The past year has been exciting and stressful. You started in-person school and did fantastically. You have shown a strong sense of justice, defending your classmates and the rules. You also had a few surprise interactions; one who told you Santa didn’t exist and another who made hateful comments.
You learned a lot and did lots.
You learned a lot at school. Still loving art and math but discovering dance and dramatic arts
You still need a little help in French but you’re doing fantastically
Your reading is doing great, you’re devouring books
Your swimming is amazing you can swim very fast
You caught a dozen colds, including RSV (hopefully we’ll have less this year)
You spent all of December sick and at home
You played a lot of escape room video games with mum and Adrien
And lots more.
Our big adventure this summer was going to California and Disneyland. We went with Grannie, Granddad, and Aunt Lindsay. It was nice to have the 7 of us in a relaxing situation. It certainly helped my mental and physical health. It was also a lot of fun. We did the parks, lots of shopping, and we went to an aquarium. You and your brother were excellent. You didn’t want to leave and I understand why.
Dragon in line for the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, sticking her hand in the mouth of a snake statue.
You are growing into a strong and kind person and I can’t be more proud of you. You do your best to make sure everyone is included and feeling comfortable. You stand up for what you think is right and you don’t let others push you around.
I hope you’re having a good childhood. Sometimes it feels like the world is spiralling into hate and anger. As parents, we try to give you the tools to survive and a safe environment to use them. With in-person school and me going back to work more, there’s so much of your life I’m not part of. I worry about the things you don’t tell us and I worry about you.
Eight feels like an important number and I hope you have a wonderful year with less disease.
Looks like today is my last day of vacation. It’s sad but I’ll take another week at the end of June and then hopefully another in mid July. Those will be better. It’ll be nice to spend time with the kids.
I’m going to enjoy my last day by spending time with my kids, playing videogames, and maybe I’ll take them to Walmart and check out the discount chocolate.
Holidays and vacations are stressful. It’s one of the few times in life where you feel you need to be perfect and make everything perfect for everyone around you. That stress can turn to anger and depression.
The need to make everything perfect on holidays and vacations is colloquially known as The Griswold Effect. There’s only one result to expecting perfection in a holiday or vacation, and that’s disappointment.
My father in-law said on our second day at Magic Kingdom:
“They say this is the happiest place on earth but I keep hearing crying and people screaming at each other.”
I had noticed the same thing. From little kids on leashes screaming at their parents, to one uncool man swearing at a Haunted Mansion cast member, to parents yelling at their kids.
All Disney parks are huge, exhausting, and filled with people who think the whole park is there for them. There’s this image of the parks as perfect experiences of awesome, but they’re like every other vacation.
Don’t get me wrong, Disney is absolutely fantastic and I’m sure I’ll be going back (I’ve been to Disney World 4 times and Paris Disney once.)
The trick is to keep your expectations realistic. Rides break down, you wait for hours to get on, everything is overpriced and there’s more than you can do in one trip. You also have to account for down time and eating. Everything is bright, loud, and exciting which makes it really easy to get overstimulated. It’s also super easy to forget to eat. Use your eating time to decompress, plan, and most of all, adjust expectations.
The most important part of any holiday or vacation is being with those you love. Nothing will ever be perfect, so plan, set things up, prioritize what’s most important, and then hold on for dear life as the universe throws everything it can at you.
We recently came back from a two week vacation in Florida. We rented a house, with Grannie and Granddad, and visited Disney World, A LOT.
Pegasus, you started teething not long before and kept us up at night. (Mum and I mostly.) You fell asleep on rides and mostly seemed confused as to why we were standing around and not letting you crawl. When you weren’t annoyed you spent the time smiling at people and making their hearts melt. You have a way of looking at people, with your big blue eyes, like you’re judging them and then releasing a massive smile. It makes anyone caught by it ridiculously happy.
Dragon, you will probably not remember this trip. At 3 you’re still very young, but if you do I hope you remember the joy and excitement you felt on the rides. The first time you took a rollercoaster, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, the fireworks started as we were climbing. It was beautiful. I’ll always remember how you would get super excited to meet a character and then completely freeze, and the smile you would have every time you saw something exciting.
The two of you had your ups and downs (Same with us). Some days were harder then others but you did great being dragged around the parks and I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
I also hope you remember the quieter times at the house talking and playing with Grannie and Granddad. Without them, this trip would have been impossible. They are truly remarkable helping with you and everything else required in a big trip. We don’t always agree on everything, but I wouldn’t have wanted to take this or any Disney trip without them.
In the end, Pegasus and I got a cold but years from now I hope we’ll remember the good things.
I had a wonderful time with you, Mum, Grannie, and Granddad.
Some mornings I wake up thinking about all the things I have to do and I panic. I lay in bed and stare at the ceiling paralyzed. I’m not afraid of work, or working a lot. I’m terrified of forgetting something.
Since September, I’ve increased the amount of things I do and I’m not just talking about taking care of a baby Dragon. I’ve written a few more short stories, added a few more jobs, laid out more books, and roasted more coffee than ever before.
I’m extremely lucky both in the quality of my clients and that I had this wonderful opportunity to watch my child grow up right before my eyes. That said, other than a week at Disney that was a lot of fun but not relaxing, I took a few days to myself after Christmas.
I’m starting to feel like butter spread over too much bread. I know my limits, and with my parental leave quickly running out, I need some time to recharge.
