Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

We have been discussing the pros and cons of flying to the happiest place on Earth versus driving there. And we have realized that with so many children, things become difficult logistically. If we just look at the additional cost of flying and assess it against the saving of our time spent driving, it seems as though flying could be the better choice. Two and a half hours of flying compared to eighteen hours of driving time.

However, once we considered all the junk that we'd have to lug through the airport, not the least of which is 3 carseats and two strollers, well it seems much more daunting. Then we factored in the things that we would definitely have to leave behind if we were to fly.

We are staying in a condo and I was planning on bringing my large crockpot so that I could get meals ready in it early in the morning and have them ready for us when we popped back in for dinner. Eating at the happy place for all of us would be the equivalent of a college education for my eldest child ;-)

Also I was going to bake and bring my breakfast bars and power oatmeal cookies, as well as buy the kids some junk food prepackaged treats (that we never get) to give to the children instead of the overpriced stuff that I am sure will be sold there.

So it has been decided that we will drive. Rob mentioned getting a dvd player for the van so that the kids could watch movies while we drive. I don't know. I am not sold on the idea. We don't even have tv in our house, why would I want it in my van?

While the idea of them being silent for hours is very appealing, I have to wonder at what price. Aren't the long car rides to go on summer vacation part of most of our childhood memories? What is a long car ride without fighting with your siblings,having your mother threaten to break your leg off and beat you with it if you kick the back of the seat again, having your father threaten to drive the car into oncoming traffic if the fighting doesn't stop immediately? What about making faces at the people in the cars next to you or holding up signs that say "Save me from my family" and laughing at their reations or even the simple asking truck drivers to honk their horns.

And I wonder if children anymore know how to play the license plate game, I Spy, or punch buggy, which come to think of it probably was responsible for some of the fighting. And what about listening to books on tape or singing silly songs? If children are plugged in, what kinds of memories are they going to have? Somehow the memory of watching Finding Nemo for the 20th time doesn't seem like such a big deal.


Time is precious and so fleeting, something I don't think you fully can realize until you have children of your own. Time spent doing something is time that can never be recovered to be spent on something else. A simplistic thought, but one I try to remember everyday in life. If we chose to spend the 36+ hours watching tv, we are giving up 36+ hours of time spent togther as a family, time spent building memories. The children still talk about the huge double rainbow they spied out the window on one trip or the dead deer that they spied and how Rob stopped the van so that they could get out and get a better look, and how Mom was disgusted and really hoped that people driving by didn't think we were scavengers interested in eating the roadkill.


And so we will go on the trip sans tv. I am sure that my children will drive me nuts at least a few times on the trip and I'll probably yell "Stop It Now" more times than I'd like to count. And at some point Rob will probably look over at me and ask "Why are we doing this?" and I'll just shrug, but then something will happen that will remind us.

But if you hear about a van jumping the divider and driving into on coming traffic with a one legged child on board, well you can just shake your head and say, they should have bought the tv.