She Said, He Said (that he wishes he had a say)Super Duper Top Secret May PTR

[dreamer17555]

She Said, He Said (that he wishes he had a say)Super Duper Top Secret May PTR

The Stat Sheet:
​

Who: She (Becca), He (Matt), The Cat (Catherine, 12) with honorable mentions to Baby Wrangler (Grandma), and The Baby (James, 7)

When: May 10-17th

Where: Seven Nights at Port Orleans French Quarter

What: A Surprise 6 Days PH + Water Parks, Dining Plan Trip

Why: Read on to find out

The Webisode List​

One: Haven't I Smelt You Before?
Two: How Much of a Surprise is a Surprise?


]Webisode One: Haven’t I Smelt You Before???
Background:

So I haven’t been on Dis in Forever. Seriously. I was rather active during our 2008 trip but then everything in my life blew up so I disappeared. For those who read our sadly uncompleted TR for 2008 might remember that in the middle my DH, Matt, decided he wanted a divorce. Well that mess lasted for less than a few months before he was back home and we have been happily mocking each other since.

In retrospect, I think it was just a lot going on at once. Our The Baby (James) was losing words and it felt like he was slipping further and further away even when we were holding him. Eventually James lost all of his words for a time being and was diagnosed as Autistic. But with the help of a team of specialists and a million appointments and tons of phone calls to Early Intervention (thanks to a tip from a parent of DIS btw) we got his first “Mama” back when he was two. He is thriving now and speaking up a storm. He can even answer those elusive W questions (who, what, when, and why). He is in an inclusion first grade classroom and surpassing everyone’s expectations at seven years old. I guess the best way to describe his condition would by high functioning autistic. He is also crazy cute. Here is proof (and He isn’t too ugly either ) :

Unfortunately James is not quite ready for a Disney trip. So he will be staying with my mom. Never to fear. We have a trip planned for him in October. We are hoping to help him slowly conquer some fears between then and now so that he can actually enjoy Disney and not be fearful.

Back in 2008, Cat was all about dance and guess what? Nothing changed. Well not nothing. She switched to a Pre Pro Ballet school and is seriously driven. Part of this trip was actually inspired because Cat spends so much time at dance and then weeks away every summer at summer intensives that we feel that we don’t get to spend enough time with her. She is looking at hopefully attending a Pre Pro Residence High School starting in 9th grade so time is slipping by fast. (She is currently finishing 6th). She looks much older than 12 and is a very hard worker. She needs this trip to remember that it is okay to be 12 for a change. Here are some pics from this fall. She is still 11 in both of these pics. Scary right!

Well now you know the why of our trip- To get our 12 yo to act 12 years old and have some fun. She has had a rough couple of years with some serious health problems of her own and deserves this trip. She is such a wonderful big sister to James and such an all around amazing kid.

But Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! Because Miss Cat? Has no idea we are Disney bound in May. She has been helping us plan a trip in October for her brother (she has a list of things she thinks will scare or upset him and is making his comfort level her top priority) but she has no idea about her coming with just us in May…

Now to just keep it that way!

-She

On the next episode: How Much of a Surprise is a Surprise?

 

[dreamer17555]

Two: How Much of a Surprise is a Surprise?

Alternative Title: I Might Totally Over Think Things

So I thought I would I would dive right into the good stuff- the surprise and reveal aspect and also show how I have taken that over worried parent thing up an notch by actually getting nervous about how to surprise my 12 yo DD with a trip to Disney.

Yes. I’m actually stressed by how to reveal a wonderful surprise because that’s how I roll. Or how I roll until He holds me down and pours either some red wine in me or some Xanax or in a real pinch some Benadryl because we are fantastically awesome like that. Gangster 4 Lyfe!

Poor reader, my intro probably made us sound like a nice normal family… Yeah abandon that notion right now. I over worry and He sits there making fun of me until he can force me to calm down or I beat him to death with whatever is handy. This might not sound healthy but if it makes you feel better those beating He to near death always does seem to have a calming effect.

So let me give you some more of our plans before you are completely lost or fleeing in terror or both. The plan is to drive from NC to Disney on the 10th and because I have to make everything as crazy difficult as I can, Cat just happens to have a performance that day. Yes, I scheduled a travel day (of 10 + hours) after spending the morning mind numbingly watching girls prance around in tutus. Challenge rating increased by +2!

