We are at Disney World and things went wrong, but we found a way to have fun together as a family any way. I ended up not feeling well so we didn’t go to a park. It’s our first day here, so it would have been just a few hours there, but it’s something we’re used to doing.

We were all disappointed, especially our 10 year old daughter. She didn’t get angry or cry, but was sad that our tradition was broken. We did our best to make do and keep things as fun as possible. We treated her to a special dessert after lunch while we chatted and laughed about how our “normal” is not usually everyone else’s “not normal”.

While I napped, my husband took her out to see the pools, the lake, the nature trail and some of the animals around our resort. She got to choose where we would eat dinner too. After dinner I felt well enough to go out to see the Electrical Parade so we made sure to do that. We stood in the sand like she wanted and let her take her shoes off.

During the time we spent together, we tried to be positive and talk about what the rest of our vacation would be like. We assured her that even if I didn’t feel well enough to go to the parks that she and her Dad would. We also promised her that she could choose one activity to do with her Dad outdoors.

It helps to be positive but it’s important to be realistic when things go wrong. No need to set up your child to be upset when you promise the impossible.