Yes, we were "that" family this week...

[lucifie]

We took our kids to WDW for the first time last year. At the time they were 9, 7, 4 and 2. While they behaved pretty well most of the time, they had their moments. I can't tell you how many times I had to tell my (then) 4 year old to stop playing with the garbage cans, to stay with us, stop climbing on ____ (fill in the blank). At one point my then 7 year old complained that she was bored. I almost lost it. We were at Disney and we had spent months planning it and lots of money and she's BORED??? She was just tired of waiting in line and I offered to take her back to our hotel room instead and that solved the problem.

We also spent a lot of years and money to have kids (#1 was adopted and #4 was the biggest surprise of my life) and before I was a mom I had all kinds of ideas of how parenting should be done. Then I realized that even the best-behaved children have their moments and sometimes those moments happen in public. Most of the time I have sympathy for the parents and just move on.

 

[polineedyan]

DH and I also took a long time to be able to have our son. We celebrate 19 years married this year and our DS is 2. (DH says that luckily he robbed the cradle when he married me And is joking about having a wife still in her 30s--at least for 1 more year!)

For those people who said cruel things, it really amazes me how rare so-called "common" sense is. It's not just toddlers who might be having meltdowns. What if the child has Autism or some other sensory or developmental issue that isn't obvious? People just need to stop sticking their noses into other people's business.

That being said, DH did say the other day that it actually makes him feel better (and then guilty for feeling that way) when he sees another toddler having a meltdown because it makes him realize that when our DS does it, that means he's just a normal kid, but he's also glad it's not ours doing it right then. So remember, sometimes, the glances your way, might be a mix of sympathy and relief that it's not us this time.

I think of a toddler having a fit at Disney almost like an accident on the side of the road. There is probably something that caused that accident/fit to happen. So look to yourself, check your driving conditions, or in this case, check how exhausted, thirsty and out of sorts you all are so you prevent your own accident/fit.

Some winner quotes in here!! This poster's right. My oldest son 'ran away' at Disney and I swear he was 14. He got all mad at the pool and took off to God knows where until we found him and he refused to come to the room. It was a scene. So, age, unfortunately, has no bearing..or at least, isnt the sole factor.
Not only sympathy,but in my case, I want to help! If I see some kid having a bad time, I want to reach out. that may be why I'm staring. The most offensive 'toddler' behavior, imo, is to be a dirty diaper parent. NO THANKS.CLEAN YER KID.ew.

 

[puffkin]

We took our kids to WDW for the first time last year. At the time they were 9, 7, 4 and 2. While they behaved pretty well most of the time, they had their moments. I can't tell you how many times I had to tell my (then) 4 year old to stop playing with the garbage cans, to stay with us, stop climbing on ____ (fill in the blank). At one point my then 7 year old complained that she was bored. I almost lost it. We were at Disney and we had spent months planning it and lots of money and she's BORED??? She was just tired of waiting in line and I offered to take her back to our hotel room instead and that solved the problem.

I don't know what it is about the garbage cans there, but we also are CONSTANTLY yelling at DS8 to stop touching them! We took my one niece at 7 and the other at 9 and they too were contantly touching the garbage cans. I don't know what the fascination is, but it is sooooo annoying! My DS8 can also not walk with climbing/jumping/stepping on everything. You are not alone

 

[ready2vacation]

OP here - I love all your stories!! Thank you for sharing your experiences.