Taking grandma along as "babysitter"

[meandtheguys2]

We love when my mom travels with us. She is def. "low maintenance" and we are happy to pay her way. I fugure she payed for several awesome vacations when we were growing up, and I like these "paybacks!" It is so nice to take an evening out, or run to the grociery and not take the whole crew. I like that my boys have so many great memories with her. So for us, personally, it is a win-win situation.

 

[jimmysmommy]

We have gone to WDW 2x now and US/IOA once with my MIL and it was great having her with us....She is a young 75 and has alot of energy....She kept up with us during the day, and since she is not a big night person anyway, she was more than willing to stay in with the munchkin a few nights. She stayed in our room and it worked out fine....All we were doing was sleeping anyway!!! My son loved having his Nana with us, and had a great time with her...Of course, she lives with us (or we with her??! ) so not bringing her just wasn't an option....She also does the babysitting for us during the week (we both work), so she almost feels like this is her payback for that...We pay for all....We are going again in September, and she is sooo excited to go again, and see everything with a new GS (18mo).

 

[Clancycat]

Traveling with MY mother is no problem at all, but my MIL is another story. If you thinkn that all of you will be comfortable and have fun, then take her up on her offer. As for paying her way, since she offered (rather than you asking) maybe you could pay for part of her trip but not all of it? And just explain that although you'd love her to go, you just can't pay for her entire trip as it's an expense that you hadn't originally factored into your vacation budget.

My parents & sister will (hopefully) be going to WDW w/ us next year, they will be paying their own way as it's more of a family vacation than a helping out w/ the kids situation.

 

[jonestavern]

Glad to hear good reports! We're bringing my mom with us in December. We're all staying in one room. She is paying her own way (tickets, meals,spending, etc) because we can't afford to pay for her. She's not coming just as our babysitter...it's HER vacation, too, and we've tried our best to emphasize this to her to make sure she realizes that. We do have one date night planned. And I will be treating my mom to the Candlelight Processional package (just me and my mom).

the mother/daughter special time is wonderful & important! Also, don't know how old or what condition Grandmother is in but DBil took DGPa--74 & in good condition--along with his brood, 2-7's & a 13--& although he had a blast poor Pa got really wound down! the Kids had one bedrm, the parents another & Pa had the pullout--think it would have gone better if arranged differently! Now you couldn't drag Pa back to Disney!
He rises early--they don't--likes to cat nap. Another or connecting bdrm is good if it's in the cards--
Jean

 

[tessqt]

My inlaws took my dh's other siblings and their kids when they were around our kids ages, 10+ years ago. The stayed off-site and I KNOW MY INLAWS PAID FOR JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING.

We are going and I invited them, knowing they were 10+ years older and increasing health problems, etc. Well they are thinking about it, I actually thought they would offer a "donation", but they surprised me. They will have their own room and pay for it. I hope they will take the kids (I'm sure they will) so my dh and I can go to a nice dinner and have the night alone! YEA!!

If my Mom was able I would take her too and I would want her to stay with us. She is 79 and has increasing major health issues. My family went about 2.5 years ago (without dh) and we had a great time and my Mom got a chance to "do" Disney with my kids!

I'm glad you decided to take Mom along!

 

[trueminnie]

It is well worth taking Grandma along for the trip. We took my mother last year. Our ds was 15 months at the time and I was 7 months pregnant with my dd. She volunteered to go along this year as a baby sitter as long as we paid for her lodging and she paid for her tickets. We will go again this September and we will have the 2 year old and a 10 month old. FUN FUN FUN!!!

 

[lovewdwdvc]

i would strongly advise you to look at a DVC. a one bedroom has a livingroom with a pull out sofa sleeper and a full kitchen awasher and dryer and a GREAT master bedroom. If you rent points you will not pay much more for a great accomadation.

 

[Holly]

i would strongly advise you to look at a DVC. a one bedroom has a livingroom with a pull out sofa sleeper and a full kitchen awasher and dryer and a GREAT master bedroom. If you rent points you will not pay much more for a great accomadation.

I agree with this. While you would still be together, you and dh would have your own room for privacy. You would have a full kitchen and could make some meals in the villa.

