As I mentioned in my last post, I disappeared for a while because my sister was visiting with her family. She also has three kids, which means there were six kids and four adults in my house for a week. That's ten people, for those mathematically challenged. SIX of them were kids. Did I mention my house is only 1600 square feet? Yeah it got a bit squishy at times, but it really wasn't that bad. For the most part were weren't home except to sleep. And to drink LOTS of wine. Hence the reason my posts have been lacking. There were trips to, the beach, Disneyland, The Aquarium of the Pacific, The Getty Museum, and Grandpa's house to go swimming. It was bit busy. One of my favorite, yet most exhausting days was most definitely Disneyland. I mean who doesn't love Disneyland? After all it IS the happiest place on earth. Someone just forgot to tell Lana that.
Yes, this is yet another one of those posts where I wonder what to do with that kid. Don't roll your eyes, YOU don't live with her. Her emotions are always so hot and cold. It's been like that since she was a baby. We used to joke and call her bi-polar baby. I know, we are such awesome parents. Anyway, she woke up that morning a ray of sunshine. In fact she was the only one of all the kids who got up, got dressed, had breakfast and was ready before every one else, with a smile on her face the whole time. We were looking at a good day if SHE could be like that. Then I made the mistake of allowing Georgia to have her blankie in the car on the way to Disney. How dare I!
Quick explanation: The girls all have blankies they sleep with only at night. I always pack their PJs and blankies when we go to Disney so when they fall asleep on the way home it's an easy transition to bed. Georgia was up at 4:30 that morning. Yes, 4:30 AM. I REALLY wanted her to take a nap on the way to Disneyland, so she didn't break down later on in the day. That's where the problem came in...
Lana was a bit jealous that GG had her blankie and she didn't, and she decided to let us know, for the first 25 minutes of the car ride. She cried and whined about not having her blankie. Not that I usually EVER let them have it during the day, but I guess because her sister had hers, she felt it would only be fair. In retrospect, and knowing how that incident would set the tone for the rest of the day, I should have given her that damn blankie. But no, I was sticking to my rule dammit! She finally gave up the fight after half an hour and SHE fell asleep for the rest of the trip. Georgia-not one wink. This was going to be a fun day.
We got to the parking garage, which is about a half mile from the actual Magic Kingdom entrance. Now keep in mind we were at Disneyland... on a Saturday...during the summer. Crowded? No, no, it was only sardines in a can feeling for part of the day. When we saw how long the tram lines were we decided to walk. We were going to be walking all day so what difference would another half a mile make? Apparently, it would make a big difference to Lana, who didn't want to walk even if it meant Disneyland was at the end of that walk. Oh wait. IT WAS!! That child did not care. All she cared about was the fact that there walking and she had to walk and the walking was to much and it was hurty for her legs with all the walking. I'm not sure how we ever made it to the entrance. All I remember is arguing with that child for half a mile about how it wasn't that far, and she would be fine when we got in there, and no I wasn't going to carry her. More whining ensued.
When we finally made it to the park I thought we were going to be okay. I figured we had sidestepped a Lana bomb. Unfortunately, that was not the case. She was just ticking waiting for the right time to go off.
She was good for a while. We got into Disney-all for free I might add. I have friends in high places. (Melinda you are the bestest, most awesomest, friend ever! I love all my friends, but the rest of you don't get me in to Disney for free, so you know...) There were also the special passes to get on all the rides in the fast pass line. I'd love to tell you how we did that, buuuuttt...well then I'd have to kill you and I like having my readers alive. Let's just say it's a good thing my nephew and niece were with us. We wouldn't have been able to ride half of what we did if not for those passes. And Lana is NOT good with standing in lines for more than oh, five minutes or so. This helped everyone out.
We ended up in Toon Town a couple hours into our day. For those of you who have never been, it's an area for the little kids. You can see Mickey and Minnie over there and go into Goofy's house. We planned on going to visit Minnie, but the line was way to long and we weren't about to get to the front of that one. Lana protested a bit, but when we pointed out how long the line was she seemed to understand that it was better not to wait in it. She didn't really cry, but I could tell she wasn't exactly ok with missing Minnie. Still the majority of us not wanting to wait in line won.
