I am not sure of the reason. Perhaps I have been working so hard on a new project at work that my mind was looking for an escape or maybe it is just that I like to go somewhere all of the time. I like to travel anywhere, but destinations that include Mickey and pals are always first on my list. Having only been on one cruise before nearly ten years ago I have really been wanting to go on another. I thought it was fate when I got an email advertising last minute cruise specials. I first started looking at discount cruises for me and my husband to go on. Later that night I talked to him and found out he had a major trial coming up so he would not be able to join me until after April.
So then, I started to explore cruises I could go on with my three kids. My kids have been raised on Disney. They have all been to Disney theme park destinations at least thirty times. We go a couple of times a year and they love it. In fact, it was my belief they would not prefer to be any place else. That was, of course until I asked my oldest! My oldest son, Drew, is eighteen and bound for Texas A&M in the fall. He is so ready to go he could burst. He is extremely intelligent, very adventuresome and very independent. I know he cannot wait to get away from his doting mother and start his adulthood. He is also an Eagle Scout. This is an accomplishment he is very proud of. Although he is eighteen he is still an Adventure Scout and still participates in Trainers Edge and National Youth Leadership Training. These are the two weeks a year he feels he is out there on his own. He can take risks without hearing the possible consequences from his mom! I do hope that he can hear the reel of past warning playing in his head, but that is my own foolish fantasy world. As soon as I mentioned a spring break trip he reminded me that he was going to a NYLT camp that week. You know the music they play on The Price is Right when the contestant loses the carthat is the music I was hearing in my head and feeling in my chest. I had all of my dreams of enjoying PALO and sitting in the Cove Café with my son squashed! That is okay, I can fix this! I just had to think about it for a while. I just needed to channel my inner Lucy and come up with just the right scheme.
Next I started looking at the prices of the cruises during Spring Break! Yikes! They were really pricey. I then started thinking about Disney World as an option but I quickly nixed that because I did not want to fly and I did not want to drive that far. Flying is a big hassle to me. We have taken several long car trips lately and I just did not want to do it right then. So I was about to give upnot really! I do not give up on much but when it comes to Disney I really fight to the finish. That is when IT happened. I was on the original email from vacationstogo.com when I saw some little words in the detail of the price column. Kids Sail Freewere my eyes deceiving me??? Of course that was not on the week long during Spring Break tripit was even better! It was on a cruise that left Friday, March the fifteenth and returned Tuesday the 19th and it was out of Galveston. My middle child, Steven just happens to turn seventeen on the fifteenth! When the travel gods put something this perfect in your lap it would be very risky to pass on it. Now I had to go, I could not risk angering the travel gods and never again getting a fate-filled email chock full of too good to pass up deals could I? I mean, the price was right; my sons camp ended at noon on the 15th, and the kids would only have to miss two days of school! So this was it. I had found my cruiseand I only had to pay for half of us! I called my oldest son to come down and told him the great news. He could come with us and would only have to leave camp two hours early. He said he could not miss the school. I knew that was a suspicious statement. The only reason he counts absences is so that he can exempt all of the finals on the last day. He is a senior and as long as he has an A or B he does not have to take finals. He has never had below an A. I reminded him and then he said he had committed to going to camp and could not let them downeven for one hour! What?? What about letting me down? You know, the person who gave you life! The person who taxied your butt all over town! Did I need to tell him the story of the 25 hours of labor??? It was during this rage in my head when it came to me what he really meantMom, I would rather be with my friends. Ahhthe punch that sent me reeling across the ring! He did not even have to say it and I knew. This child who had skipped down Mainstreet with me just last year was separating from me. I had seen the signs over the past several months. I just chose to ignore them. Then he said it, the knockout punch; the words that I may never recover fromMom, I am tired of Disney. I want to take a break from it. I was down for the count. He hung his head having delivered the worst news he had ever had to at his young age, he left the room. He left me there to lick my wounds and try and recover. Images of King Triton and Ariel played through my head. I really did not want to smother my son so much that he had to turn to a sea witch to escape from me did I?
So, I held back the tears and tried to reason with myself. It is normal for kids to separate before they leave for college. It is their survival instinct. It is like when the momma dog pushes the pup away but in reverse. I knew it was going to happen. I can clearly remember that day in 1986 when I stood there in all of my gloryimagine the big teased up hair, bright blue eye shadow, hot pink blush and neon clothesand told my very Baptist mom and dad I was an adult and I was going to a club to see a hair band play. I was going to see my favorite band Lillian Axe and no one was going to stop me. You know what? They didnt even try to stop me. They told me to be safe, gave me a quarter in case I needed to call (yepno cell phones in 1986!), and let me go. That night I was tested. I could have put myself in many situations, but I did not. You know why? I was given a good, solid foundation and raised with confidence. Well, so was Drew. He would make mistakes in his life but he would be smart enough to know they were mistakes. Besides, I still have two more Disney freaks to share in my passion!
