Will my kids need counseling if I tell them the trip is postponed?

[StephStanley]

My kids accidently found out about our trip. I was going to tell them way later. We arent going until December. My dh came home one night and said, HEY HONEY, DID YOU END UP BOOKING A ROOM RIGHT AT DISNEY OR OFF PROPERTY. The kids got all jazzed and are ready to go.
Except, its bad. They are ready to go now, we arent going until December. my three year old wakes up from naps crying b/c he things we went without him while he was sleeping. The kids are bouncing off the walls, totally nuts.

I'm glad they are excited but i dont want them to be burned out by December. Or to keep anticipating and being let down month after month. They have no concept of how far away Dec. is.

Should I tell them we are going to wait another year? Until they are 5 and 7, maybe they will forget about it and then surprise them later? I'll still go in December, I just feel like they are in over their heads kwim?

They are 3 and 5 now.

 

[Partridge4ever]

Wow. That's a toughie. I don't think I'd tell them it was cancelled. Could you show them a calendar? Mark their birthdays and other holidays. Point out all the fun things they have to look forward to BEFORE going to Disney. Maybe plan a trip to the museum, a movie or something for a week away and have them count down to that to give them an idea of time and explain that it's too soon to start getting worked up about Disney? After that, avoid talking about it.

If that doesn't help, I've heard of people making a paper chain and taking links off each day. It's kind of soon to start that, but if you make it and tell them you're not leaving until the last link is gone, it might show your 3 year old that you won't go w/o him.

 

[StephStanley]

I've tried everything I can to get them to chill. I've told them that they have to wait until after their bday (And start a paper chain then) I've tried all kinds of stuff.
My 3 year old is carrying around the planning guide. Wont even go to the sitters w/o it, he carrys it in a backpack with his pooh.

It's nuts around here!

Every day they beg to go to the Dis store to get a disney dollar. lol. nuts nuts nuts!

 

[kilee]

Do they understand how far away another Christmas is (if you celebrate)? Possibly try to get them to relate to that. It's hard, they think everything should be tomorrow.

If not help make milestones they have to pass first. We used to do that with my son when he was younger. In this case we would tell him you'd have to have Easter first, then ALL of summer, then Halloweeen, B-days (wherever they fall in there), Thanksgiving, then next will be the trip. At least it breaks it down into mini goals to reach and get by.

 

[Disneylovers]

My younger DD is disabled, and has trouble with distinguishing time also. We started planning our upcoming trip in September, and she was ready to go then! It was becoming a daily issue for her, showing her the calendar wasn't working, telling her we have to save our money worked, to a point (WDW is now "save our money go to Disney World"). We made a list of events for every month between September and March, and she has had to scratch the event off as it passed. There are still 3 events between now and our trip, and she will tell anyone and everyone what the three things are, (one's my birthday ). She and her older sister have their suitcases in their rooms, and are starting to pack. If the paper chain will be too long, maybe make a month chain our of a different color than the daily chain. Just a thought. Good luck!

 

[BUMBLEBALL]

Why don't you tell them that you will not being going until December and write the date down on a calendar.

Then each month until then plan something disney like:

MARCH DISNEY FUN NIGHT WITH GAME AROUND DISNEY, MAKE THEM UP.

APRIL (EASTER) EASTER EGG HUNT ON DISNEY THEME

AND SO ON.

IF YOUR CHILDREN HAVE BIRTHDAYS HAVE THEM ON THE DISNEY THEME.

IF YOU PLAN SOMETHING EACH MONTH AND TELL THEM WHATS GOING TO BE HAPPENEING THEN THE MONTHS WILL FLY BY. MAKE THEM TAKE SMALL STEPS READY FOR THE BIG EDVENT.

ALSO A MONTHS BEFORE YOU GO HAVE A DISNEY PARTY.

MAKE DISNEY FOLDERS TOO.

HOPE I HAVE HELPED.

We are going in June and my children have known since June last year and have been okay about t so far, now they can't stop going on about it.

Don't tell them its cancelled as i think it would upset them.

Donna

 

[ThwTwinsMom]

How long has it been since they found out? I know you've done at least some of this, but here is my 2 cents...

I'm going to have to suggest going the opposite way of the last poster. I think the more you bring it up, the more it will be in their minds. I'd sit down and explain to them that you are not going for a LONG time. I'd associate it with several things that they would think are way off. (Christmas, Starting 1st grade, etc...) I wouldn't pick anything that was close as a milestone. It might start the whole thing over. Pick things that are close enough to the actual date that you are willing to let them obsess until it is time to go. I'd tell them that you can make a chain when it gets closer to time. After the discussion, I'd completely avoid the topic. If they bring up something, be honest, but try and talk as little as possible. With the attention span of most preschoolers, they should chill out pretty soon, if you aren't talking about it.

 

[ChairborneRangr]

If your kids are the type to forget it after a while then I'd do that, but...

My kids are NOT that type. Especially my youngest. This summer I took 35 people to the world (see pic in sig). With all the planning and coordinating etc, there was no way we could keep it a secret. Michaela was 5 at the time. We did something similar to the previous poster that suggested monthly activities. We created a calendar, and made marking off the calendar a daily event for her. She could count, but numbers like 300 didn't mean a lot. She could relate to the number of boxes though. Along the way we had various events, like reviewing information for a park, watching a video from the travel channel, playing with the interactive vacation planner that Disney sent out, buying bathing suits etc. We even made an event out of measuring her height each month. About 6 months out I installed the "Disney Explorer" on the kid's computer so they could check out the world. By the time we left she was 6. She knew more info about the parks than the average park goer. She knew which rides she could go on and which she couldn't. She knew our plan of attack. She knew the restaurants we were going to. Etc. She still bugged us and was overcome with excitement at times. But it was manageable. We let her pack her suitcase whenever she wanted to (about 5 times over the course of a year). She always ended up unpacking and using the things You can only do without Minnie Mouse for so long The roughest time was 2 months before we were scheduled to leave and she got Pneumonia. She was afraid that she was going to miss it. The group CMs were great! They sent her a care package with a new Minnie plush, a signed Minnie picture, papers, pens, pencils, notebooks, magnets etc.

Anyway, if your kids are like mine, include them along the way in the planning. Help them to feel like part of the whole process. Word of warning... never give them an option "hoping" they will pick what you are going to do. If you give them a choice to make, make sure that all the options are acceptable. Patience is an important lesson for kids, and so is planning. You can use this in a positive way.