For some reason, when I think about planning a family vacation, the only word that comes to mind is trepidation. Since I donāt use that word very often, I decided to look it up in the dictionary. The definition stated its meaning as āa state of fear or anxiety.ā Well, that sounds just about right.
I used to picture our family taking long road trips and joining the crowds of tourists at Disneyland. However, since we were blessed with Eddie, the family vacations have been kept to a minimum. When he was a baby, we traveled to Hawaii and Alaska to visit family. He was an avid traveler that kept his cool on every flight; unless of course teeth were popping in. Now, Iām not sure how he would react to a vacation that might include plane travel or days in a car.
My oldest is eight and her best friends are making the maiden voyage to Disneyland. She brings it up frequently wondering if she will ever get to meet a princess or shake hands with Disney royalty. When she was younger, I had planned on taking her right along with her friends. Now, I long to go as a family, which means I am waiting for Eddie to be ready.
I know that it is perfectly OK to go on a vacation without Eddie, but Iām not ready to count him out just yet. Today, he is not ready for Disneyland, but he might be in one or two short years. I think waiting for that determination is fair to him and to the rest of us. We unfortunately canāt manage a trip to Disneyland multiple times in our childrenās youth. The trip will probably only happen once, and I want to give Eddie a fair shot at joining us.
The big question is whether or not I am being fair to his sisters, and I think that I am. My oldest may disagree, but when she does finally get to go, she will forget all the times she complained of not going. I think she will simply be happy to be there. As for now, weāll be sticking to trips a little closer to home with less at stake if Eddie has a horrible time.
He loves carnival rides and grand adventures. I have no doubt big family vacations are in our future, but we need to wait just a little longer than most. For those of you that donāt know, Disneyland does have an amazing descriptive audio program for children who have visual impairments. At least, that is what I have heard. Someday, Eddie and I are going to find out for ourselves.