...a dream is a wish your heart makes...

I know in the broad scheme of things, 7 years is not that long. But looking back now on 7 years of my son's life...whew...that's daunting. Like any expectant parent out there I had a head full of dreams, wishes and expectations as I counted down the months...then weeks...then days until my little one came along. Granted, he was not exactly little...ever!

Little could I then have guessed what path we'd wind up treading, but at the time I had some fairly clear ideas on what I was looking forward to:

~weekend picnics on kite-flying days
~backyard romps with the dogs and the kids (yes, note I said kid(s))
~cozy, cuddly reading sessions hunkered down in the winter by a cheery fireplace
~camping trips full of fresh caught fish, marshmallows and enough spooky sounds to bring those kid(s) scurrying in

I'd bore you silly with more, but clearly the point is, I had these idyllic little fantasies swirling around in my head as I awaited the birth of my son.

Maybe it's all those crazy hyped up hormones coursing through the bloodstream, but something about pregnancy makes you think that you're but a step away from the dream life. As though parenthood will become this nostalgia-driven way of life the moment Jr. pops out.

Obviously (if you've read any of my other posts) that is not the way things went down. And yet, these past 7 years have not been without dream-building, nostalgia-creating, life-living...joys. They've just been different than my idealizing past self thought they would be.

While these days my Mister Man is often part of the dreaming process as we imagine up new goals for our little family, there are still some lingering hopes from all those years past just hoping and waiting and wondering when they might have a chance to come true.

As you might have guessed already given this post's title, one of those dreams is made by Disney. I want, rather desperately, to get there before it's 'to late'...'to late' being that time and age when Mister Man is less than impressed with the old Disney magic...and I swear I can hear the clock ticking down. At one point my goal was to spend his 5th birthday there. When that date came and went, it was on to the next one.

And now here we are in October of Mister Man's 7th year, still not having gone. I wonder...am I putting unreasonable pressure on myself? Would he enjoy it as much at 10 as he might have at 5?

Of course the real question is...why am I so fixated on going? Is it really just that fabulous that everyone should experience it? Or am I just desperately clinging to the notion that it's the expected thing to do...have kids-go to Disney-become a soccer mom. All I know for sure is that I'm yearning to add to our photo album the standard childhood shot with Mickey Mouse!

While you and I both ponder life's greater mysteries...I'll keep slipping a few bucks here and there into the 'take my son to Disney' fund. Maybe I'll even get lucky and the those interest rates will decide it's time to rise! :)