 

[mill4023]

We just went on our first WDW trip about a month ago. We had asked my mom to go, but she already had a trip to Italy planned with her mom(my grandma) and her sister. I'm hoping to be able to take another WDW trip in Jan/Feb of next year and I would love to have my mom go with us. She enjoys spending time with her grandkids and my wife and I both get along with her really well. Actually, we wouldn't mind sharing a room at all, but with 4 kids and 3 adults, it's either 2 rooms or a suite of some type. The most affordable option will probably be adjoining rooms at a value.

We've been on vacation with her before and it was nice to spend the time with her. Plus she always offers to watch the kids so the wife and I can spend at least one evening out together.

 

[Del]

and pay her way or 1/2 but sharing a room---that's not good with me. You need your own privacy and so does she. My mom came with us to Disney last year, her own room and we paid. There is no way that she , me , the kids and mostly my husband could share a room. Good luck. Del

 

[eeyore45]

Wow, I must be alone in this dilema...

My parents are coming, its a 'joint vacation' they're paying for their room, I"m hoping for adjoining rooms (not necessarily connecting) but, my mom thinks she's taking dd 8 and dh and I can be "on our own" I think this may cause more problems... my dad wants to golf, and do Richard Petty, so I've got his vacation all set, and I'm planning on including my mom for our PS to the Princess Breakfast, but she's like "no, you two go along your way, I'll take dgd to see those things"....

I'm walking a tightrope!! I love my mom, and realize we are very much alike, but why does it have to be 'either or'? and its not an issue with dh, there've been times when she's favored dh way too much - he can do no wrong I mean... (well he is good, but he's no saint!! like me!! ) gads I"m not good at this explaining... we're normal family... but dh and I do love to experience dd and disney together....

I think its my mom is upset she didnt get to take dd to Disney "first", so I have to be careful not to hurt mom's feelings... I'm just surprised I'm the only one with this side of the coin!! I dont want to leave dd with my mom as the babysitter!! lol, just cant please everyone...

 

[meandtheguys2]

Can you take the edge off with humor? Take what she says and assume she is kidding, laugh, and do what you want? You know, "Miss a Princess Breakfast...no way...I want my picture with them too!"

 

[sweetyandsour]

My family is going in October. My son will be 14 months old. My parents are going, as well as more of our immediate family. My dad does not enjoy riding the faster rides and has offered to keep Ryan during those times. It will be a great help to us...and I'm glad our son will get some fun time with Grandpa at Disney. They can keep each other company! I think it's great when families are willing to help out.

 

[PatricenPete]

Seems like I am the only one to disagree here......I could never vacation with my MIL. heck, I could never vacation with my mother - they would both drive me completely and totally insane.

Before having DS, I went on a few trips with my MIL and I hated every minute of it - i was in Disney and I wanted to be anywhere else.

Just be careful - make sure that your mother knows that she is coming on YOUR vacation, not vice versa. Otherwise it really can make for a very tense trip....

Good Luck and have a great time!

 

[SHADCT]

We took my sister-in-law with us. She was about 22 at the time. Her flip flops drove me nuts. flip flop flip flop..... She stayed in our room. My in laws paid for her airline and some extra money. We paid for food and many other things. Didn't really care.
My daugthers were 5 and 15 months at the time. The older one slept with the sis in law and the 15 months old was in a crib. The crib was Disney's and worked out well.
My sister-in-law is a very late riser and a big time night owl. I have to saw she got up with us and kept pace. She helped watch the kids one night my wife and I went out. It really helped. Maybe your husband can take it that way that there will be a third hand to help with the kids. I know we were packed in a room with three adults, but how much time are you really going to spend there.
The nap thing. My 15 months old by this time was taking one nap a day. I think she slept twice(meaning napping) the entire time there. She fell asleep on the bus once and then on me at the Aladdin ride while in line. The wife rode with my other daughter and I parked my slef with sleepy on my under a tree.
I would sugguest you go for it. IF things get heated have mom take the oldest and you and your husband go off with the little one for a little while.
I've been down with a whole in entire family, cousins, brotheres and mom and dad. Oh boy. Larger family trips you need some space time.

 

[Merriwind]

The room sharing thing is one you would have to really think about. We've shared a 2BR villa with my parents and it was fine, but we will all have separate rooms (at WL) this October.

As far as paying, I think it depends on why "grandma" is coming. If it's primarily to help out, be an extra set of hands and babysit, then I think her way should be paid. If she's coming along to experience her grandbabies' WDW vacation and have a vacation herself, then she should pay her way. If it's a combination, then some of her way should be paid and she should contribute some too. JMHO.

