The Royal Baby

Oh yes and yesser!  I am so jumping on the new royal baby bandwagon!  Maybe it's because my mom watched princess Di come home with William only a few months before she was to bring her first child home, (that would be me) or maybe it's because I watched while holding three of my own children or just maybe its because my children will probably be watching their children bringing home there new babies...

Is anyone else sad that the royals didn't present their
baby in this fashion to the crowd of onlookers?

But more then any of that beautiful "circle of life" nonsense, I think it's mostly because I'm excited for one more women to join the league of mommyhood!

From what I understand, Kate is breaking with tradition... again! and not hiring a nurse.  No, really!  No nurse.  Now, a few people have pointed out that she probably won't give up her make up artist or hair stylist or fashionista.  But as any well trained new mom could contest, none of those people can help you when you've been up for three days in a row with a child that will either not stop crying or is determined to suck the life out of you directly through your nipples.

I can only imagine what kind of stress she and her husband must be under.  The baby isn't even 24 hours old and already there has been criticism about everything from how she looks after having the baby to how they buckled the kid into his carseat.  I would like to take a moment to point out that these people might need our support.  Besides the fact that they are royalty, they are most importantly new first time parents!

Awww, they have no idea...

Complete with hopes and dreams and aspirations for their little bundle of joy that will hopefully one day look just like his mother.  Think, for a moment, about the day you brought your new baby home.  The anxiety, the exhaustion the constant need for approval.  "Am I doing this right?" was the only question you and your spouse asked each other for at least the first three weeks.

Now, imagine if the entire world was watching (not just your mother-in-law) and waiting for you to slip up.  Imagine if every move you made had to be spot on without any crack or blemish.  Imagine if you've been having a night from hell and instead of just having to get up and go to work in the the morning where you might be able to hid in your cubical for a few hours,  you instead, had to sit through 6 interviews and tell 6 different people with a room filled with cameras and lights what an amazing job it is to be a mom,  and how perfect it is and how you never think about just leaving your beautiful bundle of joy at the closest fire station and running off to Vegas like a stalk raving lunatic.

Or maybe that was just me...

Either way, I ask that we be kind.  Yes, Kate is a celebrity.  Yes, she is royalty.  Yes, she will probably have someone waiting on her hand and foot for the rest of her life.  But think, who's going to be there in those long waking hours when she is scared about a cough, or fever or even something as silly as a bad latch?  Who's going to be there when that baby won't poop or poops to much?  Who's going to be there when she wonders if he's getting enough milk or maybe he's allergic to something she ate or maybe she should just throw the in the towel all together and switch to formula.  Who's going to be there when she thinks she a failure because she couldn't handle the crying for more then an hour without breaking into tears herself?

Who's going to be there?

Not her stylist, not the reporters, not even her critics.

If she's lucky, her prince in shining armor will be there.  Just as our princes were there, holding our hands through it all.  Telling us that we were good enough.  That we were perfect mothers and we were beautiful even though we hadn't slept or showered in days.  If she's lucky she'll have him.  And that's all she'll ever need.

Because at the end of it.  She is us.  We get excited to see her come home with a baby not because she's  special and not because she's royalty.  Quite the opposite actually.  We get excited to see her with a baby because we get to welcome the newest member of the secret mommy club complete with cracked nipples and wet kisses. Bringing with her a brand new baby, a new person that didn't exist before this moment, with dreams and hopes and aspirations all their own.  How will this new person change the world, change us?  And not just because he's royalty.

Kate is a mom, she has ushered in new life!

And that should always be cause for celebration.

Antenella

The Joy of Disney World

We just got back from a very impromptu trip to Disney World.  We are so spoiled and lucky that we have annual passes and we get to go when ever we want.  That doesn't mean we actually go when ever we want, because even with the tickets already bought we're still dropping a grand in the parks; but we have the ability if we so choose.

Wanna know why this pic is so Magical?
There's no people in it.

I can hear you now.  "How is she going to possibly be able to complain about Disney World!?!?!?  The most magical of all places!!"  If you are one of these people you probably don't live in Florida to begin with or you have completely blacked out from the last time you were in Disney World and all you can remember is the fairy dust and face-character Aladdin.  Let me assure you... you are not excited to go back.

Don't get me wrong, I love Disney world!  I am a Disney freak.  But sometimes I wonder if Disney World is even for kids!  Honestly, are there ever any happy kids at Disney World?  I'm sure there are moments of happiness.  Maybe even long stretches of euphoria but those moments are constantly being pierced with the sound of shrill cries of unrealistic expectation.

Disney World has all the elements of making your kids day nothing but one long cry-fest after another.  Let me break it down for you...

First off,  your precious baby angel has been so excited with elated rapture of the very idea of going to Disney World for months before you ever go.  You wake up every morning for weeks at a time with a little face pressed against yours asking if today is the day and for every day except one, it is not.  Even if they have never been, they know that the entire place is make on a foundation of vision dreamt by her very own imagination!  So to say there is an expectation is a gross understatment.

Then when the day finally comes and you manage to get to Orlando in one piece you realize there are a million signs with a Disney Character on it.  And I'm just talking about the roads going into orlando!  You still have at least 20 minutes (if you don't get lost ((which you will)) before you even get to your hotel.  And every time your child sees said character, they will instantly be sent into an exultant squeal of "DISNEY WORLD!!!"  Which raises their blood pressure to it's breaking point.

Next you get to your disney magical hotel and all your kids can do is wonder loudly where Mickey Mouse is and why aren't we going to Disney World?!  Once you check into the most glorious room that you have spent their entire collage fund on for the next 5 days your precious baby angel will do nothing but scream and through hysterical fits about the fact that you are not in Disney World!  Forget the fact that you just drove 16 hours or you booked a room where you can feed animals from your balcony or Tinkerbell comes to your window and makes a personal appearance, it doesn't matter!  They will know that they are so close to Disney World that they can taste it but you're a terrible parent that just toys with their emotions!

If you're lucky enough, you will sleep through  the night (brahhhahahahahaah!!!) and wake up bright and early to hit the parks before anyone else decides it's even morning.  Which, of course, everyone does.  So by the time you get to the park entrance everyone is tired, cranky, hungry and amped up on anticipation that everyone is in tears.

Then you enter the Park and it's not thing but magical!  Your kids sees the castle and breaks into tears and spends the next 5 minutes telling you how much they love you and that this is the best day ever and that they will be good for ever and ever!

15 minutes later they will be sobbing for a Mickey eared ice cream and you will give in because you just spent 1500 to get into the park what's another $6 on ice cream?  That horrendous issue of "the nasty attitude" that your kids have will be a non issue because it's Disney World and Disney ice cream won't have that kind of an effect on your kids.  It's magical!

And then it's all basically down hill from there...

Let's face it.  Disney is nothing but sugar, over stimulation, over exhaustion, over excitement, crowds, crying, unbearable heat, and foreigners...  It seriously doesn't get much worse.  Who's idea was it to get your kids ramped up on sugar and then get them to stand in a line for an hour so they can cry until they fall asleep which will inevitably happen just as you are about to get on to the ride, if they didn't pull you out of line to go pee first.

Ahh, yes... Disney world.

It's all so magical...

Antenella