Disneyland Part 2...

Sunday Morning we got up and hit Disneyland by 9am looking for fun.

What I got was a huge headache and sore feet.

Sunday was just my kids and me. My friend had a family reunion at Disneyland on this day, so she took off with her kids and I went my way with mine. It started off okay enough that I began to think I could do this. I had prepared myself (or so i thought) knowing that today would be a tough day. Knowing that my patience, strength, love and understanding would be tested to the very limit of sanity. Knowing that I was on my own. DH was not here to assist, take over, switch off too. And DH is the one with the most patience. So I needed to be more patient then normal.

My daughter is "Special". I don't really like labels. So I won't go into them much here. She is full of love and smiles. If you were to look at her, she appears "Normal". As good as that is, it is also hard when in a public place she has one of her moments and people do not understand. My daughter struggles with Stimulation. Her senses are on overdrive. So what we hear as "normal" is very loud to her. Same with Texture being rough when it's smooth, flavors tasting different, seeing more when we learn to block them out. So being anywhere in a group or public place as Disneyland, tests each and every sense she has. Literally.

The last time we took her to Disneyland, she was still in a stroller. She could hide there behind her blanket. Now, she can talk, scream and RUN from me. That's how my day went. Everything terrified her. Every sight was scary, every sound made her jump, every vibration of people and rides made her jittery. The whole day I spent chasing her after she would run off. Talking her down from her fear and anxiety. Getting her to not scream but use her words. Trying to get her to eat or drink in the heat, to try something new. To hold my hand. To anticipate her reactions so I was ready.

All the while trying to act normal so Austin could have a good time. Standing for hours at a time entertaining her so he could wait in line for rides. Rides he had to ride alone because I was with her. Trying to listen to him as he excitedly shared the experience of the ride, with one eye on his sister, and hiding my disappointment that it was painfully clear I was not going to ride any rides on this trip.

As the day wore on, the more exhausted I became. Trying to be everything, do it all, go everywhere, stretched to the limit, patience running out and just plain tired. Austin could sense it. He so kindly offered to stand with his sister so I could ride two rides. But I was a worried mess on them. Was she running from him? Would they be there when I got off?

Frustration hit me by evening, and I texted my friend there and asked where they were? Could I leave Austin with her and her family so he could ride some rides and have fun? I was hoping to Salvage something out of this trip for him. Just because it was ruined for me, did not mean it had to be for him. She said yes of course and so we set off to meet her. On the way, it was time for the Fireworks show Disneyland puts on each evening. I had heard that Tinkerbell makes an appearance, so with promises of seeing her, Emily agreed to stand there and watch them. We got a spot among the 5,000 or so people, right in front of the castle to watch. She only ran and screamed once. When the "boom" of the the fireworks going off scared her. But once Tinkerbell and Dumbo appeared, she was mesmerized. They fly them on a cable over the castle. The whole show is to Music. It was a great show.

After meeting friends and dropping Austin off with them, Emily and I took off. I was making my way to the front to go get the car and head back home. She wasn't having fun, I was exhausted and we had been there for 13 hours already. But on our way, we came upon another show about to start. It was over the water. It was a light show & movie being played in the water they spray up to make a screen. Mickey Mouse stands on an island in the water directing it. They tell a story. And characters come out on the island, on little boats and act it out. Fire erupts. Big Huge pirate ships come out for Peter Pan. The Finale is the Steam Boat coming through with all the princess' and characters. Emily loved it, until they fired the canon from the Pirate ship. After cleaning the blood from my arms where she clawed me to get away, she settled back down and loved the show.

By now it's 11:30pm, and we head back to the parking garage to get the car to meet up with the others. As I pull around to the meeting spot, and park, Emily passes out. I look at the clock and it's 12:30am. (Yes, it took an hour to get to the parking garage). Friends showed up at 1:30am and we arrived home around 2:30am. It was a really long day!

We all stumbled into bed hoping morning would not come too soon, where we would have to start all over another day there. Sleep could not come soon enough.

XOXO