 

[3Mousketeers]

Wow, I must be alone in this dilema...

My parents are coming, its a 'joint vacation' they're paying for their room, I"m hoping for adjoining rooms (not necessarily connecting) but, my mom thinks she's taking dd 8 and dh and I can be "on our own" I think this may cause more problems... my dad wants to golf, and do Richard Petty, so I've got his vacation all set, and I'm planning on including my mom for our PS to the Princess Breakfast, but she's like "no, you two go along your way, I'll take dgd to see those things"....

I'm walking a tightrope!! I love my mom, and realize we are very much alike, but why does it have to be 'either or'? and its not an issue with dh, there've been times when she's favored dh way too much - he can do no wrong I mean... (well he is good, but he's no saint!! like me!! ) gads I"m not good at this explaining... we're normal family... but dh and I do love to experience dd and disney together....

I think its my mom is upset she didnt get to take dd to Disney "first", so I have to be careful not to hurt mom's feelings... I'm just surprised I'm the only one with this side of the coin!! I dont want to leave dd with my mom as the babysitter!! lol, just cant please everyone...

Didn't want you to feel alone! I'm jealous of all the posts about wonderful trips with grandparents. My mom lives with us (in a separate in-law apartment) but she is just not into trip to Disney. My in-laws (I have 2 sets, DH's parents are divorced and re-married) have never offered to come along on our many trips to Disney. One time we met up with DH's Dad when we happened to be in Orlando at the same time and it was a zoo trying to accomodate what everyone wanted to without hurting everyone's feelings.
I think a family reunion vacation would be fun someday but not with the intent of having a babysitter for my kids - just for the fun of all being together. But, I think it would be imperative to work out ahead of time what everyone's intentions were. For the time being, when my DH and I was a few hours to have a nice dinner or something we've used the Neverland Club (at the Polynesian, you don't have to be staying there) and Simba's Clubhouse (when we stayed at AKL). I felt as though the kids were very safe and they had a blast (actually the Neverland Club is the highlight of a couple of our trips). Now that we have DD (now 2) we have to wait a couple years for her to be old enough to use the club house. Our last trip to AKL we dropped the boys (7 and 5) and took DD with us for a great dinner at Boma. It was exactly alone time but it was more alone than with all 3 kids.
Best of luck working things out for your trip!!!

 

[12BNWDW]

We are taking my MIL to help with our 11 month old. We are paying for everything but we are not paying her. If you are worried about space look into staying in a villa. If she offered I'd go for it.

 

[Madi100]

We took my mom with us last January. The only reason we invited her was because we wanted her to babysit AND I knew she'd love to go and would never be able to afford it. DH and I had such a great time when we went by ourselves. But, we wanted to take our kids too. So, we invited my mom with the thoughts of her babysitting when we wanted to do something. It was pretty much an oncall babysitter type thing. At first, the only added cost for us was going to be her ticket and her plane ticket. Well, we got to thinking that it really wouldnt be a fun vacation for DH by having my mother in the room with him. It's not that they don't get along, DH is just a private person. So, we decided in order for it to be fun, we needed two rooms. So, we had two adjoining rooms at Pop Century. We made it very clear to my mom that we would let her know when we wanted her to watch the kids. Otherwise, she was free to do what she wanted. It was important for us that she didn't try to run the show by telling us where she wanted to go. It was fine if she wanted to do that, but she could do it alone if it wasn't our plan. We said that for the benefit of her and us. We didn't want her to feel like she could only do what we wanted her to, and we didn't want to feel like we were making sacrifices in our vacation.

The best decision we made was to invite my step-dad along too. We told him we'd pay for the room and the only thing he had to pay for was his park ticket and his plane ticket. My parents couldn't have afforded to go without us doing what we did. It ended up that they were with us most days. The last day we gave them a free day to do their thing and we did ours. DH and I went out every night and that was about the only time they watched the girls. The girls had lots of fun with Grandma and Grandpa.

With that said, my dad and step-mom want to go with us sometime (parents above are my mom and step-dad). I will not pay for their room. I will not pay for anything. They want to go on vacation with us, and that is fine, but we aren't paying.

 

[briarberry]

My mom was planning on coming to WDW with my daughter and myself once my daughter was old enough to enjoy the experience. Well - my mom passed away before we got there and when we went last summer I would have given anything for her to have been there with us.
So I say bring grandma along - build those memories with her while you have her with you. I wish I had.