If you don’t force yourself to take some time off from doing all the little things that stress you out, you’re never going to get the chance.
So I’m taking next week, the 15-19 of May, off to relax, watch some TV, and play some video games. Hopeful the weather will be nice and I can take the Dragon to the park. No plans, no big obligations, just me, my wife, and baby Dragon.
After that week, I have to start preparing for my return to work, and I’ll have 3 books to work on, along with more conventions.
When my wife was pregnant, someone recommended that we should take a vacation with the baby. It would help get the baby used to travelling, get us out of the house, and not use any vacation days. It was a great idea and I don’t regret the vacation in the least. However, some have called it THE VACATION FROM HELL.
We went with my fantastic mother-in-law and sister-in-law. The plan was to spend six days at Disney and three at Universal. We wanted to do the whole resort thing so that Jen could be more comfortable selling it as a vacation. The first five days were wonderful and exhausting. The baby slept 9-11 hours a night (and on most rides), the food was good, the transportation was okay, and the rooms were good.
Moana said that Dragon was going to be an excellent way-finder. She thought it was cute that Dragon didn’t wake up at all!
Day six was going to be our second day at Magic Kingdom, but my poor mother-in-law was sick over the night. At first, we were all delusionally hoping it was food poisoning or an allergy attack. Her being hypoglycemic meant we were extra worried for her and after a few more revisitations-of-previous-foods, my father-in-law (still at home) told us to send her to the hospital. It’s also at this point that he decided to fly in and save us.
So my mother-in-law goes to the hospital and my sister-in-law goes with her to make sure everything is ok and keep us updated. That leaves me, Dragon, and Jen in the hotel room wondering what to do and worrying. We did some laundry (thank you Disney resorts).
My father-in-law tells us not to waste the day and go to Magic Kingdom anyways. We went and had fun but it was always under the shadow of worry. On our way home, we learnt that my mother-in-law was coming back from the hospital and everything was fine.
My wife spoke to a manager at our resort and got us some free tickets for our trouble and reimbursement for the taxi that brought them home. (Really awesome of Disney!)
This is the point where a sane individual would start wondering what had happened. I stubbornly stuck to the food allergy story.
The next day, everyone was exhausted and we needed to checkout and move to Universal. We met in the resort’s cafeteria and hogged a section of wall for all our luggage and waited for our ride and my father-in-law who had arrived and rented a car.
We all transferred to Universal. The transfer company that drove us let us have a grocery stop. Our suites at Universal were great. At this point, to avoid the parental-in-law snoring, we had my sister-in-law sleep in our suite.
We spent the night chatting and relaxing. The next day we were going to Universal parks and seeing all the stuff we didn’t normally have a chance to see. We planned on leaving at 10am. Jen was sick at 9:45am.
We spent the day in the hotel, except for a short walk on my part to give everyone a rest from the baby. Here’s the thing about spending five or six days with an infant, showing them all kinds of cool stuff and hundreds of people; they get a little stir crazy if you just suddenly stop.
That night my sister-in-law failed her fortitude save to what we are now sure was a Norovirus.
The next day, I decided I wanted to get the baby a Harry Potter Hogwarts onesie and I’d walk to the parks. I was dissuaded from taking the baby (I don’t produce milk for her). I arrived at the City Walk to find out that the best merchandise is in the parks.
As a travel agent, Jen had a free ticket. I had her passport and decided to try and sweet-talk my way into the parks. Apparently, a patient attitude and a sob story about a sick family will get them to let you use your wife’s ticket.
At this point I was convinced I was going to be fine. I escaped the plague people and hadn’t caught it yet. So I walked the entirety of both parks on a mission for souvenirs, onesies, and butterbeer. I took the Hogwarts Express between the parks.
Feeling guilty for having had freedom, I walked back to our hotel. While I’d been gone, my father-in-law started showing symptoms. As I fell asleep that night, I thought that maybe, just maybe, I’d avoided catching this plague. (sigh)
We were scheduled to fly out the next day. I got sick in the early morning after repeatedly telling everyone and fate that I wouldn’t, but I did.
So at this point my mother-in-law is feeling crumby but recovering, same with my sister-in-Law. My father-in-law is feeling like crap, and Jen is giving the baby all her antibodies and still feeling sick. I was having trouble with this whole sitting thing.
We were still ready to try and fly, but then Jen was sick again. It was decided that we’d split the group. Mother-in-law and sister-in-law headed home and the rest of us stayed behind an extra day.
I vaguely remember sleeping the whole day and changing diapers. I also remember that Dragon decided it was a good day to start teething and screaming about it.
When we did fly out, I wasn’t sure Jen would make it all the way without being sick, but she powered through. It was great to finally get home.
The entire family impressed me with their strength and patience. It’s not easy being in a room with a crying infant or someone being sick when you’re healthy.
As a last thought, I have to thank my father-in-law for being there and saving us. He dropped everything at home to come help, and once there he did groceries, pharmacy runs, called to reschedule flights, extended the room, took care of everyone, took Dragon for walks, helped us get into the AC lounge, and so many other things that I’m sure I’ve forgotten or don’t know. All while getting sick, or being just as sick as the rest of us.
He’s an amazing man and his dedication, quick thinking, and ridiculously big heart make him one of the best people I know. Thank you so much.
I’d also like to say that both Disney Resorts and Universal Resorts were extremely understanding and accommodating; making a terrible situation much better.
So no more vacations for a little while. (At least a few months.)
