The best part of the trip is that I get to spent 3 whole days with a grandchild and really get to know him better than I would in any other circumstance. There are no parents, or siblings, or other responsibilities to distract us. We are totally focused on having fun together. There is no other agenda.
I tell them there are only a few rules:
1- No whining, not allowed in the park.
2. You must answer people when they spoeak to you. People are very friendly and you cannot be shy and not respond, even if you say, "I would rather not say."
3. You have to tell me what you really want to do or how you feel. I want to know and I want to do what you want to do. Do not be shy.
Reality is suspended. I stay on a Disney property hotel so I get a room key that I can charge everything to. All snacks are outrageously expensive, but the same price everywhere. Almost $3 for a soda or ice cream- put it on the charge. I let them buy 2 major gifts for themselves so we look around at the gift shops which are every where and they find things and then I also buy them smaller things too. Also we buy small items (pencils and stickers for classmates, magnets for teachers, stuffed animals and/or tee shirts for siblings and cousins, mugs for parents.) It is "consumerville" to the hilt!! The concept of real money goes out the window and the plastic card is like Monopoly money, which is one of the reasons why my husband could never come with me on this trip: the prices would kill him!
By the end of the trip on the plane ride back, we are close as can be. We have connected and I know how the little guy thinks and feels about the world around him. I have a real sense of his personality. Like the commercial says: Coke- $3, Stuffed animal- $20, Relationship with grandson- Priceless.
Photographs taken by Linda Dubin Garfield
