Have you read the Mom’s Guide to Making your Trip Smooth, Seamless and Stress-Free? No? Well let me assure you that while that may not be a real book, it can actually happen. Even with the fussiest kids, the most obnoxious tween or overtired toddler, it is possible! How, you ask?
Make every day of your vacation A DAY OF YES.
Let me explain. I don’t know about you, but most of my days are filled with “no’s.” NO you can’t have chips for breakfast. NO you can’t take my phone to school, and on and on. Sometimes, I think I am conditioned to say no without even listening to the question.
Now think of yourself on vacation – at Walt Disney World. You’ve planned with the help of your Disney travel agent, you’ve saved, and now after months of anticipation, you are HERE. Despite the mood everyone woke up in, the moment you scan your Magic Band and step through the gate, it all should start fresh. Forget who ate what for breakfast, forget who pushed who on the bus. Wipe the slate clean and make it a DAY OF YES. This is more than just a mindset, it’s a mantra. Now I’m not suggesting this means a day without rules… of course there must be limits. But try and make a conscious effort to say YES to every single thing they ask (even if there’s a disclaimer after it – “yes, but…” is ok too.)
Two weeks ago, I took my kids on vacation for spring break. While we were going to Florida, we were hours away from the Park and so I made it clear in advance that WDW would not be a part of our trip. But secretly, I had indeed arranged to spend one day at the Parks!
As they went to sleep the night before, I told them the surprise. They were thrilled! But what I found made even more of a difference was when I took them aside the next day, steps from the entrance to MK, and told them that it would be a DAY OF YES – for all of us. Which meant that THEY had to say yes to the things that I asked too.
14 hours and three Parks later, we lay in bed and talked about the day. No one fought. No one whined. No one melted down. When I brought this up, my daughter (age 10) said, “Mommy, there wasn’t a reason to fight. We were all on the same side. We all said yes.”
And while nothing can be better than a day at WDW, hearing that came pretty close.
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Alysia has always been a Disney freak. From her first visit in 1974 to her most recent visit in September, she has grown up loving the experience that Disney provides its guests. Now with two children, she can proudly say she’s raising two little Disney freaks of her own. When she’s not planning a trip, Alysia has spent the last 23 years in marketing, working at both billion dollar corporations and small non-profits. It was during her time at one of those non profits, the Wildlife Conservation Society (parent company of the Bronx Zoo), that she took a side job at the Disney Store to supplement her income. Those five years as a Cast Member convinced Alysia that she would do whatever she could to work in and around the Disney company to marry her professional expertise and her passion for the Mouse! Writing for the Affordable Mouse brings her one step closer to that goal!
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