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travel essay
A
fewmonthsback,myexandI
decided to takeourdaughter
toDisneylandParis, timing
the trip to coincidewithher seventh
birthday.We’d deliberately waited
untilMolly reached this age because
it seemedmore likely she’d remem-
ber actual details of the trip, rather
than simply incorporating oversize
chipmunk faces intoher nightmares.
No soonerhadwebooked the tickets,
however, thanwe were facedwith a
freshdilemma.
On the Disneyland website, you
canwatch video clips of parents sur-
prising their kids at the park gates,
eliciting responses that straddle the
line between joy and panic attack.
Helenwanted togo the secrecy route,
but Iwas inclined to spill thebeansas
soon as possible,on the premise that
Molly would be able to enjoy a few
weeks of pre-trip excitement (at no
additional cost) and we’d get a few
weeks of brush-your-teeth-or-you-
won’t-go-to-Disneyland leverage.
A subsequent, um, slip of the
tongue rendered the debate moot,
while also exposing a major flaw
in my strategy.What I hadn’t bar-
gained for was thatMolly’s pre-trip
excitement wouldmanifest itself as
a successionof nighttime visitations,
whichwould beginwith a bit of bed
bouncing followed by an extensive
question-and-answer session. Call
meakilljoy,but trying toprovide the
French translation for “To infinity
and beyond!” at 4 a.m. very quickly
lost its appeal.
In any event,Molly proved to be
a shrewd interrogator.By night two,
I had not only agreed to waive the
no-cotton-candy-for-breakfast rule
but had committed myself to the
purchase of various commemorative
items that, bymy calculations,would
cost somewhere in the region of
1.2millioneuros.Mybig fear, though,
was the prospect of preteen ennui—
Mollywalking through theparkgates,
takingone lookat theSleepingBeauty
Castle,andgoing,“Meh.”
So it was that my daughter and I
found ourselves occupying opposite
ends of the anticipation spectrum, the
one that runs fromexcitement toanxi-
ety.Andmaybethat’san inevitablepart
ofbeingaparent—youbecomesofinely
attunedtothepotential fordisasterthat
you risk snuffingout thegood stuff.
When taking your child to Disneyland, it’s important
to manage expectations—namely, your own
MouseTrap
CONTINUED ON PAGE 83
by chri s wright
illustrat ion by
sam island
