So this is parenting Part I...

In December I went to Disney World with my nephew (the Great Bambino), sister and brother-in-law. We were in the Magic Kingdom on our last night, and I received a glimpse into what parenting must be like. When we arrived we grabbed two Fast Passes for Thunder Mountain aka 'the fast train.' We had some time before our time to ride came. We got some ice cream and then my sister, bil & nephew went to ride Peter Pan while I went to go save seats for the parade and fireworks. After Peter Pan they came to where I was. I took the Great Bambino to Thunder Mountain while they got food and continued to save our seats.

We get to Thunder Mountain and we are the next two to ride and the Great Bambino says 'Uncle Keith I have to go to the bathroom.' When I asked if was an emergency tears started welling up in his eyes. We had to wait for the ride to come back. When the gates opened we hopped over the train and headed for the exit. I think it was at the point he realized that he wasn't going to get to ride the fast train. He started saying 'Oh let's go back. I don't have to go that bad.' I explained that we missed out turn so we should go to the bathroom and then we'd go back. He relented and went to the bathroom.

Now we don't have a Fast Pass and the stand by line is 50 minutes. I ask him if he wants to wait. 'It's a longer wait that Peter Pan, are you sure you want to wait?' Yes. 'Are you hungry or thirsty?' No. 'Are you sure you want to wait?' Yes. We got in line and the first 20 minutes of the wait were good. He was climbing all over the place having a good ole time. After 20 minutes he slowed down and said 'I am not sure I want to ride anymore. I want to see mommy.' I said, 'We can go see mommy now but you won't be able to ride the fast train.' He was beside himself with angst at this point. He didn't know what to do. I picked him up and told him to rest a while and then we would decide. About every 5 minutes we would have the 'I don't want to wait anymore/We don't have to wait but you won't ride' conversation. I was hoping we could make it to a place in line he would recognize, and he would know we were close. Well we made it and he loved his last ride on the fast train of the trip.

I couldn't help but thinking that this is what parenting must be like all the time. Expect the unexpected and no matter how well you plan something is bound to throw you off.