I really enjoyed reading Lisa's Article on the Main Site (http://www.mouseplanet.com/akrock/ak051018lp.htm) today about boredom busters!

On a personal note to Miss Lisa: The pictures for the name game are truly inspired. Before I saw the second picture, I saw the first and I giggled. :D

Adrienne

:)
Thanks, AK! It's interesting--I've been getting some mixed feedback about the article. Some people think it's torturing a child to camp out waiting for fireworks, etc., others have offered their own positive experiences. It's not for everyone, but those of us who try it occasionally like to be prepared.

Thanks again for insightful ideas on helping kids enjoy the parks even more, Lisa!

I've taken many a note about "boredom breaking" ideas in the past few weeks and I appreciated having many of them all in one article. Are you all trying to make parenting easy or something?? ;)

Anyway, thanks again. You guys are a wealth of information!

~kisroo:)

Lisa,
I thought the article was great, although, at WDW, we don't wait for many parades or shows any more. My daughter is now 12 yo and as you point out in the article - Be Prepared. Plan Ahead - should be your park strategy.

From the time A. was a bitty-bit, we'd take her busy bag whenever we went to a restaurant or appointment, anything that involved waiting. Generally, these were things that were only in the busy bag, so she didn't get bored with them every day.

On our first WDW trip, with A. approaching 5 yo, I downsized that to fit into a zippy bag in my park bag -- with small box of crayons, a multicolored pen, little busy books, and plain paper. At all the restaurants, we'd ask for an extra kid's placemat and add that to the bag. Between people watching, I Spy, and the travel busy bag, none of us was ever bored. And some of A's favorite souvenirs came out of that bag.

The busy bag--that's cute.:) We were always overprepared with our kids when they were little when we would go out to dinner or take them to public places. One of us always carried a tote bag with all kinds of distractions to make sure they would have things to do while they waited. Now that they are a bit older they are are a tad easier to manage.:)