The Mominator Vs. The Kinder Gentler Me...Go Read the TR!!!

[princessjv]

Oh NO! 3 of the 4 are running around here now! Run...hide!

Now all we need is Jo to start one!

Can't wait to hear the other side of you... or can I?

Great to see you back! I'm all settled in for laughter!

 

[Lauralee131]

Oh NO! 3 of the 4 are running around here now! Run...hide!

Now all we need is Jo to start one!

Can't wait to hear the other side of you... or can I?

Great to see you back! I'm all settled in for laughter!

Thanks PJV!! Nice to have you back!!

This promises to be an interesting ride!!

 

[TEminnie]

[
Me - No way...you're not wasting our points on playing golf
DH - Oh, oh so YOU'RE going to use our FAMILY points on a chick trip?

Ha! Subscribing to your TR! We play the Hilton points game all the time--he earns them and I spend them in the manner most appropriate!

 

[DisneyJo]

Oh NO! 3 of the 4 are running around here now! Run...hide!

Now all we need is Jo to start one!

Don't you start as well

 

[bawsmom]

Great Start!!

can't wait for the rest

 

[sharkB8HooHaHa]

I am LIME with envy. You ladies are going to have such a blast!

LL, if you are driving, would you consider swinging through Charleston and kidnapping me for the weekend?

 

[tiggerwannabe]

I'm in for this one!!

Great start Lauralee!

I was over reading V's pre-trippie, saw the new link in your sig and headed RIGHT over~

 

[Lauralee131]

Ok, so where were we? Ah yes, I booked the room! So now you know HOW the trip came about in the first place…

Then V and I started scheming…ah yes, we can share a room! I’ll bring REAL coffee (none of that Nescacrap for us!) and V’s going to bring snacks. Ahhh…we are a match made in Heaven!

Then Jo asks if my DH would like to play golf with her DH…Hmmm…well, I’m sure he WOULD…IF he was going…as of now, he’s not coming. Just me baby! All me, all the time!

Then DH and I had the “I’ve got guys” conversation…you all remember that, right? Well for those of you who don’t, it goes something like this:

DH – If you get a vacation, I’m getting a vacation.
Me – Fine. Where do you want to go?
DH – Vegas.
Me – Vegas? No way! Not without me! I wanna go to Vegas!
DH – Too bad.
Me – Fine. And who are you going with?
DH – Guys.
Me – Oh yeah? What guys?
DH – Oh I’ve got guys.
Me – What guys?
DH – I’ve got guys!
Me – Ok. Fine. The only guys you know have no money, no cars and no licenses. But yeah, you’ve got guys.
DH – (Walking away, mumbling) I’ve got guys…

Allow me to break here for a moment…

Here’s a little classic television trivia for ya, since this conversation DH and I had was so similar to it…What popular Must-See NBC show’s husband and wife had almost the exact same conversation when the husband was going to be home alone for the weekend and the wife was concerned about how he’d get along by himself…He argued with his wife that he’d go out and do this or that with “his guys”…then they argued a bit about how he has no “guys” since they got married. Later in the episode he is seen going through an old phone book calling people he hadn’t spoken to in years, later admitting he in fact “has no guys”…Anyone? Now V usually gets these little off the wall questions right, but I have a feeling there’s a few more of you out there that may remember this…

Ok, so fast forward to a couple of weeks after the “I’ve got guys” discussion…

DH reveals that he in fact really wants to go to WDW…Go figure….

And I find myself disappointed…not only does DH want to go along on what’s supposed to be my “Weekend of Me”, but that means that DS will have to come along as well as we have no one to watch him. Grrrrrr…

Don’t get me wrong folks…I love my family. I can imagine what you’re all thinking after reading the above…probably gasping – OMG – she doesn’t want her family to come with her!!

I didn’t exactly say that, but if you’ve read my last few TR’s, you know a few things:

First of all, DH does NOT, I repeat NOT, travel well. Driving or flying. It makes him beyond cranky and sarcastic levels rise to such a high level that you would think that sarcasm is just one more service that he offers. It’s embarrassing to travel by air with him and aggravating driving by car. Recall his Orlando Road Rage?

Yeah. Me too…and trust me, you don’t want to be on a plane with him if it’s delayed EVEN for just 10 minutes…A 3 hour delay flying into St. Louis last month nearly had us divorcing! I kid you not…we barely uttered a word to each other the entire weekend!

