When I was younger, first married and having my first child, I always said I wanted to do a lot of traveling with my kids. I wanted the kind of family that picked up at a moments notice and flew to some exotic location. I'd have kids that we comfortable with airports and hotels and restaurants.
Kinda like Angelina Jolie is today. You always see photos of her and her kids in some airport, all holding hands as they trek through the crowds in France or Kenya.
And then two things happened:
1) We had more than one kid. With three kids, it costs a lot of money to fly anywhere. I guess if we had Angelina Jolie's money, we could hop flights anywhere, but when we have to shell out $1800. just to get somewhere, we really have to save up and plan to go anywhere.
and
2) we had kids with Autism. Ease and comfort are not usually in our vocabulary. Flying, staying in a hotel, restaurants, lines - all are a challenge for our family. We do our best, and are getting better all of the time, but its been a huge learning curve. Learning to prepare our kids well in advance of traveling with social stories about the trip, what flying in an airplane in like, what our hotel will be like, researching menus of restaurants in advance to make sure there are foods our kids will eat...
BUT
I am proud of the level of comfort my kids with Autism have about being in the community. Since they were little boys, I have always taken them everywhere. Grocery stores, the movies, restaurants, stores, concerts - and most of these outings have made them very comfortable with crowds, waiting and new experiences. I know our limits; we don't go to the opera, ballet, or Michelin-start restaurants. We try to keep our activities family-friendly. And we have walked out of places before, if the boys just aren't going to make it, but we at least TRY new things on a regular basis.
So I may not be as super-cool as Angie Jolie, but I'll give her a run for her money on a Mama of the Year award.
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