Where Dreams (or Nightmares) Come True...

DisneyWorld. The place where everyone's dreams come true; unless you're a parent, then it's where your nightmares suddenly become a reality...

My family just spend 4 glorious days in the gorgeous Florida sun, park hopping our way around the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios... Sounds heavenly, right? For the most part, yes. What parent doesn't enjoy watching their child's dreams come true? Don't we want the best for our children? That's why we pay ridiculous amounts of money to stand in lines with 30 minute minimum wait time, if you're lucky, and food that might as well have been made of plastic since it is loaded with perservatives and probably made weeks ago in a little food factory, wrapped in a cellaphane wrapper then frozen only to be microwave-zapped later to an edible state. Ahh yes, the American dream, amusement parks overloaded with snack foods, oversized characters, overpriced souveneirs overweight tourists and overtired toddlers, tikes, tweens and teens. OVER OVER OVER. That's how we do it right!

Why am I so negative after these past few days of family bliss, you ask? Well... BRATS. Yes, I've said it. BRATS. I've seen them all now. Every shape and size; every age; every over-entitled BRAT you could imagine. This does not exclude my own. I love my children. I love them with all my guts, but this week was anything but my dreams come true. I watched as my three year old became a tyrant and demanded more from my husband and I than ever before. I stood stunned as my six year old oozed drama and suddenly forgot what the two little flaps of cartilage on the sides of her head are meant for... It was like my children time warped into a land where parent's words were merely suggestions to be taken with a grain of salt. BRATS.

As we strolled merrily down Main Street USA, it was a common site to see a child being dragged by one arm, kicking and flailing wildly, with a traumatized parent pleading, bargaining, bribing the child to just smile, stand up, look at Mickey... It goes on and on; same old scene. A juvenile meltdown and a helpless parent with about a million set of eyes watching, judging, empathizing, nodding along and finally just gawking.

I was flabbergasted at the comments I heard from passerbys: "I want to be THAT princess!" or " I want ice cream! Not that ice cream, ice cream shaped like GOOFY!" or "Carry me!" or "I want to ride in the stroller!" Never mind that the child is almost 8 years old!

Tears, temper tantrums, shouts, screams, swats, spankings, bribes, and parents just plain walking away. How did we get to this point in our society? Where we spend thousands of dollars to take our children to the happiest place on earth, only for them to spit in our faces and demand more!!?!?!? We did it to ourselves. Perhaps the problem is we don't say "no" enough. Without arguement, we open our wallets and deliver. I'm guilty of it too! My children are a FRACTION of brattiness that I witnessed this week, but nonetheless, I felt exhausted and defeated.

We stayed at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa at Disney World, right on the Monorail. It was fabulous. We were on Club Level, which meant snacks and goodies were out for us almost 24/7. Anything we could want. My daughter attended the Bippity Boppity Boutique, dined with all the Princesses at the Royal Table in the castle, got souveneirs that cost a fortune and will probably be forgot by this time next week and got just about autograph you could imagine from characters around the parks. My son had two meals with characters, Handy Manny, Agent Oso, Mickey and Friends, etc., got a sword and shield, was not forced to eat vegetables all week and rode on his father's shoulders all four days...yet, they both found themselves in heaps of tears and tantrums. Why? What more could they ask for?

I believe it was just all too much. What happened to just having fun? Without overdoing it?

I need to take some time to reflect and recover. I'm spent. Something went seriously wrong with our Dream Vacation and what is even more sad is that I don't feel like we were alone in this scenario. Are we setting our children up to be entitled? Are we giving too much?

To be continued...

New Year's Resolution Update

Now that February is here, I wanted to reflect on my New Year's resolutions and see if I've been holding true to the commitments I've made myself. Overall, I think I'm doing pretty darn good. 2011 is off to a fabulous start and I'm optimistic that the year is going to be a great one!


Resolution #1 Be a better wife.

Ha ha ha! Man is that loaded. As Marty and I approach the celebration of our first decade together, I looked back at the years we've spent as a couple and I came to the conclusion...wait for it...this is not easy for me to admit...ok, here goes...