Then came the carousel incident. Oh boy.
After lunch we headed to the carousel. A ride that all of the ages could enjoy. We got in our "special" line and were allowed on first. While we were waiting to go in, Lana eyed a pink and purple horse with bells on it. She told me how that was the horse she wanted. I had Georgia when we walked on and Andy had Lana. I got GG and Sonya all settled and then heard a sobbing from behind me. I turned to see Lana looking demonically possessed and completely losing her shit atop a horse that was NOT the one she pointed out. Andy stood next to her shaking his head. I walked back to them.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Gracie took MY horse!!" Lana told me in between sobs.
I turned to the horse in front of her to see Gracie was indeed on the horse Lana wanted. I wasn't sure what had happened, but I just needed to calm her down. I told Andy to go with the other two girls, then went into operation "chill Lana out". Something I've done more than once or twice. Unfortunately, I was to late. She had already been taken over by the wild eyed, crazy, hysterical, demon five year old she sometimes turns into when she's at the end of her rope. There were no deep breaths or counting to ten that were going to fix this in the next five minutes.
I decided to take her off the ride, but the bell rang indicating that it was starting and off we went. Lana was screaming, crying and trying to jump, yes jump off the horse she was on as it was going up and down, round and round, and yelling "I want THAT horse!!" I stood there doing my best to make sure she didn't jump off to her death, or at least a broken bone, and trying to ignore every stare that was coming in our direction. With every second I became increasingly more frustrated and angry with her behavior. It was the longest ride ever.
The moment the ride stopped, I grabbed her off the horse, kicking and screaming, walked over to where our stroller was parked and grabbed my wallet and phone. When the others came over, I told them to go ride whatever, I was taking Lana for a timeout and I'd find them in a bit. Then I carried a hysterical Lana in the direction of Cinderella's castle not sure where I was going. I didn't want to go all the way back to the car, but I needed to find a place to have her let this out then calm her down.
On the side of the castle is a little walkway to Frontier land and there was a little corner with a door that was the back of one of the shops. Perfect. It was away from most people and in a corner. I sat her down and there she screamed and yelled for at least another fifteen minutes. Finally, she calmed down to just crying, and not letting me comfort her, to reluctantly letting me comfort her and crying. At one point, one of the girls working at the shop opened the door and peeked behind it at us. She saw me first and asked,
"Are you ok?" Then she saw Lana and said, "oh."
I said, "We just needed a little time out. We're fine."
She nodded her head like this wasn't the first time she'd seen someone back there and went back inside. I did find out later that particular spot is also a timeout spot for my friend BethAnnDoddKoehn's kids as well. It's a good one if you're ever there and need one!
When I finally had calmed her down enough to talk to me, I tried to find out exactly what it was that made her flip. I figured it wasn't just because of the horse, because of how crazy she behaved. I asked- Was it the horse? No-she said, not having blankie in the car? nuh-uh. Because you don't want to walk? Nooooo!
"Is it nothing? Are you sad just because?" I asked, because that has happened before where she cries and she doesn't know why.
"No! It IS something!" she said.
"Then what?" I said.
"I didn't get to see Miiiiinnnniiiieeee!!! She's my FAVORITE character and I didn't get to see her!!"
The sobbing started again, and my heart melted in a puddle for her. Aw man, that kid LOVES her some Minnie and in that instant I felt terrible. I know, I know, talk about first world problems, right? I reminded her again that the line for Minnie was long and she wouldn't have wanted to wait in the hot sun, because believe me she wouldn't have. Before the rest of you start to feel badly for her, I will inform you that this is about her sixth trip to Disneyland in her five years and she's seen Minnie every single time. So don't be to sympathetic. Not to mention we will be back for our yearly trip in November, so she will have a chance to see her again soon. Besides, I think Minnie might have been the most disappointing part for her, but I believe it was a build up of all those things that threw her into tantrum land. Not quite as fun as Fantasyland I can assure you.
