If you know me, you know that for Spring break I wanted to head to Florida. Disney World, Universal and lots of sun sound amazing to me always. My daughter Ella had other ideas. She has college tours on the brain. She has a college checklist for us to get through. She wanted to head to NYC, so off we went for quite the adventure.
First stop was dropping Max back to college. I want to let you all know that once your kids go to college, your children’s schedules don’t align. That is one of the many reasons we didn’t head to Florida. Max wants to join us for a Florida trip, so I have to make all the stars align to make this happen in the near future. He would love to go on college tours with us, but he knows that is not in the cards for most of them. He was off to study and take tests and we were off to get two more colleges off the touring checklist. We have accomplished 4 and she has 7ish more she wants to tour. You do not have to tour all the colleges that they want to go to see. We do what we can make happen. If they are leaning towards going to a school that they got into that they haven’t seen, that’s when you make sure to get them there. For right now, we will do our best and get Ella to see as many schools as we can. We want her to get a feel for what she likes and where she would like to go. I personally want to keep her down the street, but we all know that isn’t going to happen. She has big wings that are unwrapping that she wants to use to fly out of the nest to a wonderful school.
Can we make everyone happy? Max wants us to wait for him to go to Florida! = Happy son that we are waiting. Ella wants to go on college tours. = Happy daughter that we are checking schools off her list. Lillie and I wanted to go to Florida. = Find things to make us happy in NYC. Seth doesn’t really want to go to NYC. = He was a really good sport.
You see that everyone isn’t getting exactly what they want, but we can tweak it to make everyone happy- ish.
Also, where did we ever get this idea that everyone needs to be happy? I want to debunk that motherhood myth. We do not have to make all our children happy. Ella and college tours take priority over fun at Disney and Universal in the sun for Lillie and I. We have to figure out what works best for our family at that time.
One of the best ways to make everyone happy-ish is to let each person pick something that they want to do whether it is on a trip or during a staycation at home.
Ella – college tours, Jellycat diner, Ellen’s Stardust diner. She also wanted to see a musical but not the one I wanted.
Lillie – shopping, Jellycat diner, Museum of ice cream.
Rebecca/me – Chicago the musical, Chinatown, Ellen’s Stardust Diner
Seth – I could not get this man to pick anything despite all my efforts. He loved Chicago the musical, Ellen’s Stardust diner, and negotiating for us in Chinatown. The man deserves a medal for his tolerance and flexibility on this trip.
I say trip because this was by no means a vacation. This was a go nonstop for a few short days and fit in as much as we possibly can. Could we have a vacation from this trip?
We stayed in Time Square so when we arrived, you know that we had to walk Time Square and do all the things.
Tip: You may want to stay away from Time Square. The honking horns and all the traffic woke me up every morning. Ella says she thinks you would have that anywhere in NYC, but I would say Time Square is the most packed! What is with all the horns?
The next day we hit the pavement for two college tours. Ella absolutely loved Barnard and Columbia. I knew that she would. The thought of my daughter living in NYC does not make me happy. I don’t know if I can do it. The good news is the schools are gated.
This was the day of 24,000 steps. I don’t recommend it. It was a little much for me. I slept so well while we were in NYC. I strongly recommend the Westin. The hotel was fabulous and their beds and pillows are heavenly. I also recommend getting a ton of steps every day. Tons of walking plus amazing bed plus nonstop trip = best sleep ever.
Leave it up to Lillie to take us to nonstop shopping. I did not enjoy it. She was wondering why I didn’t buy anything, but I didn’t like anything in any of the stores she dragged us in. Add in the Museum of ice Cream that I do not recommend. If you have little kids, they would get a kick out of it. There were a lot of lines and not enough ice cream. We won’t talk about the ice cream making me sick that day.
Can we make everyone happy? Seth, Ella and I did not enjoy the nonstop shopping day or the Museum of Ice cream (cute but not worth it). Lillie had a ball. Was everyone happy – no? It’s not always possible so get that out of your head.
Time for Chicago the musical!!! Ella wanted to go see Hadestown. Lillie wanted to go see Alladin. Seth was excited to see Chicago with me. Two words: Whitney and Mark (from Dancing with the Stars). I was planning on trying to get to see Whitney in Chicago. When I heard Mark was joining her when we were in town it was a no brainer. Sometimes moms come first. Can all the moms read that again.
Can we make everyone happy? Ella is so tired of Chicago. Lillie did not enjoy it. Seth and I loved it. Two out of four isn’t bad and no you can’t make everyone happy.
On the last and final day I did not ask what the girls wanted to do. I considered taking them to see the Statue of Liberty. I had never been to Chinatown, and I wanted to check it out. We don’t always have to get everyone’s opinion. I am getting better at realizing what I want to do. It isn’t just about the kids anymore. Things are shifting. I still love making my kids and husband happy. I am learning how to make myself happy. The good news is everyone enjoyed it and Seth did a great job negotiating prices for us. We also grabbed some treats in Little Italy. The girls said it felt like what they imagined Italy is like. We will get there one day.
How much can we pack into a short trip? The girls wanted to go to the Jellycat Diner. If you know, you know. My girls love these stuffed animals. Not only does FAO Schwartz at Rockefeller Center have a ton of Jellycat stuffed animals, but they also have a diner. You have to make a reservation for the diner. I will warn you that it is hard to get a reservation. It turned out that I was in the car during the window of time that I needed to be on my computer/phone to get a reservation. I called in reinforcements = my husband who was at work at his computer. I recommend having more than just two people trying to get a reservation. I kept getting kicked out of the cue but Seth my computer master snagged a reservation. I could only get one. It turns out that one reservation is for the family (up to 6 people I believe). I didn’t know that. Ella was thrilled to be able to have a turn too. I could have taken a turn, and I almost did because the milkshake was so adorable. They have special Jellycats that you can only get at the diner. The girls loved it.
I don’t recommend going nonstop. I recommend building in some down time. Can we teach this to my daughter Lillie? Seth and Ella did take some pockets of time to rest at the hotel while Lillie ran me ragged. Can we make everyone happy? Lillie was happy constantly running around. The three of us needed some down time. No, everyone was not happy at all times. I laid down on my heavenly Westin bed. I could have fallen asleep as my little diva paced the hotel waiting for me to take her back out.
I would say it was a success. The main goal was to get in more college tours. I would have liked to fit in more tours for her over Spring break, but this mama was tired. Seth is currently asking me to go away with him to actually relax. That sounds wonderful and I also think I will get bored quickly. There is a perfect balance on a vacation. Find things to do and find some down time too. I would love to hear about your favorite vacation spots! I would also love to hear if you like to go go go or if you like a vacation to be relaxing?
The answer to the age old question – Can we make everyone happy? My final answer is no. You can take turns making people in the family happy. Every member of our family does not have to be happy all the time.
Now to find time to take my family to Universal. I see it in my near future. College tours and Universal are next up.
Keep traveling everyone,
Laughing, Learning, Loving,
Rebecca Greene, LCSW-R
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