Is there ever a more thrilling moment in the life of a mother than when a beloved child takes up this dread topic and tells you, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Once was enough.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d When it happened for me this week, I felt a millstone the size of a small country ease off my back. I took my estimated cost for this child\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s therapy and removed a zero. I was off the hook. I felt like dancing.<\/p>\n
Yes, it had happened. During her spring break, Emily was invited to go to Disney World with a friend. She went, she met Mickey, she rode the Tower of Terror and she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to go back. Once was enough.<\/p>\n
Emily is our third child. This means she was weaned on Ben and Lizzy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stories of their trip to Disney World when they were four and two respectively. According to Emily, the playing field was never level between her and these siblings because they had been to Disney World and she had not. She had a Disney size chip on her shoulder because we had never launched a second foray to Disney World after our first and only Disney expedition in 1986. This meant the D word was a loaded one for all of us.<\/p>\n
As the truth came out last night, much was uncovered on many fronts.<\/p>\n
My memory of our trip to Disney World with the two older children was of a very hot day during which I was either in a bathroom changing Lizzy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s diapers, mopping up the latest spilled drink, or waiting in line at the merry go round because the lines everywhere else were even longer than the lines at the NH Department of Motor Vehicle. And that is saying something about lines. <\/p>\n
I really don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what Ben and Lizzy told Emily about their day at Disney World, but maybe they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to tell her anything. If you watch TV in America you think your life is not complete without a trip to Orlando. She certainly did.<\/p>\n
As Emily confessed to a rather flat couple of days at the Magic Kingdom, Ben and Lizzy also confessed that their much cherished memories were the stuff of fantasy. Ben said the only thing he actually remembered about Disney World was trying to hang onto Dumbo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ears. And Lizzy, she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t remember anything, not even that twelfth trip to another super sanitary bathroom.<\/p>\n
Somethings simply are priceless. The moment when Emily said \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Once was enough.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was one of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Is there ever a more thrilling moment in the life of a mother than when a beloved child takes up this dread topic and tells you, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Once was enough.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d When it happened for me this week, I felt a millstone the size of a small country ease off my back. I took my estimated cost … Continue reading The D Word<\/span>