Vacation 2013 (Part 1)...

It's always nice to get away, whether it's for a day, a week, or two weeks. You get someone to watch your home, take care of things, get your mail, your paper, etc. Head off to someplace far away... of course far away is a relative term. You may be 10 miles or 1,000 - but it's nice to get away for a bit. The hard part... Kiddos on the spectrum. On one hand, you need to be able to let them know that everything is alright, they are safe, and it's a new adventure. That can be hard enough, but, at the same time you have to find a way to keep certain routines in place. This way they won't totally meltdown - hopefully. For us, our vacation consists on Disneyland twice a year. We try to keep it well spaced, and keep a general routine on travel.

We have been coming here for a few years now, so we do have a pretty basic routine for coming and going. We are blessed that my sister's family will go when we do. The boys know that we will stop for a break, then stop for breakfast - all together. They also know after breakfast it's off to Disney. We get our hotel room, unpack the car, have a snack and head to the park the first day. Even though it's months between visits, they know the routine. We keep the morning routine the same as home - wake, eat, meds, dress and head off for the day. (At home it might be for school or errands.)

.

We keep a time for snacks, lunch, snacks - again, supper, etc. Food routine seems to be crucial for us. There is nothing worse (to me) than a hunger meltdown - why? because it's usually the easiest one to prevent. Going back to the hotel room late afternoon, early evening usually proves a little more difficult. They boys (and us) are usually a little "over-tired", which makes for the very likely scenario of a "big" meltdown by one or both boys. So, we finally realized that if we vocalize the: medicine time, walk time, bath, relax and bed-time.

We bring the boys iPods (a must), their favorite pillows and we even bring our own bath towels and their favorite toys at the time. Definitely a plus.

Hopefully the whole week will go well. I'm sure we'll have the usual "ups and downs", but it will be ok - just a different location. We will have a good vacation.

For those who've heard about the new Disneyland and Disney World rules that go into effect tomorrow, the 9th of October, regarding the special needs pass, I will try to write again tomorrow (otherwise as soon as I'm able) to let you know what we find out.

From a mother's heart - may we all be blessed with a little time to get away, and may our kiddos on the spectrum - not receive such a shock that they can't - enjoy it.
God Bless!