A Child's Perspective

I often wonder what my kids will think about their childhoods when they are adults. Will they remember being happy and having fun times? Will it be filled with sadness and anger or frustration?

Lately, I've been wondering if they will have wished we had taken them to Disneyland.

I remember a few years back, feeling really bummed that we didn't have the money to take our kids to Disneyland. I had gone a few times when I was growing up, and a part of me wanted that for my kids too. After talking to my sister-in-law though, I didn't feel so bad. She told me, not every family has to be a family that goes to Disneyland. Make memories without it.

So I have.

A lot of our focus has been having fun, but not breaking the bank to do it. After talking to my kids I like to think we are succeeding on a certain level.

I always try to remember that what my kids think and remember, won't be what I remember. I asked them recently what their all time favorite thing we did as a family was. Harrison told me that he loves that we spend time together as a family, all the time, and that we do lots of things together. Hazel told me, she loved it when we watched Back to the Future together. I think we also bought dinner that night from McDonald's and ate it while we watched the movie. That's it!

Remembering a trip we took with Harrison and Hazel about 4 years ago, it didn't surprise me. We went to Salt Lake City, which isn't that far away from us. We bought city passes and went to all the museums and stayed in a fairly inexpensive hotel with an amazing breakfast buffet. I remembered then, asking my kids what they're favorite part was... swimming in the pool at the hotel and eating at Outback Steakhouse.

I began to realize that, honestly, kids don't really care where we take them, as long as they have fun, and feel loved. They just want to spend time together as a family.