Prepared. ‘Cause That’s Just Who I Am.

I am not the mother or wife that you’d want if you needed to make sure something was ironed.

I’m not who you’d want if you needed to find your social security card.

If you need help with anything having to do with math, not your girl.

I am, however, exactly the mom you’d want to go on vacation with.

People, that is my time to shine.  We all have gifts and mine just happens to be leisure.  I am a pro at making a trip a good time.

If I’m going to admit to all my failings, I’m going to be just as willing to give myself an atta-boy over my strengths.

And I am a GREAT vacationer!

I may not know where my kid’s vaccination records are, but I will make sure there’s an appropriate playlist on the ipod for a road trip.

I spent the day yesterday making preparations for our trip to Walt Disney World.  The count down is on and we’re starting to get close.  I cannot wait!

If you’ve been to Disney, you know that in a lot of ways, you have to suspend reality.

It’s a different world in and of itself.  One way that it differs is the currency.  It varies a great deal from the regular world.   The exchange rate isn’t good.  The dollar doesn’t  hold up well against the Disney Dollar.

So, in order to stretch our vacation dollar, I use a few tricks.

First of all, I really like dressing the fellows up in Disney tee shirts when they’re there.   They look cute and it makes it feel like an event.  But, in the parks and around the resorts, they are pretty expensive.  So, I made a trip to the Disney store yesterday and bought a few shirts for a fraction of the price of buying them at WDW.  Since we’re staying in a Disney Vacation Club resort, we’ll have a washer and dryer, so we should be able to make do with just a few shirts.  And that’ll help with packing and help with the laundry overload that I’d have otherwise when we returned.

The second thing I do to save money is to buy trading pins from ebay before we go.  My kids love trading and collecting those pins.  And they aren’t cheap in the parks.  So, in order for them to have some to trade, I order a mixed lot on ebay.  I end up spending about $1 a pin, rather than $7 or more in the parks.  They’re great to have around for stocking stuffers, birthday gifts, and rewards for good behavior.

In the evenings, before the parades, the lights go down and the vendors start selling lots of light up toys. They’re eye-catching, pretty and fun.The kids are always mesmerized.  We’ve bought our share over the years.  So, this week, I’m rounding them up and replacing batteries.  They’ll go in the backpack so that I can pull them out when they start asking for them.

Another thing I do to save money and head off the evening begging  is visit to the Dollar Tree before we leave to purchase glow sticks.  You know,  those packs of glow necklaces and bracelets.  I think 5 were in a pack for a $1 when I bought them the other day.  They’ll go in the backpack too and will hopefully head off buying $50 worth of light up toys.  One year, it kept the kids busy while waiting for an evening parade.  I had them decorate the stroller with them.  Having something creative to do made the wait a lot more bearable.

Today, I’m working on travel bags and binders for the 10 hour drive.  I’m sure I’ll share soon!

I hope I’ll be able to make the ride not only painless, but perhaps fun.  We’ll leave when they get out of school and drive as far as we can and then make the rest of the trip in the morning.  But, ten hours is a lot of time to build the excitement, so I’m working on it.

If you’ve got any ideas, I’d love to hear them. What are your road trip secrets? Spill it! We’re leaving in less than two weeks!