My Lowest Parenting Point

My mom, both kids, and I met my youngest sister in Disney on Tuesday. Steph had no classes that day, so she was able to drive over and spend the better part of Tuesday with us. Rea pooped on the potty again on Monday and decided that she needed to stay in the "giraffe hotel" (also known as The Animal Kingdom Lodge) as a reward for her efforts.

Rea's reaction when we turned onto the Disney driveway.

My sister and I thought it would be fun to hit Epcot for the afternoon. That's the park we very rarely visit. Our intent was to go see the awesome aquarium in The Seas. Rea loves it and I know Ri would have the time of his life running around that place.

In the car on the way up, my mom told me that she would buy Rea's annual pass. Rea has been 3 for 3 months and Mom thought it was high time that we pay for her. I scoffed. Everything is so expensive and my initial reaction was that we shouldn't have to pay for her. I have friends who have brought their school-age children into the Parks without a ticket. (Hindsight tells me this is one of those "bad company corrupts good morals" moments) I told Mom that I would just stroll her through in her stroller, no worries.

We made it. No problem. No evil-eye by Disney employees. No second thought by me.

Epcot was fun. We somehow managed to stay in the shade and completely avoid The Seas. As I have said before, we never go with a real plan. We tend to just wander. Anyway, we stumbled upon a character spot. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy & Pluto! All in the same spot! We waited in line for about an hour, which is approximately 15 minutes past Ri's line waiting limit.

But, it was all worth it. Ri LOVED them! And Rea was her usual timid, quiet self.

For those of you really paying attention, our Pluto pictures didn't turn out so well.

After meeting all of these characters and riding "Ep-cop" (the ride in the big Epcot ball) 2 times, we had had enough. It was time to go see the giraffes and check in.

We showered and headed over the Magic Kingdom. This time though the gate attendant asked me how old Rea was. I was caught totally off-guard. I said "two and a half." She looked at me like, "LIAR!" But didn't say anything. Then, almost on cue, Rea looked up at her from her stroller and said, "I'm 2!" The girl smiled at Rea and let us in.

Once we passed through the gate and were out of earshot of the Disney employee, Rea looked at me and said, "Why am I 2?" Oy... Immediately, I regretted not letting Mom get her a pass. I bent down and told the truth to my toddler. I explained that Mommy was very bad and told a lie because she didn't want to pay. The simple truth was accepted by Rea, but I told Mom that we had to buy a pass the next day because I cannot let this happen again.

Maybe if I only went to Disney once a year or once every other year I would feel differently about spending money to get Rea in, but we are going back in 2 weeks. This is NOT what I want to teach my daughter.

So the next morning, we packed up, ate breakfast, and headed over to MGM (Hollywood Studios). It had been decided that we would do the honest, right thing and not sneak Rea in. When we got in line to buy the ticket, Mom said, "Min, where's my credit card?"

Panic.

I stammer, "Didn't I give it back to you?" My mind is racing to remember the last time I had it in my hand.

Mom says, "No. You used it to buy breakfast."

If I didn't give it back after sitting down at the table, I know where it is: in the trash. Oh man, I don't want to say the words out loud, "I think I threw it away."

I know my mom. And she is pissed (sorry, no way to sugar-coat that).

She says I have to go through the gate with Rea first. Great, I have to sneak my daughter in again.


We head up to the gate, I put my ticket in. The guy smiles, opens the stroller gate and says, "Have a magical day!" Rea looks at him and says, "I'm 2!"

I promise, in 2 weeks, I am buying Rea an annual pass.