If you want to see what absolute, pure, unfiltered joy looks like…take a kid to Disneyland for the first time. Ryan and I agreed to take each of our kids on their first trip to Disneyland all by themselves, so that they could enjoy our undivided attention for the entire trip. Besides, two parents on one toddler is always a better ratio when it comes to sanity. I have had a lot of people tell me they were looking forward to this blog. Based on the behaviors of my little humans in other blog posts, I think they were preparing themselves for 500+ words of utter disaster. Tantrums, meltdowns…basically complete chaos. Well, I am sorry to disappoint but the entire trip was almost completely tear/tantrum free. Maybe it was because of the magic that radiates from the happiest place on Earth. Or maybe it was that one on two ratio of kid to parents. Granted, G did run around like a kid who just ate 47 sugar cubes, climbing and bouncing off every wall and bench. But hey. It’s Disneyland. So that kind of behavior is almost encouraged.    

In my opinion, parents who brave Disneyland with more than one toddler at a time are superheros. My sister-in-law is one of these superheros. She is the master of doing Disney with littles. Three boys under 7 (their next trip will be with 4 boys), for three days straight, from open until close. She also finds the best deals on tickets, hotels, character packages…you name it, she finds it. And she does it all with an incredibly upbeat attitude and what seems like zero anxiety. Kimmy, one day you will teach me your Jedi ways!

I on the other hand am the lame mom who won’t take their kid to Disneyland until they meet three criteria:

1. They must be able to walk and talk.
2. They must be able to use the bathroom. In a toilet.
3. They must be able to ride a majority of the rides.

Really, this is more for my sanity than anything else. But here’s the most amazing part about Disneyland. And no I am not referring to the Dole whips, the golden churros, or the “build your own lightsaber” assembly line. P.S. I had to google how to spell lightsaber. I’m really more of a Harry Potter nerd. Anyways, back to that amazing Disneyland part. You know what it is? It’s the fact that at Disneyland, you have a 100% chance of NOT being the worst parent, with the most ill-behaved kids in the park. That’s right. 100% chance. You know why? Because it doesn’t matter how ridiculous your kid gets, how big their meltdowns are, or how far you go past the crazy line as a parent. Someone. Is. Always. Worse.

Walking through the park, there were many, and I mean many moments, when I came across kids literally lying in the middle of Main Street, screaming at the top of their lungs about their undying need to have an Ariel bubble wand. There were also little humans wailing at the top of their lungs about having to wait in line for more than 3 seconds, and cries of protest for every reason imaginable. You know. Like the sun being too bright. Or that Mickey was four inches shorter than they had imagined. When I came across these scenes, you know what I felt? Pure freaking joy. And you know why? Because for once in my life, it wasn’t my kid. No looks of judgment from these eyes. Nope. I gave those parents the three finger Katniss signal, an “I feel your pain” glance, and proceeded to the Peter Pan line with a giant grin on my face.

Rather than recount every smile, giggle, and expression of elation, I thought I would share a vlog of our trip. Here’s to some incredible memories at the happiest place on Earth. And if you want to read the Disney blog where my kid takes center stage on Main Street…stay tuned. Mackinley will be eligible to go in about 2 more years.