Seeing The World Through My Sons Eyes

I used to think it was cheesy when people said watching the world through your child's eyes was the best thing about being a parent.  Now I get it.  We just got back from 3 days in Disney World and a week on the Disney Cruise and it was seriously the best vacation ever.

Almost every night on the ship there is a Broadway style show and Michael adored them.  And I loved watching him watch them.   He made me believe just for a moment that Faith and Trust and Pixie Dust really can make you fly. One night they had an on-board Pirate Party and Mickey Mouse repelled down the ship to save it from being taken over from Pirates and fireworks over took the night sky and in that moment we were all just kids again.  Dancing away to old 80s music and cheering because we were safe from the evil pirates who were trying to capture the Disney Magic.

Michael met every Disney character known to man.  And when he met Mickey I was a little terrified he was going to tell him he pooped in the potty to do so. 

Michael woke up singing Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me most days, a hang over from the few days we spent on the parks before boarding the ship.  He is still talking about the Haunted Mansion, the Jungle cruise, and Dumbo, all the rides I remember from my youth.

Our room in Disney World overlooked the animals at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  One night we couldn't tell what an animal was and I grabbed my iphone and tried to use it as a flashlight and tried to shine it on them to distinguish a wildebeest from an antelope.  Ok, maybe you had to be there, but it was funny.

One of Michael's favorite games every night was to play guess the towel animal our cabin steward had made for us.  As he ran through the halls with one of us yelling, "Michael stop running" he would say, "I bet it's a turtle, or a snake, or a wildebeest."  Wildebeests were a very big deal on this vacation.  

If you do one thing, before you die, take a Disney cruise.  In fact, it should be in that book.  Isn't there a book about things you should do before you die?  It should be in there.  My only regret is that Michael is 3, and I worry he won't remember.  Won't remember holding my 7 year old nephew's hand and skipping through the Magic Kingdom.  Won't remember waking up first thing in the morning begging me to go to the onboard kids club.  And I want him to remember.

But it might be okay, because my parents are talking about going again in three years.

Small caveat.  Disney did not pay me to write this.  Disney did pay for me to go on the trip.  My parents did.  And I am entirely grateful.  To the best of my knowledge, Disney had absolutely no idea that me, a blogger, was on the boat.

Adapted for DC Metro Moms from Jodi's personal blog jodifur.  Jodi writes about being a wife, mother, attorney, and everything in between.  You can also follow Jodi on twitter.