert name of your resort" is calling her name. I'm assuming she lives on campus. If she's commuting, let us know, & I'll try to come up with other ways to surprise her.