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He is going to shake his fist and talk about the "good old days" when children were seen and not heard. Then go on a 75 minute diatribe one how he hopped to school in 10 ft of snow wearing cardboard sneakers .
It's not that I don't understand it but he gave all that info then tried to present it as simply a daddy-daughter bonding time....And even difficult children have feelings. "We need a vacation without you so we can enjoy ourselves" is just not very nice.
Yeah, I'm starting to get the feeling that the OP is just trying to justify doing it by saying it's for Father/Daughter bonding time.
Actually from what I read he really wants everyone buy his son to come due to the constant stress of his ADD.
Oh yes, I realize that is the real reason. But in his first post, the OP said that he would love for his son to come, but the room would only fit him, his wife, and the two daughters (as if Disney wouldn't accommodate a family of 5 with a roll away bed). It just seems mean spirited to say that the whole family wants a vacation away from this 7 year old boy.
If the dad wants a real vacation with the daughters, then take them somewhere for the weekend where they can actually spend time together and do the shopping and going out to eat that the father says he wants to do. Taking them to a conference where the dad is going to be gone till 5pm each day isn't a whole lot of bonding time for the three.
Freshman year of high school I went to Orlando for nationals (rowing). I went by myself but was with groups of people. My friends family who went were supposed to "chaperone" but I bounced around between different people. Opening ceremony was at Animal kingdom and closing ceremony was at Sea world. They closed both parks for all of us. My friends family left after it was over but I stayed another two days with a different family. We went to Disney and had a ball. Even though I wasn't being watched 24/7, we were all behaved. No drinking. No crazy stuff. Then the next summer I saved up and went to Europe for a month. It was chaperoned but only three adults for 20+ kids. Again, had a great time, but didn't do anything "bad". It was actually clean fun.
You know your kids. If you trust them, then trust yourself. The only thing I see is how your son would react to being "left behind". But maybe you can say this was for the girls. Then schedule something for Just you and him later in the summer. I don't know where you are from but maybe a close by amusement park for the day, the beach, fishing, etc. Just something so he doesn't feel "left out".
NOT take a 7 year old to Disney? Ouch. I'm sorry, but even though he may be a handful, this seems to be deliberately excluding him from what most kids would consider Kid Heaven. You think he teases them NOW? Wait until they get to go to Disney and he doesn't -- that teasing will turn into out-and-out warfare.
I'd only endorse this idea if Mommy and Son were doing a special trip on THEIR own, someplace that would be the equivalent of Disney -- maybe he would love a couple of days in New York City, go see a play, some fun museums, a baseball game, etc. Or maybe a three or four day cruise on a family-friendly ship. Shipping him off to Grandma so the rest of you can play seems pretty cowardly, to me.
Are you staying in the same hotel where your conference/class is? Otherwise, I would NOT be comfortable leaving the girls alone all day long, and I'd probably make a point to join them for lunch. Remember, hotel pools are seldom life-guarded -- sending a 12 year old to an unsupervised pool all day seems to be dicey proposition at best.
Another option would be for everyone to go, but split up during the day -- mom and son go to Epcot while the girls go to Disney. Next day, Mom and son go to Universal, girls go the water park . . . that way, there is a sense of family, everyone has fun, but in the evening, you come together as a family.
I dunno -- I just couldn't do it. Your mileage may differ.
I don't know how difficult it is with your 7 year old son with ADHD but if I were him, I would not forgive you for not taking me to Disney World when you are taking the sisters.
Perhaps Mom can take him on a special mother-son getaway at the same time. My nephew would rather go to Legoland than Disney any day.
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