Mother's Day Reflections

 Being a forty-eight year old mom of an eleven year old boy, makes for some interesting moments.  You can do the math and figure out how old I was when the boy was an infant and the same math will also tell you that retirement for me and college for him will hit at the same time--a little joke life is looking forward to playing on us both.

When people hear my age at work, they are usually surprised.  This is either a giant compliment to my genes and skin care routine or confusion about how could I be that old and have an eleven year old son.  I work with someone who is older than I am and has a child the same age as mine and another child two years younger, so it isn't unusual to be an older mother.  I also work with someone two years older than I am who just became a grandmother.  It makes me think about my mom at my age--she would have had two kids--26 and 23 years old, but no grandchildren.  Yet, my husband's mom was 40 when she had him, so when she was my age she would have had an eight year old!

It's funny to consider all of it. . . the ages and life stages of family, friends, and co-workers.  In the meantime, I'm happy to be a mom of such a great boy and appreciate the teamwork the husband provides in raising our son and taking care of our home.

Happy Mother's Day!

It’s Mother’s Day!  As a mom, it is an opportunity to reflect on my role in raising our son and coincidentally, yesterday was full of opportunities.

A Saturday in May brings soccer games and this week-end’s games were at “home”.  As the boy was getting ready he asked about the number of games his team would be playing.  One.  He asked if we were walking to the field.  Yes.  I loved that he asked that as this makes him both environmentally minded, but health conscious, too.  And, we usually walk to the fields if we are playing at “home” as the fields are nearby.  He also asked for his sunglasses, which demonstrated his planning.

Later in the day, after his game, I took a turn volunteering the concession stand and the boy came with me.  He helped at the counter and showed people to the restrooms when they asked.  But it wasn’t just helping, he was “selling.”  He wanted to give a holler to folks as they passed with “snacks here, get your snacks”—a sales technique he has picked up a minor league baseball games he has attended with is Uncle John.  And, when people did come to purchase, he would then try to “up sell” with a “would you like _________, with your ___________ “ in an attempt to get them to purchase something else.  It worked!  Who could resist the charms of this dimpled and freckled ten-year-old?

A two hour shift was more than he wanted and even after playing on the playground, he opted to walk home—independent as ever.  His dad was gone as he was volunteering at an event at our local event center, and it would be less than 30 minutes before I would arrive, so I knew he would be okay.  He had a key to get into the house, but had difficulty managing it, so what did he do?  He went to our neighbor’s and asked for help!  Excellent problem solving!  I arrived as our neighbor was leaving and thanked them for their help.  (We will practice using the key.)

What makes me smile as a mom is his confidence, his independence, and his enthusiasm.  Those are the greatest gifts this Mother’s Day!

My Mom Is My Favorite Princess

There could be multiple titles for this particular post:  “Thank Goodness for Park Hopper” or “The Magic Inside the Magic” or “A Mother’s Day Tribute” as each of them could properly capture part of this story. . .

We headed to ‘Ohana’s for dinner after spending the day touring Animal Kingdom—click here to read about how we got to be the First Family at Animal Kingdom.  We had had a great day and were ready for a great dinner.  ‘Ohana’s, of course, is one of our favorites and a trip wouldn’t quite be complete without a meal here.

When dinner was over, we decided to take the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom and stop in and see the Princesses.  We hadn’t met the Princesses at the Town Square Theater yet, so we decided to give it a try.  Thank goodness for the Park Hopper option on our tickets!

The wait was minimal—20 minutes or so.  Once we traversed the main room with the queue, there was another room with an unfinished ceiling—so not like Disney, and then we filed into the last room where we could see the Princesses from our line.

Soon it was our turn.  Aurora, or Sleeping Beauty was first.  I handed our Photopass card to the first photographer and then proceeded to make sure the pillow case for autographs was ready for each subsequent Princess.  I knew, from watching, that the Photopass photographers and character handlers would pass our card down the line to each Photographer.

I’m so grateful that the boy enjoys meeting all of the Disney characters, including the Princesses.  I think it helps that he has been meeting them since he was a preschooler and that his Dad has a favorite Princess that he doesn’t mind meeting.  I hear about some families with boys who skip the Princesses altogether.  That would make me sad.

Next came Belle.  Belle asked the boy who his favorite Princess was and his response, “My mom is my favorite Princess.”  Well, I didn’t hear him, as I was prepping materials to meet Cinderella, but the Photopass photographer did and she made sure I knew what he had said.  It warmed my heart. . . both what the boy said and that the Photopass photographer made sure I knew it.  I thanked her for telling me.

I thought, what a great response from the boy.  Not only did it give my “mom” ego a boost, but it was very politically correct for the setting.  I mean, he was in the middle of a room full of Disney Princesses and didn’t want to hurt their feelings by picking one over another.  Hence the potential title for the post—A Mother’s Day Tribute.

Cinderella was the final Princess in the house.  The greeting had the right amount of royal regard.  We left the Town Square Theater, exited the park, and made our way back to our resort.

It wasn’t until the next day, that the boy’s answer to Belle made even more magic.  You see, the next day, we returned to the Magic Kingdom and instead of watching the rope drop at the park, we were IN the rope drop show and opened the Magic Kingdom—click here to read more.

To capture all the happenings of the event, a Photopass photographer was on hand, and his name was John.  Somewhere during the photo session before opening the park, there was talk of the Disney Princesses.  I then mentioned that we had met the Princesses the night before at the Town Square Theater and that the boy had told Belle that I was his favorite Princess.

John looked at us and said, “So you were the family.”  Huh?  Turns out that John’s wife was the Photopass photographer who had overheard the boy telling Belle that I was his favorite Princess and had in turn told me.  Then, she told her husband that night when she got home from work and then we end up being picked to open the park and John is photographing us.  What a small world!!!

The whole story gives me goose bumps.  John’s wife must have photographed hundreds of children and families the night before.  For her to tell her husband our story is mindboggling and then for us to be joined with John the next day in such a magical way is beyond coincidental;  it’s magical. 

And, people wonder why we keep going back to Disney.  This story exemplifies one of the many reasons!  It’s not that we expect the same magical things to happen each trip—far from it.  It’s that we know magical things can and do happen.  Are we disappointed if something doesn’t happen?  No way!  We have incredible experiences and make our own magic.

I’m still shaking my head by the serendipity of all of it.  But that’s what Disney magic will do!

Supporting Your Spouse's Blog

For Mother's Day, we have a guest contributor-the husband.

Supporting Your Spouse's Blog

Rule #1: Let your spouse have ample time on the computer to blog. She will feel so much better when she is done.
Rule #2: Contribute. For example, in case you haven't picked up on this, my wife really likes the Disney (Orlando) experience. So, I come up with suggestions that she can blog about. So far she hasn't used any of my suggestions. But the input helps her make her own decisions about what to write about.
Rule #3: Read her blog and appreciate her efforts. This also brings up pleasant memories of the great times we've shared.
Rule #4: Have a favorite part about the blog. My favorite parts are the pictures and comments. Note to readers: Please comment and speak your peace.
Rule #5: Spread the word around about your wife's blog so that her endeavors can enrich the experiences of others.
Happy Mother's Day! I love you Schnooks! Thanks for planning all our wonderful vacations.