Oceaneer's Club for my DD(4) and DS (7)

[strawberryblonde]

<font color=hotpink>Worked out better than I dreamed! I homeschool my kids and they have not been babysat much so I didn't know how much they would like it. I was hoping it would go well for the few times I needed them to go (spa and Palo). My DS was willing to go and even happy to go when we needed him to. DD on the other hand, LOVED the club. She called it her club and asked to go daily. As soon as she was done with dinner she would ask to go to the club. DH or I would drop her off and then finish dinner just us 3. We took her to the show the first night but she didn't want to go any of the other nights, wanted to stay in club. This made me alittle sad, I wanted to be together as a family and I thought she would love the Golden Mickey's show. She is a girl who knows what she wants and she was chosing her club so I let her. For Dreams night, we went to the 2pm show as a family because I knew she would want to go to the club that night. She did love Dreams but didn't want to see it again that night when given the choice, she wanted her club!</font>

<font color=darkviolet>I tried to plan our adult alone things (spa, Palo) for when the club wasn't having meals. I only needed to have them in the club for one meal and that was when we did Palo brunch. That was the time DD had us paged to come get her. I had it written up on their sheet (and highlighted) that they are vegetarians (even spelled it out, no meat, no chicken, no fish). When I dropped them off before we went to Palo I reminded the caregivers that the kids are vegetarians, no meat and they asked if mac and cheese would be OK. Turns out they were served spaghetti and meat balls. DS didn't eat his, looked as though DD might have tried a bite of hers . Probably sounds picky to most of you, but to me is a big deal. I didn't say anything (well, for one my DH saw her plate, not me) nor make a fuss but I sure wasn't going to have them take any more meals with the club. Too much room for error. When snacks were listed for the PJ party I asked what they would be and I was relieved it was only potato chips and apple juice so no worries.</font>

<font color=seagreen>A nice bonus at the club were the character visits and free crafts. DD made a frame for a picture of her with Daisy Duck (for free, nice touch). Both kids were given Oceaneer beach hats on their last night. DS enjoyed the Lab and not the club. He loved it when they played games. It was a big selling point for our Palo night, Wed, when I could tell him his PJ party was to be in the Lab instead of the club. </font>

 

[crisi]

I have friends who raise their kids as vegetarians, and its really hard. They have to watch the little ones like hawks at parties and such - but it doesn't take long before they understand what they can and can't eat. I think every vegetarian kid eats meat a few times before they are old enough to understand - I remember one of my friends finding her son at our house happily munching on salami that a helpful party goer had handed him.

Given how I believe they feed kids at meals (I understand they load up trays with "stuff kids like" and hand them out), I can sympathize with how difficult it would be to meet dietary restrictions. Its hard enough for DH and I to feed two at a buffet - I can't imagine feeding the small horde they feed. It is a really good tip that if you are a picky parent about what your kid eats (of if your child has serious allergies) having the kids club feed them is probably not a great idea. Too many kids, too few counselors. Especially the littlest kids who don't know to say "hey, that's a meatball."

But other than that mishap, I'm glad your kids enjoyed the clubs.

 

[CM_Mom]

My DD is a CM in the Club. She sent me a copy of her schedule for a couple of days. One of her responsibilities was "plate" which was to get the plates ready for the kids. Looked like maybe the ones preparing the plates aren't always the ones taking the kids to meals so your information probably didn't get to the right person. Sorry there was a mix-up. I know how important it is for your kids to follow what they're used to. I hope my DD would have taken the trouble to make sure the parent's wishes were followed if she was there at the time. I'm glad every thing else worked out fine.

 

[mobetsy]

Hey, Heidi, I'm glad it worked out well for your kids! Not quite as well as I'd hoped with mine; I don't think it is the kids' program fault, just that it didn't click. Ironically, the one who did better was the one we were worried about, and vice versa. But we did get our time for Palo dinner and brunch (though paged once during each...the looks from our fellow diners at dinner when a pager went off were priceless as all discovered we were the recipients!), and they participated in and enjoyed the final show. For ds9, his Topsiders experience with the Lab was not good; that may be a weaker link in the program.