Peyton and I will be arriving at Disney World in just a few short weeks! I am so excited I can barely contain myself. Plus, Peyton doesn’t know when we are going. She just knows we are going sometime in the next year. Oh, I cannot wait until she finds out. Her face is going to be priceless! I’ll try to video tape it for you all but I may get too excited and forget. Anyways, traveling with kids to Disney World is stressful. At least I think it’s stressful. I mean, you spend all this money on a trip. Disney World is not cheap! And what if your child turns into a heathen while there? Meltdown in the middle of the park? Kicking and screaming? Refuses to put shoes on? Refuses to eat? Kids can be unpredictable and, let’s face it, horrible at times. I don’t care if you have the most well-behaved child at home. Disney can be overwhelming, full of new experiences and feelings, that can all be hard for a little one to handle. So what do they do? They melt down. Next thing you know, the whole family is grumpy and you just want to scream. Way to make family memories!
Well, I have a little trick I’m going to share with all you. If you have a young child, that still believes in magic, tell them Tinkerbell will leave them a little something each day that they are good. It doesn’t have to be anything big. Heck, it can stuff you need for vacation like an autograph book the first day or maybe some new flip flops for the pool. That way, when you are standing in a gift shop and your little is freaking out for that $35 stuffed animal you know they will never touch again as soon as you get home you get remind them that Tinkerbell doesn’t reward poor behavior. But there’s a catch – You have to be willing to withhold the Tinkerbell gift if someone misbehaves. I know it stinks being a meanie. But trust me, one bad day is better than having a string of horrible days.
When we went to Disney World 2 years ago, Peyton was 4. Now, Peyton is a very spirited and headstrong young lady. And I’ll admit, I do spoil her but I also say no. I told her all about Tinkerbell and how Tink would leave a little trinket for her if she behaved the whole day. The first day, Peyton was awesome! Tink left her something and she thought it was so cool. But the second day, Peyton had a major meltdown in the park and was just nasty. So Tinkerbell didn’t leave her one thing, except, a note explaining how disappointed she was in Peyton’s behavior. And that she hopes Peyton can make better choices today so she can leave a present tomorrow. Guess what? Peyton cried at the note and was shocked that Tinkerbell had not left her anything. Then the rest of the day she was an angel! If she started to stray into temper tantrum area I just reminded her of Tinks note and she immediately shaped up. The rest of our vacation I had a very well behaved little one. Some may say this is bribing but I don’t care. It works. And when I’m spending a boatload of money on a trip I don’t mind bribing my kid with trinkets to keep her behaved.
So, I am starting to pack for our trip and I will be doing Tinkerbell gifts again. This time, Peyton is six-years-old but she still believes in magic. She believes that Tinkerbell is real and I am going to keep going with it till doesn’t believe anymore. I have been working on my gift ideas for a few months now and here are some of the items that I have accumulated.
Peyton is a huge Finding Dory fan. With the movie premiering this year there has been a ton of Finding Dory items available.
I plan on giving Peyton a new backpack full of treasures to help keep her busy on our 3 hour flight to Florida. I found two little treats, Finding Dory themed, that I can stick inside her bag! One is Finding Dory ring pops (I found these at Toys R Us) and the other is a few Finding Dory candy fish (also at Toys R Us). These will be great additions to the backpack.
Remember those swim shoes I was talking about? Well, I went to the Crocs outlet earlier this summer and came across Finding Dory crocs! Perfect shoes for running around the hotel room in and to and from the pool.
Over the summer I kept my eyes open for little trinkets that I could use to help me with Tinkerbell gifts. In the dollar section at Target I found a Finding Dory bracelet. While I was wandering through Walmart I found Finding Dory lip glosses and fake finger nails. These are all great ideas for Tinkerbell gifts.
It doesn’t have to be expensive to be a Tinkerbell gift. All of the items, except the crocs, were under $5. But I splurged on teh crocs because I knew we needed a new pair of shoes for the trip anyways. Now she’ll think Tinkerbell brought them!
Be sure to keep an eye out for more Tinkerbell gift ideas. As I am packing up and getting ready for our Disney World Vacation I will be sharing what I am using for Tinkerbell gifts!
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