I'm spoiled. I know, I know...you all already knew that, but its taken me a bit to realize just how good I have it. My husband is an incredible human being, the greatest friend, phenomenal father and the love of my life. (enough with the eye roll please) Over the last 2 years, I have really noticed just how much he does for me and how much he thinks about me and ways he can make my life more enjoyable.

I made a list of all the things he does to show affection. I was unable to complete the list because every time I thought of something, it occurred to me that there were ten more things to add to the list. It just never ended. It wasn't the fancy cars, jewelry, houses, vacations, etc. Those are nice and we are very fortunate, but it was the little things; silly things; personal things; non-tangible things that really stood out. How he makes sure I have all the right spices in the kitchen to make my favorite meals. He folds the laundry because he knows how I hate to do it because the heat of the clothes dries my skin out. He always hangs a white towel up for me in the bathroom because I hate using the red ones (funny quirk I guess). He goes through all my piles of things around the house and puts them away for me so that in my moment of panic when I can't find something he knows exactly where it is and saves the day. He organizes and updates my playlists and always adds my current favorite songs and I'm pleasantly surprised when I plug in my earbuds (that I actually forgot, but he remembered to put in my gym bag). He knows me. He takes care of me and he thinks its absolutely adorable that I'm frazzled and rushed and manic...and me.

So 2011, I'm doing little things to show him I love him too. For example, I have been starting his work truck in the morning so its nice and toasty for him when he leaves for work; although we quickly learned that he burned more gas with the truck sitting in the driveway than it actually used driving the 3.5 miles to work. Hey, I'm new at this stuff, cut me some slack! I often times feel like Amelia Badelia always messing things up, but I know he appreciates the thought.

In all seriousness, I think I'm going to earn an A+ on this resolution. I hope he knows how much I love him and how hard I'll work to be a good wife to him every day for the rest of my life...

#2 Adventurous Clean-Eating Cooking

This is going amazingly well! I am loving all the new recipes I've found. I'm cooking more and more, finding new ways to prepare veggies, seafood and chicken. I'm experimenting with healthier alternatives to my old ways of cooking and I'm very much enjoying the results! The family is happy and is eating well and that makes me feel good! You can check out my blog http://www.aaloftus.blogspot.com/ to get a peek at some of the recipies I've tried.

#3 Getting the Kids and Family More Active

This has been a really fun one! We've done Ice Skating, Bowling, playing outside more, exercising, swimming and visiting indoor gyms. I'm sure as the weather gets nicer we'll be doing even more. Marissa starts lacrosse this spring and Christian will hopefully get into a sport, although I think he's too young for anything organized yet. I love this quality time I'm spending with the family and I think we're setting an example of how to be fit and healthy!

#4 Do things myself that I would normally pay someone else to do

This really only applies to Housekeeping. I've had housekeepers on and off for the past several years and eventually something happens that makes me shake my head and say, "this would just be easier if I did it myself." I actually love to clean. No ones cleans my house as well as I do and it makes me feel so good to see my house organized and clean (especially when I've done it myself!) Also, its great exercise.

Unfortunately, I haven't been so successful with this resolution. I haven't broken down and paid anyone yet to clean the house, but my house also isn't staying in its best condition. Marty helps with the laundry tremendously, but I absolutely LOATHE putting it away. I hate laundry. period. Since my mom has been staying with us, she helps a lot too, but that makes me feel guilty. I wish I had more hours in the day or an extra day in the week that I could just devote to housekeeping...however, there isn't and I'm usually left carving any spare time I can find to get house chores done.

Yesterday, my mom, my daughter and I spent the day scrubbing, washing, vacuuming, dusting and steaming just about every surface we could think of. The house looks fabulous today; let's just hope I can keep up with it!

I suppose, overall, I'm doing ok with all my resolutions. The year is still young, but I'm optimistic that I'm making some changes in the right direction and I'm on track to keep up with my commitments and goals for 2011.