After about a half hour, she was feeling better and ready to have some fun. She accepted that we weren't seeing Minnie that day and that she couldn't always get the horse she wanted on the carousel. I later found out that she and Gracie had gone for the horse at the same time, each one on either side and Grace got to the top a split second before Lana. I don't think Grace or my sister realized Lana had even been eyeing that particular horse. She took a few minutes once we found everyone, to get completely out of sad mode, but one ride on the Teacups, with me watching on the sidelines, completely cured her. (I don't do the teacups. Nobody wants to see my lunch again.) The rest of the day went on without incident from her. In fact she was very pleasant. Whatever she needed to get out of her system she did next to Cinderella's castle.
Later on that evening we were in line to ride Peter Pan, which is next to the carousel. She looked at me and asked if we could ride it again.
"You want to redeem yourself from earlier and get the horse you want this time?" I asked.
She nodded. So we all went on. My sister made it a point to tell Grace that Lana was getting that pink and purple horse this time. It stopped right in front of us again as it had before. When they let us on, Lana ran to it and started to climb up. On the other side, GG was trying to get up on the same DAMN HORSE!
"No, Georgia," I said picking her up. "It's Lana's turn for that horse this time."
Then, and I am so not kidding when I tell you this, Georgia started to cry. SERIOUSLY?!! Fortunately, Georgia is a much different, much more easy going kid.
"Look G! Here's an orange one, your favorite color!" I told her.
"But I wanted the one with jewels!" she cried.
"This one has jewels!" I said pointing to a fake inlaid sapphire in the saddle.
"Oh," she said, and the crying stopped immediately as I helped her on the horse. I was NOT about to go through that scene again.
If you ever go to Disneyland don't expect your kids to be extremely well behaved or super grateful just because they are at Disneyland. I think as parents we think they should behave like that. "They're at Disneyland! They should just be happy about that!!" However, if they're having a bad day, they don't care where the hell they have their temper tantrums. After all they don't get how much time, energy and money you've put into a day like that. They're just kids and all they know is they didn't get the purple and pink horse or their picture with Minnie Mouse. All you can do is explain they don't always get what they want, even at The Happiest Place on Earth.
Yes, this is yet another one of those posts where I wonder what to do with that kid. Don't roll your eyes, YOU don't live with her. Her emotions are always so hot and cold. It's been like that since she was a baby. We used to joke and call her bi-polar baby. I know, we are such awesome parents. Anyway, she woke up that morning a ray of sunshine. In fact she was the only one of all the kids who got up, got dressed, had breakfast and was ready before every one else, with a smile on her face the whole time. We were looking at a good day if SHE could be like that. Then I made the mistake of allowing Georgia to have her blankie in the car on the way to Disney. How dare I!
Quick explanation: The girls all have blankies they sleep with only at night. I always pack their PJs and blankies when we go to Disney so when they fall asleep on the way home it's an easy transition to bed. Georgia was up at 4:30 that morning. Yes, 4:30 AM. I REALLY wanted her to take a nap on the way to Disneyland, so she didn't break down later on in the day. That's where the problem came in...
Lana was a bit jealous that GG had her blankie and she didn't, and she decided to let us know, for the first 25 minutes of the car ride. She cried and whined about not having her blankie. Not that I usually EVER let them have it during the day, but I guess because her sister had hers, she felt it would only be fair. In retrospect, and knowing how that incident would set the tone for the rest of the day, I should have given her that damn blankie. But no, I was sticking to my rule dammit! She finally gave up the fight after half an hour and SHE fell asleep for the rest of the trip. Georgia-not one wink. This was going to be a fun day.
We got to the parking garage, which is about a half mile from the actual Magic Kingdom entrance. Now keep in mind we were at Disneyland... on a Saturday...during the summer. Crowded? No, no, it was only sardines in a can feeling for part of the day. When we saw how long the tram lines were we decided to walk. We were going to be walking all day so what difference would another half a mile make? Apparently, it would make a big difference to Lana, who didn't want to walk even if it meant Disneyland was at the end of that walk. Oh wait. IT WAS!! That child did not care. All she cared about was the fact that there walking and she had to walk and the walking was to much and it was hurty for her legs with all the walking. I'm not sure how we ever made it to the entrance. All I remember is arguing with that child for half a mile about how it wasn't that far, and she would be fine when we got in there, and no I wasn't going to carry her. More whining ensued.
