Leaving the little man behind

As you can imagine, I am beyond excited to be taking part in the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.  Yet, there are a few things that are leaving me a bit bittersweet.

When I attended the celebration in 2o11, I brought my mother and both kids.  All of us had an experience that we will never forget.  We still talk about the dinners, the parties, and the park time we had together.  That’s not to be in 2012, as this time, I’m just bringing my daughter.  I know we are going to have some amazing moments together.  The bonding will be off the charts.  But it saddens me just a little that I won’t see moments like this:

That’s IT Boy, who used to be so afraid of characters, practically stalking Pooh around the 1900 Park Faire character breakfast to get a picture with him.  He was so happy to be in Disney and got right into the swing of things.

Or this:

This was the day that got totally in the Gerstein Disney spirit and started bossing around the rest of us.  It was his way of saying, “I don’t care where YOU want to go, I am in control.”  We bounced around Fantasyland like Tigger, ride after ride until the rest of us had to take a break.  It was great to see him understand where he was and make decisions about what he wanted to do.

Can’t forget this moment either:

This was the night of the Disney Junior party.  The amazing team behind Disney Social Media Moms took over “Lights! Motors! Action!” at Disney Hollywood Studios for a private party celebrating the rebranding of Playhouse Disney as Disney Junior and the launch of the stand alone channel.   As soon as we walked in, IT Boy ran off to the center of the dance floor exclaiming, “I’ve got to dance!!”  He danced with all his favorite characters.  His crush Daisy Duck saw him drooling over her and dragged him over to dance with her.  He was in heaven.  Handy Manny saw he was wearing a shirt with his likeness and gave him extra high fives.  And Jake!!!  JAKE!  It was the first time any of us had seen a Jake character, and every kid there wanted to dance with him.  Jake was most generous with his time and every kid felt great that night.  I don’t think Boy ate any of the marvelous food, and at one point I had to physically carry him off the dance floor because I was afraid he would have an accident right in front of the band.  Oh, and we also got to meet these guys:

Oh yeah, that’s me with the real life Sharky and Bones from “Jake and the Neverland Pirates”.  They performed a rollicking set during the party that had all the kids, including mine, singing and dancing along.  They were kind enough to post for pictures, which is where this gem was taken.

So, while my heart may be a little heavy at times, I know we have more Disney adventures ahead of us as a family.  Boy will be well taken care of at home, and might find himself with a souvenir or two by the time I am done.  Or three.  Or ten.  Depends on the guilt, I guess!