You caught me! I didn’t post a Fund last week. Here’s what happened:
- I wrote a fund. I typed it all up, tra la la la la. Then my 15 month old, in the throes of teething pain, insisted I hold her and while holding her, through drool and failing arms, she managed to delete the entire fund post. Quelle horror! No sweat, I’m adaptable.
- I rewrote a fund. It was better than the first one, and I felt very good about posting it. The baby was napping, so what could possibly go wrong? The power goes out. Because I live in a never ending haze of freezing rain. Had I saved it? Of course I hadn’t. What kind of story would this be if I had saved it?
- I tried to write a fund. The baby was awake, I was frustrated, my brain was scrambled, and after writing for what seemed like six hours I had 24 words.
Just to illustrate the point, here is what 24 words looks like. I didn’t even count the 24, since that’s a number, not technically a word.
So I chalked it up as a bad job, and figured I would try again this week.
And here we are! Hello, welcome to Fund post.
Yesterday, we went to the State Museum because it was free and we love a free day at the museum. We had a delightful time. The Glass Slipper is full of curiosity and starting to read, so she enjoyed the exhibits, and the Frying Pan is very tactile, so she loved getting to do the arts and crafts stations that accompanied certain exhibits.
The only downside to an otherwise lovely day was the problem of the Teacup. The Teacup is fully mobile and like many other babies her age, has no sense of self preservation or fear. She’s running, she’s climbing, she’s hollering if you try to put her in the stroller…At one point she stole a leaf from an exhibit.
Let me say that again: my baby put her chubby little arm through the barrier of an exhibit and yanked off a leaf that was attached to said exhibit.
Mr. B and I traded off Teacup duty, but then the parent not with the Teacup found themselves trying to help make two rocket ships with two demanding little astronauts at once. Or also answer 10000 questions about mammoths while also helping another child guide a robot through a simulation. It was a lot to be getting on with.
Because like other babies her age, the Teacup cannot be reasoned with. She cannot be bargained with. Her only two modes right now are complete chaos and sleep. There is no in-between.
Which leads me to thinking about our Disney trip. The house is still divided on 2020 vs 2021 and for the first time, I’m starting to lean towards 2021. For our proposed 2020 dates, my sweet Teacup will be 23 months. That’s 8 months from now. For our ideal 2021 dates, we’re looking at 35 months. I feel like an almost 3 year year old might be easier to navigate the than an almost 2 year old?
Which is not to say you can’t take 2 year olds to Disney and have an amazing time. In fact, we look the Frying Pan when she was about 23 months and it was one of our favorite trips. But then, we only had two kids. So one parent could be on baby duty and the other parent could be solely be with the Glass Slipper. Now we’re 3 on 2 and constantly running defense. I feel like maybe…just maybe… the whole family might have more fun if we give the Teacup a little time to mature? We’re still undecided, but I feel like now I have a whole new angle (a whole new angleeeeeee, a new complicated point of view) to consider.
2021 Family Trip
Goal: $8000
After Last Deposit: $6583.03
Total Deposit: $49.57
$30, from tutoring 2 weeks
$17.18, from Rakuten
$2.39, Residuals from Child Stardom
Still Need: $6533.46
Okay, so with this new information, what are your thoughts? 2020 or 2021?
I would love, love, love to hear from parents of three (or more, bless you) about how you navigate Disney! Give me your best tips in the comments.
Kristen B. is wife to the best Prince around, mama to the spunkiest little princesses, and lover of all things Disney. She started her savings journey five years ago and is now dedicated to making her family’s wishes come true one coupon at a time. She is so excited to take her love of saving to the next level and share her journey with you! Click here to catch up on Kristen’s Savings and join in on your own savings adventure!
Amanda says
My husband and I did Disney with a 9yo, 5yo, 2yo, and 1yo. We took the double stroller and the little boys mainly rode around in there. On rides they couldn’t ride on, one of us would walk with the littles and the other would ride with the two older kids and then we’d ride swap. We thought it was going to be terrible but even my husband says it was the best vacation.
Kristen says
Amanda, this is SO encouraging. After our last double stroller trip, my husband was like, “I will do whatever you want, just please never make me do a double stroller at Disney again.” Because you know he got tasked with loading it on and off the buses. But this is giving me hope for our solo little. :)
Sheila Abbott says
Our first trip was with a 4 year old, 2 year old and 18month old. I actually liked it better than the second trip with a 8 year old, 5 year old and 4 year old. We used a sit and stand stroller and the kids all could ride if needed. We did things slow and never stayed past 7pm. We just always switched off who had 2 kids and the other parent rode everything with the 4 year old. I even managed to stand in a 2 hour line with the 18 month old to meet Rapenzul! Not the best memory but it is a good guilty trip!
Kristen says
A two hour line with an 18 month old? Get this woman a medal! For real, that is AMAZING. Thank you for the encouragement, Sheila!