When we finally made it to the park I thought we were going to be okay. I figured we had sidestepped a Lana bomb. Unfortunately, that was not the case. She was just ticking waiting for the right time to go off.
She was good for a while. We got into Disney-all for free I might add. I have friends in high places. (Melinda you are the bestest, most awesomest, friend ever! I love all my friends, but the rest of you don't get me in to Disney for free, so you know...) There were also the special passes to get on all the rides in the fast pass line. I'd love to tell you how we did that, buuuuttt...well then I'd have to kill you and I like having my readers alive. Let's just say it's a good thing my nephew and niece were with us. We wouldn't have been able to ride half of what we did if not for those passes. And Lana is NOT good with standing in lines for more than oh, five minutes or so. This helped everyone out.
We ended up in Toon Town a couple hours into our day. For those of you who have never been, it's an area for the little kids. You can see Mickey and Minnie over there and go into Goofy's house. We planned on going to visit Minnie, but the line was way to long and we weren't about to get to the front of that one. Lana protested a bit, but when we pointed out how long the line was she seemed to understand that it was better not to wait in it. She didn't really cry, but I could tell she wasn't exactly ok with missing Minnie. Still the majority of us not wanting to wait in line won.
Then came the carousel incident. Oh boy.
After lunch we headed to the carousel. A ride that all of the ages could enjoy. We got in our "special" line and were allowed on first. While we were waiting to go in, Lana eyed a pink and purple horse with bells on it. She told me how that was the horse she wanted. I had Georgia when we walked on and Andy had Lana. I got GG and Sonya all settled and then heard a sobbing from behind me. I turned to see Lana looking demonically possessed and completely losing her shit atop a horse that was NOT the one she pointed out. Andy stood next to her shaking his head. I walked back to them.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Gracie took MY horse!!" Lana told me in between sobs.
I turned to the horse in front of her to see Gracie was indeed on the horse Lana wanted. I wasn't sure what had happened, but I just needed to calm her down. I told Andy to go with the other two girls, then went into operation "chill Lana out". Something I've done more than once or twice. Unfortunately, I was to late. She had already been taken over by the wild eyed, crazy, hysterical, demon five year old she sometimes turns into when she's at the end of her rope. There were no deep breaths or counting to ten that were going to fix this in the next five minutes.
I decided to take her off the ride, but the bell rang indicating that it was starting and off we went. Lana was screaming, crying and trying to jump, yes jump off the horse she was on as it was going up and down, round and round, and yelling "I want THAT horse!!" I stood there doing my best to make sure she didn't jump off to her death, or at least a broken bone, and trying to ignore every stare that was coming in our direction. With every second I became increasingly more frustrated and angry with her behavior. It was the longest ride ever.
The moment the ride stopped, I grabbed her off the horse, kicking and screaming, walked over to where our stroller was parked and grabbed my wallet and phone. When the others came over, I told them to go ride whatever, I was taking Lana for a timeout and I'd find them in a bit. Then I carried a hysterical Lana in the direction of Cinderella's castle not sure where I was going. I didn't want to go all the way back to the car, but I needed to find a place to have her let this out then calm her down.
On the side of the castle is a little walkway to Frontier land and there was a little corner with a door that was the back of one of the shops. Perfect. It was away from most people and in a corner. I sat her down and there she screamed and yelled for at least another fifteen minutes. Finally, she calmed down to just crying, and not letting me comfort her, to reluctantly letting me comfort her and crying. At one point, one of the girls working at the shop opened the door and peeked behind it at us. She saw me first and asked,
"Are you ok?" Then she saw Lana and said, "oh."
I said, "We just needed a little time out. We're fine."