Secondly, come the last day of vacation, DH has this tortured, miserable look on his face and he wants to go home. He’s had enough, doesn’t care to come back and would like to leave RIGHT NOW thank you very much! We went for 10 days in December…by our last day in the parks he couldn’t wait leave and complained to no end to his friends when we got home about how I drag him around like a rag doll. Yeah, that’s right. I drag him around. Whatever.

Frankly, between us girls - the kid and the old man just slow me down. There, I said it. THAT’s why I was looking forward to a solo trip. I don’t have to hear anyone whining about how they’re tired of walking, tired of standing in line, they’re hungry, they’re thirsty. And that’s just my husband! From Michael it’s the constant I want, I need, I’ll just die if I don’t have it’s that make me “give the horns” to the marketing geniuses of the Walt Disney Company. It’s downright aggravating….and makes me want to yell like a drill sergeant…SUCK IT UP SOLDIER!!

Don’t you know who I am? I am, after all, the Mominator! A Disney veteran, I’ve been going nearly every year since 1972. And I prefer to see the World “commando style”. Much like a soldier on the front lines, I require ridiculously little sleep at Disney World. I could be out at Pleasure Island, staggering into my room at 2am and still be wide awake and ready to go no later than 5:15 AM. I’ve actually TRIED to sleep in. It’s physically impossible. It’s me. It’s just who I am.

I plan every moment of the day - occasionally having more than one plan for a day just in case I need to zig where I should have zagged…I have spreadsheets, calendars, Disney Dining on speed-dial. I’m packed 2 weeks before I leave and I start to cry 2 days before I have to go home.

I like to drink my way around Epcot and dance all night at Pleasure Island. I almost never miss the Electrical Water Pageant. I’ve been watching it since I was a kid and it’s a must-do for me each trip.

I’m a big picture taker and approach with World with 2GB in cards and 3 spare batteries and tend to come home with nearly 1100 pictures after a trip. WHY? Have no idea! It’s just me…it’s what I do. I love Photopass as it now enables me to get into the pictures instead of being the one behind the camera all the time. So even after my taking 1100 pictures, we still need to get “family” pictures taken every time we see a photographer. Then I must, absolutely must, buy the stinkin’ CD for a hundred bucks.

And, last but not least…I love the mouse. Mickey is the “other man” in my marriage.

Tony, my sweet DH, knows this, lives it on a daily basis and pretends it doesn’t “weird him out” that his wife is crazy over (gasp) a cartoon character. He even manages to feign interest every now in then in my “DIS friends”. If he sees me on the computer he’ll stop ask me what’s new with everyone.

Now, this upcoming trip will only be my fourth with “a child”, which is a whole new experience. Am I right? BIG difference from going with friends or significant others. They have to eat, they need potty breaks and naps and have short little legs that can only go so fast for so long. I find it difficult to slow down and need to remind myself to do that these days. Lucky for me, I have a great little guy who loves the World as much as I do, and he goes the extra mile to keep up. I finally have someone to ride the Tea Cups with – they make DH sick! His favorite ride is BTMRR…until he reaches the magic number of 44 though I’m sure. That’s 44 inches…the height requirement to ride Space Mountain and Mission Space. He has us measure him a minimum of 3 times a week to see if he’s 44 inches yet. Nope…not yet…keep trying Buddy! I held out hope for a long time that he’d start eating veggies to grow, but that didn’t happen!

Michael will be six this coming September and first conquered the World in January of 2006. He could very well be a Commando In Training...

The first 2 days he walked the entire Magic Kingdom. No stroller, no being carried. He was in the parks as close to opening as I could manage to drag the whole motley crew out there (it was our Magically Dysfunctional Gathering trip) and stayed until the parks closed, without being carried once.

That second night though, he really started slowing down and I couldn’t figure out why…he didn’t run up the monorail ramp with me…in fact he dragged 20 feet behind…and of course, so-not-Mother-of-the-Year that I am, I was just thinking how much he was slowing me down! I didn’t realize the little guy just needed a stroller…His little legs were tired! Hmmm…ok, so after that, we both wanted a stroller for him…I could get to more places faster just pushing him there. We were all much happier after that! With the exception of our traveling companions that is, but that’s another story all together! Now if only I could find a double stroller to put both my guys in, I’d be in Heaven!!

