A rough start

Our plan for tonight was to meet up with Kristi and to go to the Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade (is it even called that anymore . . . I'm not sure). It was a lot of work to pack everything up, wait for a bus, ride to the MK, and do that all again to get back to the hotel. But we had some friends who said it was worth it and I was so excited to see the look of excitement on Jack's face when we saw the parade coming down the street!

We were off on the parade start time . . . by an hour. So we were there way early and had to sit a little longer than expected. But we weren't complaining because we had a great spot along the parade route. We ate hot dogs and caught up with Kristi . . . whose name is actually "Kristen" according to Jack.

We had the 10 minute warning, and then the 5 minute warning and finally we could see the first float making it's way down the street. When it finally reached us, I looked down at Jack so that I could soak up the look on his face . . . the look that I was sure would reflect the excitement that I had about him being at Disney World for the first time. But instead, the look was one of sheer panic. He tried to climb over me to get away from the parade and was crying inconsolably. It was reminiscent of the episode with the fireworks on the Fourth of July. He seemed to be most afraid of the costumed characters. I certainly am glad that we didn't make reservations for the breakfast with the Disney characters tomorrow!

My first instinct was just to hold him there until he calmed down and got used to it. But Kyle ended up taking him back a few steps and watching from the sidewalk. And eventually, he stopped crying and tolerated the parade from a distance.

I'm realizing more and more that he's going to be a little like I was as a child . . . hesitant about new things at first. I know it's hard for anyone who knows me now to believe that I was ever that timid! But one thing I remember from that time in my life is that I hated being pushed. I craved encouragement, but I needed to be left to do things in my own time. If I was pushed, I ran in the opposite direction. Or just cried.

I was a little disappointed that we went to all of the trouble to get down there just for the parade (and made Kristi come all the way down to get us in the gate) just for him to be scared to death. But it was a good thing in that I've let go of all of my expectations for what Jack will experience in the next few days. We'll do what he enjoys and encourage him to try new things . . . without pushing . . . so that we can all have a good time.

Ok, time for bed. We've got a big day tomorrow!