She nodded her head like this wasn't the first time she'd seen someone back there and went back inside. I did find out later that particular spot is also a timeout spot for my friend BethAnnDoddKoehn's kids as well. It's a good one if you're ever there and need one!
When I finally had calmed her down enough to talk to me, I tried to find out exactly what it was that made her flip. I figured it wasn't just because of the horse, because of how crazy she behaved. I asked- Was it the horse? No-she said, not having blankie in the car? nuh-uh. Because you don't want to walk? Nooooo!
"Is it nothing? Are you sad just because?" I asked, because that has happened before where she cries and she doesn't know why.
"No! It IS something!" she said.
"Then what?" I said.
"I didn't get to see Miiiiinnnniiiieeee!!! She's my FAVORITE character and I didn't get to see her!!"
The sobbing started again, and my heart melted in a puddle for her. Aw man, that kid LOVES her some Minnie and in that instant I felt terrible. I know, I know, talk about first world problems, right? I reminded her again that the line for Minnie was long and she wouldn't have wanted to wait in the hot sun, because believe me she wouldn't have. Before the rest of you start to feel badly for her, I will inform you that this is about her sixth trip to Disneyland in her five years and she's seen Minnie every single time. So don't be to sympathetic. Not to mention we will be back for our yearly trip in November, so she will have a chance to see her again soon. Besides, I think Minnie might have been the most disappointing part for her, but I believe it was a build up of all those things that threw her into tantrum land. Not quite as fun as Fantasyland I can assure you.
After about a half hour, she was feeling better and ready to have some fun. She accepted that we weren't seeing Minnie that day and that she couldn't always get the horse she wanted on the carousel. I later found out that she and Gracie had gone for the horse at the same time, each one on either side and Grace got to the top a split second before Lana. I don't think Grace or my sister realized Lana had even been eyeing that particular horse. She took a few minutes once we found everyone, to get completely out of sad mode, but one ride on the Teacups, with me watching on the sidelines, completely cured her. (I don't do the teacups. Nobody wants to see my lunch again.) The rest of the day went on without incident from her. In fact she was very pleasant. Whatever she needed to get out of her system she did next to Cinderella's castle.
Later on that evening we were in line to ride Peter Pan, which is next to the carousel. She looked at me and asked if we could ride it again.
"You want to redeem yourself from earlier and get the horse you want this time?" I asked.
She nodded. So we all went on. My sister made it a point to tell Grace that Lana was getting that pink and purple horse this time. It stopped right in front of us again as it had before. When they let us on, Lana ran to it and started to climb up. On the other side, GG was trying to get up on the same DAMN HORSE!
"No, Georgia," I said picking her up. "It's Lana's turn for that horse this time."
Then, and I am so not kidding when I tell you this, Georgia started to cry. SERIOUSLY?!! Fortunately, Georgia is a much different, much more easy going kid.
"Look G! Here's an orange one, your favorite color!" I told her.
"But I wanted the one with jewels!" she cried.
"This one has jewels!" I said pointing to a fake inlaid sapphire in the saddle.
"Oh," she said, and the crying stopped immediately as I helped her on the horse. I was NOT about to go through that scene again.
If you ever go to Disneyland don't expect your kids to be extremely well behaved or super grateful just because they are at Disneyland. I think as parents we think they should behave like that. "They're at Disneyland! They should just be happy about that!!" However, if they're having a bad day, they don't care where the hell they have their temper tantrums. After all they don't get how much time, energy and money you've put into a day like that. They're just kids and all they know is they didn't get the purple and pink horse or their picture with Minnie Mouse. All you can do is explain they don't always get what they want, even at The Happiest Place on Earth.
Lana's Wild Ride - the line is shorter than Mr. Toad's, lasts 3 times longer and won't break down! All kidding aside, I would like to point out that it is Sleeping Beauty's castle. Cinderella's castle is in WDW. Love, your humble Disney cast member, Melinda.
ReplyDeleteThat's right! I totally forgot that it was Sleeping Beauty's and not Cinderella. Ooops! Hope Aurora doesn't get mad at me!
ReplyDelete