Our family is going to Disneyworld on Wednesday of this week. I’m sure of it. I know this because my eight year old Kymberly keeps saying it with a gleam in her eye so bright it can easily light up Times Square upon nightfall. My little boy Kyle, who has a speech delay, releases bursts of 9-word sentences while referring to Disneyworld, and he has suddenly started rattling all the Disney characters’ names as if they were actual family members!
I visited the Official Disneyworld web site yesterday afternoon, signed up for a free Kids’ games account, and was amazed at the superior graphics as well as the enjoyability of their games. Little Kyle was glued to the screen for a good two hours acting like he knew how to control the computer mouse. That’s when I really threw him a curve; I pointed at the computer mouse and said, “Kyle, that’s a mouse.” Kyle begged to differ and insisted, “No, daddy, that’s a mouse, Mickey Mouse,” as he pointed to that irritatingly, irresistible, iconic rodent! We continued our argument for a good ten minutes until I dropped the subject.
I went to sleep last night with the words “Meeska” and “Mooska” nailed to my brain, but praise heaven above, when I woke up this morning, I couldn’t remember dreaming about anything remotely related to Disneyworld. I served my kids breakfast while repeating the words, “Meeska, Mooska,” like I was from another planet in a distant galaxy. Kyle was looking at me as if to say, “Dude, you’ve got issues!”
I always kid my family members about how overly excited kids become when they hear they’re going to Disneyworld, but the truth is, once I’m there I can’t think of a bigger joy than watching the wonder in my kids’ eyes as they watch the Disney characters come to life. Three years ago, as big and burly as some people say I am, I sobbed uncontrollably (nobody saw me-I hope!) while watching my little Kymberly marvel at her idol “Ariel” during the “Philarmagic 3D” show because of how happy I was for her.
I say let your kids go overboard with excitement during the days leading to a Disneyworld trip. ”So what” if you pull out a few hairs while your kids continually ask, “Mom, Dad, when are we going to Disneyworld?” Every year before we go to Disneyworld, he heighten our kids’ experience by buying a couple of Mickey Mouse DVD’s and/or CD’s at Amazon.com, and by tuning in to the Disney Channel much more frequently. By the time we walk through the gates at Disney’s Magic Kingdom, they’re the liveliest kids in the whole place!