The Iron Giant - Changing things up for Family Night!

Tonight we are watching The Iron Giant. My 6 year old son has started complaining about all the sappy Disney films with too many princesses and not enough fighting.

In fact, we bought Disney Princesses on Ice tickets for this past weekend and he broke down sobbing. Who knew that when we were planning on an outing for the kids it would bring our son to tears. He said it was all about Avery and princesses and he did not want to go. It also didn't help that Grandmommy agreed to take our 2 year old. Spending time with Grandmommy is Cullen's favorite thing in the world besides sugar. So we ended up leaving him with Grandmommy and taking one of Avery's friends with us.

We all went to the rental place to choose our family night pick. The only one who walked out of that place happy was Doc. Cullen wanted Pirates of the Caribbean 3... Avery wanted a princess movie, any princess movie. I think we have exhausted them all, thank goodness. I am always ambivalent about family night. But in the end we decided on The Iron Giant. Cullen found it but when he heard Doc and I talking about actually renting it, he hid it in the movies so we couldn't find it. Is that not sassy? And this from a boy who has been vomiting since yesterday and has low blood sugar from not eating. Can you imagine what i have to deal with when he is at full strength?

So anyway, its The Iron Giant, which Doc is looking forward too. Connor will not sit through it so we will have to deal with his 2 year old attention span. It is iffy as to whether Avery will actually click with the movie. There are no pretty colors or pretty girls running around in ballet slippers. It is guaranteed that her bony knees and bottom will pierce our sides and legs as she jumps from seat to seat looking for a place to settle. Cullen will be very interested in the movie but more interested in how his sister will not behave or is impeding his viewing. My head will start to ache and then throb. Doc will watch the whole movie through and not recognize that any of this is happening around him.

And another Family Night will pass away.

Disney World? But I need a vacation!

I have a household full of Disney fanatics... and 2 of them have not been there before. The preordered Mickey Mouse ears will arrive soon in the mail. The Disney planning book has been bought and waits anxiously on the bedside table for someone to open it. And the clock is ticking til we leave on Friday. I can hear the annoying little "tick, tick, tick" in the back of my brain, ticking til "D" day. Now you might think this stands for Disney but its could as easily stand for "Disaster".

Disney itself is not the problem. If I could wiggle my nose like the lady in Bewitched I would have not one apprehension. Because really its the travel that makes me crazy. And my psychiatrist husband is not being cooperative with getting me some anti anxiety medication. (humph) Though he has encouraged me to ask my doctor for a dose or two so you KNOW he thinks I will need it.

Traveling with kids is a nightmare! Traveling 12 hours with kids is a nightmare I may never wake up from. Or more likely you know the kind of nightmares you force yourself to wake up from and then you go back to sleep and it just continues or repeats itself. That is my Disney trip nightmare! In order that Cullen does not miss much more school we are shortening a week long vacation into 4 days. So by the time we get there we will have 2 days in the park. Of course I will still be in the psych ward when its time to turn around and drive home.

I do most of the driving because if i didn't we would be in the car for hours longer than necessary. Thank goodness for cruise control because when Edward drives he gets to day dreaming and we start going slower and slower. But even on cruise control we go sloooowww. I either drive or I sit in the passenger seat thinking not very nice thoughts and some actually slip out of my mouth. So I drive and the horde reads, watches movies or plays their hand held game systems. And between the fighting and the "Are we there yet?" which starts five minutes after we leave home I want to just pull over and get out.

(Haha! Edward just approached me with a "proposal", suggesting that we try to do most of the driving in one day so we have three days at the park. He say he will get us there. But you just ready the last paragraph so I am not sure how that will happen.)

So planning for all my fears. I am buying some ear plug to minimize the noise in the car. I am stocking up on batteries so the games just keep-a-workin. I might even bring some benadryl to drug the worst noise offenders. And buy a couple new DVDs that the kids have never seen so they are engrossed for long periods of time. Breaking the drive up with be a lifesaver. Starting early while the children are still "happy" and not forcing the driving day to drag on too long is key to my sanity. Will this save me? Probably not but the alternative without the precautions would be unspeakable.

I know the memories we will make at the park will be priceless. Edward and I went to Disney for our honeymoon and it was magical. To experience Disney through the eyes of our kids will be even more magical. The too and the from will be torture but maybe if I think about the worse case scenerio I will be pleasantly surprised how 12 hours can pass without total meltdown.

Disney here we come!?