So then, I started to explore cruises I could go on with my three kids. My kids have been raised on Disney. They have all been to Disney theme park destinations at least thirty times. We go a couple of times a year and they love it. In fact, it was my belief they would not prefer to be any place else. That was, of course until I asked my oldest! My oldest son, Drew, is eighteen and bound for Texas A&M in the fall. He is so ready to go he could burst. He is extremely intelligent, very adventuresome and very independent. I know he cannot wait to get away from his doting mother and start his adulthood. He is also an Eagle Scout. This is an accomplishment he is very proud of. Although he is eighteen he is still an Adventure Scout and still participates in Trainers Edge and National Youth Leadership Training. These are the two weeks a year he feels he is out there on his own. He can take risks without hearing the possible consequences from his mom! I do hope that he can hear the reel of past warning playing in his head, but that is my own foolish fantasy world. As soon as I mentioned a spring break trip he reminded me that he was going to a NYLT camp that week. You know the music they play on The Price is Right when the contestant loses the carthat is the music I was hearing in my head and feeling in my chest. I had all of my dreams of enjoying PALO and sitting in the Cove Café with my son squashed! That is okay, I can fix this! I just had to think about it for a while. I just needed to channel my inner Lucy and come up with just the right scheme.
Next I started looking at the prices of the cruises during Spring Break! Yikes! They were really pricey. I then started thinking about Disney World as an option but I quickly nixed that because I did not want to fly and I did not want to drive that far. Flying is a big hassle to me. We have taken several long car trips lately and I just did not want to do it right then. So I was about to give upnot really! I do not give up on much but when it comes to Disney I really fight to the finish. That is when IT happened. I was on the original email from vacationstogo.com when I saw some little words in the detail of the price column. Kids Sail Freewere my eyes deceiving me??? Of course that was not on the week long during Spring Break tripit was even better! It was on a cruise that left Friday, March the fifteenth and returned Tuesday the 19th and it was out of Galveston. My middle child, Steven just happens to turn seventeen on the fifteenth! When the travel gods put something this perfect in your lap it would be very risky to pass on it. Now I had to go, I could not risk angering the travel gods and never again getting a fate-filled email chock full of too good to pass up deals could I? I mean, the price was right; my sons camp ended at noon on the 15th, and the kids would only have to miss two days of school! So this was it. I had found my cruiseand I only had to pay for half of us! I called my oldest son to come down and told him the great news. He could come with us and would only have to leave camp two hours early. He said he could not miss the school. I knew that was a suspicious statement. The only reason he counts absences is so that he can exempt all of the finals on the last day. He is a senior and as long as he has an A or B he does not have to take finals. He has never had below an A. I reminded him and then he said he had committed to going to camp and could not let them downeven for one hour! What?? What about letting me down? You know, the person who gave you life! The person who taxied your butt all over town! Did I need to tell him the story of the 25 hours of labor??? It was during this rage in my head when it came to me what he really meantMom, I would rather be with my friends. Ahhthe punch that sent me reeling across the ring! He did not even have to say it and I knew. This child who had skipped down Mainstreet with me just last year was separating from me. I had seen the signs over the past several months. I just chose to ignore them. Then he said it, the knockout punch; the words that I may never recover fromMom, I am tired of Disney. I want to take a break from it. I was down for the count. He hung his head having delivered the worst news he had ever had to at his young age, he left the room. He left me there to lick my wounds and try and recover. Images of King Triton and Ariel played through my head. I really did not want to smother my son so much that he had to turn to a sea witch to escape from me did I?
So, I held back the tears and tried to reason with myself. It is normal for kids to separate before they leave for college. It is their survival instinct. It is like when the momma dog pushes the pup away but in reverse. I knew it was going to happen. I can clearly remember that day in 1986 when I stood there in all of my gloryimagine the big teased up hair, bright blue eye shadow, hot pink blush and neon clothesand told my very Baptist mom and dad I was an adult and I was going to a club to see a hair band play. I was going to see my favorite band Lillian Axe and no one was going to stop me. You know what? They didnt even try to stop me. They told me to be safe, gave me a quarter in case I needed to call (yepno cell phones in 1986!), and let me go. That night I was tested. I could have put myself in many situations, but I did not. You know why? I was given a good, solid foundation and raised with confidence. Well, so was Drew. He would make mistakes in his life but he would be smart enough to know they were mistakes. Besides, I still have two more Disney freaks to share in my passion!
