Hi friends,
We just made a very tough decision and I am in search of kind words of encouragement - not flames!
We are going on our fourth family trip to WDW in Feburary. We have three kids. Our seven-year-old twins have been to WDW three times, our three-year-old daughter has been there two times.
For our upcoming trip we have decided not to take our three-year-old. About 1.5 years ago she was diagnosed with autism. It has been a rollercoaster year and a half, to say the least. To make a long story short, she is now in a fabulous private school where she receives many hours of ABA therapy. The school is such a blessing and after just three months there she is already speaking 10X's more than she used to. She is also tolerating schedules and sensory issues much better. The school is so nuturing and she loves going there each day (although I desperately miss having my "baby" at home.)
We are blessed to live near my in-laws who take fabulous care of all my kids whenever we need them to. They especially have a soft spot in their hearts for our young daughter and are more than willing to take care of her while we are gone. (In fact, they will "spoil" her to pieces!)
We really (really, really, really) weighed the pros and cons of taking her or leaving her. On the one hand, it will kill us to not see her have fun at Disney World. We know that she would love walking around the parks and playing in the hotel's pool. Plus, we are a tight family and know the importance of encouraging the "family unit". On the other hand, we know that she would not enjoy the rides or shows (we took her to a small amusement park this summer and she freaked out!). This would mean that we would constantly have to split up. Plus, restaurants ( or an enjoyable time at a restaurant) is out of the question. We feel that, at this time in our lives, it is important to really spend "quality and uninturruped" time with our seven-year-old twins who have gone through so much in the last year. So often we have not been able to do something or go somewhere because of our daughter's condition. We want to have the chance to all go into a show or a ride together and have the twins sit with Mommy and Daddy at the same time rather than one always having to take care of "the baby".
Plus - to take our daughter out of this very special (and expensive) school could set her back quite a bit. Just after four days vacation at Thanksgiving, her progress stepped back a bit. This vacation would actually take her out of school for 10 days because of the way it is scheduled just prior to an official school closing.
To boot - we are driving this year (approx. 16 hours) which takes it's toll on everyone, and even more so on an autistic child.
Finally, we are a WDW crazed family. We have averaged a trip every 1.5 years since we have had children (plus one "second honeymoon where we left all the kids home with above mentioned in-laws ) So - we know that this is not our "Family trip of a lifetime"; we definitely plan to go back again and feel that it will be better for our daughter to get a few more "skills" under her belt before taking her with us.
So, I am feeling a bit sad about our decision - but I know it is the right one. Can anyone out there help me feel good about what we are doing?
Thanks!
We just made a very tough decision and I am in search of kind words of encouragement - not flames!
We are going on our fourth family trip to WDW in Feburary. We have three kids. Our seven-year-old twins have been to WDW three times, our three-year-old daughter has been there two times.
For our upcoming trip we have decided not to take our three-year-old. About 1.5 years ago she was diagnosed with autism. It has been a rollercoaster year and a half, to say the least. To make a long story short, she is now in a fabulous private school where she receives many hours of ABA therapy. The school is such a blessing and after just three months there she is already speaking 10X's more than she used to. She is also tolerating schedules and sensory issues much better. The school is so nuturing and she loves going there each day (although I desperately miss having my "baby" at home.)
We are blessed to live near my in-laws who take fabulous care of all my kids whenever we need them to. They especially have a soft spot in their hearts for our young daughter and are more than willing to take care of her while we are gone. (In fact, they will "spoil" her to pieces!)
We really (really, really, really) weighed the pros and cons of taking her or leaving her. On the one hand, it will kill us to not see her have fun at Disney World. We know that she would love walking around the parks and playing in the hotel's pool. Plus, we are a tight family and know the importance of encouraging the "family unit". On the other hand, we know that she would not enjoy the rides or shows (we took her to a small amusement park this summer and she freaked out!). This would mean that we would constantly have to split up. Plus, restaurants ( or an enjoyable time at a restaurant) is out of the question. We feel that, at this time in our lives, it is important to really spend "quality and uninturruped" time with our seven-year-old twins who have gone through so much in the last year. So often we have not been able to do something or go somewhere because of our daughter's condition. We want to have the chance to all go into a show or a ride together and have the twins sit with Mommy and Daddy at the same time rather than one always having to take care of "the baby".
Plus - to take our daughter out of this very special (and expensive) school could set her back quite a bit. Just after four days vacation at Thanksgiving, her progress stepped back a bit. This vacation would actually take her out of school for 10 days because of the way it is scheduled just prior to an official school closing.
To boot - we are driving this year (approx. 16 hours) which takes it's toll on everyone, and even more so on an autistic child.
Finally, we are a WDW crazed family. We have averaged a trip every 1.5 years since we have had children (plus one "second honeymoon where we left all the kids home with above mentioned in-laws ) So - we know that this is not our "Family trip of a lifetime"; we definitely plan to go back again and feel that it will be better for our daughter to get a few more "skills" under her belt before taking her with us.
So, I am feeling a bit sad about our decision - but I know it is the right one. Can anyone out there help me feel good about what we are doing?
Thanks!