So after dragging my guys around in December, I noticed that Michael had a long weekend in January and Allegiant Air had DIRT CHEAP flights to Sanford. I wanted to take Michael down there alone. Just the 2 of us…like my mom used to take me. But nope…DH wanted to go then too…

Now this January trip came just 5 short weeks after DH looked like this:

And here he is, wanting to go again? Hmmm….could he be turning into a closet Disney freak? In front of the guys at work he’ll complain that I’m dragging him down there AGAIN, with a big, heavy sigh. I get angry that’s he’s being such a horses butt and tell him in no uncertain terms that he DOES NOT HAVE TO GO. Then he quickly changes the subject. Ok, I think I get the little game we’re playing…He pretends to hate going to Disney World and I pretend to love him anyway.

So with the January quickie trip we took, I decided to take it easy on all of us…to try and be a kinder, gentler version of myself if you will. I will not make any ADR’s. I will have no plan. We’ll just wing it.

Oddly enough…I enjoyed it. One day we left Animal Kingdom early and took a nice long nap and then went to Epcot at night, strangely refreshed…Hmmm…that’s odd…it took me what felt like hours to fall asleep, but eventually I did and I felt great when I woke up. I began to think there was something to this…

The next day, DH was sick so Michael and I went to the Magic Kingdom alone. We had an amazingly wonderful day, left early and went back to our hotel (Saratoga Springs) and spent several hours at the pool…Again, I felt great and so did Michael…Now I knew I was on to something…

As much as it KILLED me to not have any ADR’s, it worked out fine…we never had a problem getting into anywhere to eat. In fact one night my dinner was a margarita (or 3) and nachos while watching Illuminations and I was happy as a clam. I realized I did not have to be sitting a restaurant every night having a nice (expensive) dinner.

Initially I loved the Kinder, Gentler Me. But let’s face it. A leopard can’t change its spots. I am the Mominator. The Kinder, Gentler Me is just some weird personality that showed up. Ok, I tried it. It was…different. I’m done.

DH and DS on the other hand….LOVED the Kinder, Gentler Me. You could imagine that they would I guess. No one barking orders at them...No one flicking their noses at 6 am just to see if they’re up yet…No one wanting to go out every single night after spending all day at the parks. You get the idea.

This Kinder, Gentler Me…well, she kind of scares me. I mean, for crying out loud, what’s next…a stinkin’ mini-van???? Baking???

So yep…I’m back folks…although KGM, as she will now be called, is fighting for her right to rest and relax…so this trip will be a battle within myself for control. Of myself. Of my trip.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaacccccccckkkkk!!!!!

 

[Lauralee131]

I'm in for this one!!

Great start Lauralee!

I was over reading V's pre-trippie, saw the new link in your sig and headed RIGHT over~

Hey! Glad to have you here for yet another trip!!!

 

[Lauralee131]

I am LIME with envy. You ladies are going to have such a blast!

LL, if you are driving, would you consider swinging through Charleston and kidnapping me for the weekend?

As of right now, we're flying....errr...I am anyway! But honey if I drive, I'll swing by and getcha!!!

 

[Lauralee131]

[
Me - No way...you're not wasting our points on playing golf
DH - Oh, oh so YOU'RE going to use our FAMILY points on a chick trip?

Ha! Subscribing to your TR! We play the Hilton points game all the time--he earns them and I spend them in the manner most appropriate!

Hi there! Glad to have you along! And glad to know I'm not the only one who goes thru this!!

Don't you start as well

Feeling the pressure, Jo??? Maybe you should just cave in and do it...

Great Start!!

can't wait for the rest

Thanks! Good to have you here!

 

[DisneyJo]

Some other things on my Jo-list..."Are you looking at my bum??"...and "Cheeky Monkey"...

Can't wait

Feeling the pressure, Jo??? Maybe you should just cave in and do it...

Don't worry I will when I've got something good to say, my planning is so boring!

Love the idea of the double stroller

 

[sharkB8HooHaHa]

Good lordy-loo, woman! You have GOT to sleep a bit later! Look at the times on those posts! If I see 4:30 in the morning it's only because someone either wet the bed or threw up!

Awesome installment...I often need a "refresher".

 

[meeskamouska]

Thanks for all the back ground info....great for us that haven't yet managed to read the other TRs!!!!

I have a travel grouchy DH too. If he gets the least bit off his feeding schedule he turns into a bear. I am going to carry special snacks around just to keep him happy!!!! Glad to know I am not the only one in the world who would consider throwing DH off the plane just ot have a better vacay!!!!