So the goal is to be on the road by noon and yes, that is He you can hear laughing in the background because The Cat? Is always the last person out of any dance related anything. I don’t know how the kid does it. She must have been infected by the deadly slow poke virus because she certainly didn’t get it from me. I’m all go, go, go. She on the other hand likes to be the one that is standing in the dark because they have literally already turned off all the lights. Yes, she is that sort of slow but it only applies to dance so who the heck knows. I’m guessing those pointe shoes are to blame. They make my wallet bleed so it’s not much of a jump. Sinister little shoes…

Anyway performance in the morning and Disney at night, do I like to keep my days chocked full of excitement or what?

Which brings us to-

Super Secret Reveal Option One:

My original plan was to find a way to secretly pack and hide suitcases the suitcase until the 10th (which I’m sure is accomplished using some sort of dark magic and a goat sacrifice ). Make my mom take Cat and I to her performance because she actually still enjoys all this dance stuff. While we were gone, a miracle would occur at our house and He would actually full load the car and then meet us at the venue with James where we would trade off kids with my mom after the show.

Eventually I would wander my butt backstage because seriously? The kid is sooooo slow. Toss her one of the awesome new Disney shirt we got her and tell her to hurry up because Mickey isn’t as patient as he looks. (You can think I’m nuts but look at how punctual his shows and parades are? He is clearly all about pun-cu-al-ity!)

At this point I am expecting much glee and shock and squeals and loudly announcing to her friends how I am The. Best. Mom. Evah! Or just a really happy kid. Either works but I kinda want that “Best Mom Evah!” thing more.

Potential Bad with my totally awesome plan:

-Goat sacrifice it will take to secretly pack. Seriously, teach me the ways of your dark magic, oh secret keepers!

-Not much warning for James about staying with my mom but honestly when she is around he just looks at us like, why are you still even here? She is so his favorite person. No I’m not bitter at all, just because I take care of him and gave him life and he prefers her even though I totally have the cooler video games. Hey there is no accounting for taste

- Cat can’t really help plan anything (which is okay by me) and she will be nervous about missing ballet even though I have been a good mom and have gone to the teachers on high to beg their approval which has been granted.

Potential Good

- There is a chance that Cat will squeal and freak out in front of her friends. Chances to embarrass your children are not something to lightly be passed up

-How often do we get to really surprise our kids with good news? That almost never happens as an adult. It’s all surprise! You have termites and need to tent your house! Side note: Being an adult sucks.

Now I came up with a much less cool way to reveal our plans and so present you with-

Not as Cool Reveal Option Number Two:

Have He hide several scavenger notes around the house for Easter that lead to a stash of new Disney pins and the magic bands. Mr. He is really good at this and it is a ritual for Christmas that he does rhyming clues to lead me to my Christmas gift from him. So it is something the kids are familiar enough with that it wouldn’t tip Cat off right from the beginning but again it is something that happens a lot and yeah… it’s kinda meh compared to freaking her out at the end of her performance.

Potential Bad:

-No friends will see her squeal if she even squeals because not nearly as cool. And Cat will still have another 20 days until we leave and I’m sure will drive me absolutely nuts

- It gives Cat a chance to plan (which is bad because I like my plans thank you very much and you can pry them from my cold dead hands)

Potential Good:

- Much easier! No dark magic and I can make her pack herself and even have her do a few extra chores. Dance, puppet, dance!

- James will be well warned about his pending week with my mom but he will also drive me nuts begging to go to her house early.

So what would you do? Big Surprise Option One or Smaller Reveal Option Two?
Would love any and all advice (unless it is to seek professional help because been there done that; clearly it didn’t work).

-She

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

Subbing and joining in on the fun officially, dear friend.

And I'm here to tell you. WAIT.
Stick to your plan. It won't be harder than an Easter reveal, au contraire.

Miss Cat will just make you cray-cray (as might James) if you tell them early.
And the surprise reveal is just too fun!

That girl is already an over-planner, over-thinking (wonder who she got that from? ), over-stressing lil' lady... don't have her stress over the trip 3 weeks in advance, where she'll probably feel like she doesn't have enough time to plan... when it's not even her job to!

Sure, she might freak out in the 10 hour drive over what she didn't get to plan. But you'll be there to reassure her that YOU did the job... and soon she'll be in the World and she'll be able to forget about it and enjoy. She's not crazy enough to let worry spoil her fun, I know that.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

HI Becca! . I came over from your signature in my trip report. First I've got to say that you have a beautiful family. Miss Cat is beautiful and you are right about James being so gosh darned cute! : I've never been able to surprise my family with trips as I just cannot keep a secret, but good luck to you. I can't wait to read more. We've stayed at POFQ and liked the quaintness of it. Our favorite resort is definitely POR. Ok, I'll be watching for updates!!!