 

[PrincessV]

Then V and I started scheming…ah yes, we can share a room! I’ll bring REAL coffee (none of that Nescacrap for us!) and V’s going to bring snacks. Ahhh…we are a match made in Heaven!

Uh-huh, and then she dumped me. Nice, right?

Anyone? Now V usually gets these little off the wall questions right, but I have a feeling there’s a few more of you out there that may remember this…

it pains me no end to admit this, but... I got nuthin' here. In retrospect, I think the last sit-com I saw was Seinfeld. but ask me anything about Survivor, Desperate Housewives, or The Girls Next Door!

Don’t get me wrong folks…I love my family. I can imagine what you’re all thinking after reading the above…probably gasping – OMG – she doesn’t want her family to come with her!!

Not me - I totally get it. Listen, I'd forgotten what WDW sans kids was like till last year's Food & Wine Fest. I went with a gaggle of grown-ups and had a BLAST! Love my family, but non-family WDW time's good, too.

Michael will be six this coming September and first conquered the World in January of 2006. He could very well be a Commando In Training...

Still love this pic!

This Kinder, Gentler Me…well, she kind of scares me. I mean, for crying out loud, what’s next…a stinkin’ mini-van???? Baking???

STOP right there missy - STEP AWAY FROM THE BUNDT PAN!!!!! I was all set to point out how one can blend a little KGM with the Mominator and all parties can have an enjoyable, fun-filled, yet relaxing WDW vacation. But I now see this cannot happen. Back away, I say, or I'm calling all the NC minivan dealerships with a warning.

 

[Lauralee131]

Uh-huh, and then she dumped me. Nice, right?

Ouch. That hurts...I don't like it any more than you do! TRUST ME!! If I had my way....well, you know...
Have you all met V? The official travel agent for my guilt trip?

J/K - Love you my friend!!!

it pains me no end to admit this, but... I got nuthin' here. In retrospect, I think the last sit-com I saw was Seinfeld. but ask me anything about Survivor, Desperate Housewives, or The Girls Next Door!

No way...Hmmm....I don't know what to do next? Do I give the answer out? Do I wait?? I've never been in this position before...very strange territory!

Not me - I totally get it. Listen, I'd forgotten what WDW sans kids was like till last year's Food & Wine Fest. I went with a gaggle of grown-ups and had a BLAST! Love my family, but non-family WDW time's good, too.

Thank you! I knew YOU'd understand me!!

Still love this pic!

He has "commando" potential, don'tcha think? Know what else? I think I'm gonna get a whistle to bring on the trip...that'll get em up and moving!

STOP right there missy - STEP AWAY FROM THE BUNDT PAN!!!!! I was all set to point out how one can blend a little KGM with the Mominator and all parties can have an enjoyable, fun-filled, yet relaxing WDW vacation. But I now see this cannot happen. Back away, I say, or I'm calling all the NC minivan dealerships with a warning.

This could get ugly...I have to find a way for both of my personalities to co-exist...Can't we all just get along? Were you talking to me or her? She was talking to me! No me!!

You know, just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean that they NOT all out to get me...

 

[Lauralee131]

Don't worry I will when I've got something good to say, my planning is so boring!

Ok...don't mind me...I'll just be waiting... and waiting... and waiting...

Love the idea of the double stroller

You know, it's just crazy enough to work!

Good lordy-loo, woman! You have GOT to sleep a bit later! Look at the times on those posts! If I see 4:30 in the morning it's only because someone either wet the bed or threw up!

Awesome installment...I often need a "refresher".

Thanks Sharkb8...for some unGodly reason DH has the alarm set for THREE THIRTY!! Note to self...beat DH when I get home from work...

Thanks for all the back ground info....great for us that haven't yet managed to read the other TRs!!!!

I have a travel grouchy DH too. If he gets the least bit off his feeding schedule he turns into a bear. I am going to carry special snacks around just to keep him happy!!!! Glad to know I am not the only one in the world who would consider throwing DH off the plane just ot have a better vacay!!!!

Good - glad it's not just me...Maybe I should just give him the money to go to Vegas!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Then V and I started scheming…ah yes, we can share a room! I’ll bring REAL coffee (none of that Nescacrap for us!) and V’s going to bring snacks. Ahhh…we are a match made in Heaven!

Yeah, I had visions of us all the POFQ, meeting up for a nightly cocktail or 2 or 3 or 21!

Here’s a little classic television trivia for ya, since this conversation DH and I had was so similar to it…What popular Must-See NBC show’s husband and wife had almost the exact same conversation when the husband was going to be home alone for the weekend and the wife was concerned about how he’d get along by himself…He argued with his wife that he’d go out and do this or that with “his guys”…then they argued a bit about how he has no “guys” since they got married. Later in the episode he is seen going through an old phone book calling people he hadn’t spoken to in years, later admitting he in fact “has no guys”…Anyone?

I wanna say Everybody loves Raymond, but I think I'm wrong.

Don’t get me wrong folks…I love my family. I can imagine what you’re all thinking after reading the above…probably gasping – OMG – she doesn’t want her family to come with her!!

I'm with you girl!! What I wouldn't give for a real "girls only" trip.

I'm sorry, but I think your DH is hilarious! I often wonder why he agreed to DVC if he's not that into it?? Something tells me his arms were twisted like pretzels!! Just sayin'

I plan every moment of the day - occasionally having more than one plan for a day just in case I need to zig where I should have zagged…I have spreadsheets, calendars, Disney Dining on speed-dial. I’m packed 2 weeks before I leave and I start to cry 2 days before I have to go home.

See??? Know you people know why I love this chick!!

Tony, my sweet DH, knows this, lives it on a daily basis and pretends it doesn’t “weird him out” that his wife is crazy over (gasp) a cartoon character. He even manages to feign interest every now in then in my “DIS friends”. If he sees me on the computer he’ll stop ask me what’s new with everyone.

Awwww!!! See, he's trying! Hi Tony!

Michael will be six this coming September and first conquered the World in January of 2006. He could very well be a Commando In Training...

What a good looking guy! I just realized Leo, Maddie and Michael are all the same age!

Now if only I could find a double stroller to put both my guys in, I’d be in Heaven!!

Wheelchair, my friend. Throw Tony in the chair and Michael on his lap!

I am the Mominator. The Kinder, Gentler Me is just some weird personality that showed up. Ok, I tried it. It was…different. I’m done.

Yeah, baby, yeah!!! I love the Mominator!!

This Kinder, Gentler Me…well, she kind of scares me. I mean, for crying out loud, what’s next…a stinkin’ mini-van???? Baking???

Ok, the baking scares me.... but the mini-van??? Ahem.... What's wrong with a mini-van, exactly??

 

[bawsmom]

Then DH and I had the “I’ve got guys” conversation…you all remember that, right? Well for those of you who don’t, it goes something like this:

DH – If you get a vacation, I’m getting a vacation.
Me – Fine. Where do you want to go?
DH – Vegas.
Me – Vegas? No way! Not without me! I wanna go to Vegas!
DH – Too bad.
Me – Fine. And who are you going with?
DH – Guys.
Me – Oh yeah? What guys?
DH – Oh I’ve got guys.
Me – What guys?
DH – I’ve got guys!
Me – Ok. Fine. The only guys you know have no money, no cars and no licenses. But yeah, you’ve got guys.
DH – (Walking away, mumbling) I’ve got guys…

Allow me to break here for a moment…

Here’s a little classic television trivia for ya, since this conversation DH and I had was so similar to it…What popular Must-See NBC show’s husband and wife had almost the exact same conversation when the husband was going to be home alone for the weekend and the wife was concerned about how he’d get along by himself…He argued with his wife that he’d go out and do this or that with “his guys”…then they argued a bit about how he has no “guys” since they got married. Later in the episode he is seen going through an old phone book calling people he hadn’t spoken to in years, later admitting he in fact “has no guys”…Anyone? Now V usually gets these little off the wall questions right, but I have a feeling there’s a few more of you out there that may remember this…

is it that helen hunt show..... mad about you??

 

[tiggerwannabe]

That last one sounds right...It totally sounds like a line from their show~

Mominator's and KGM's *can* merge successfully without the need for baking or a minivan. It takes a few years for the family to adapt, but they do...MwKGM's drive SUV's

I've already talked to my friend Rose and my daughter about Disneyland. They understand that I intend to spend every minute I can conquering the two parks. Rose will have a car and can go off sightseeing or shopping or whatever she wants to do outside the "Land" with her daughter. DD said she'll be right by my side. That's my girl!