[edgeofelise]

You guys. I am so mad right now. DH got a call from his dad yesterday. They have a time share in Vegas and they want us all to go on a family vacation. Here's the thing: it's in AUGUST. The hottest time of the year, spent holed up in a hotel with a 2-year-old, because it's too hot to go outside. And I know that child will not sleep. She doesn't sleep anywhere but in her own crib, not even naps in the car anymore. What are we going to do? I hate gambling. I find Las Vegas to be the most boring place on earth, even when it's not hotter than the surface of the sun. They do this all the time--planning things that aren't remotely fun, that are extremely difficult to do with small children. And I seem to be the only one who isn't game, so I constantly feel like a petulant child. !$%^&*&^%$#^@$%!#?! I'm angry.

[survey77777]

Is E the only child invited? Is there a pool? The good news is that by that time she will be in a whole new phase for sleeping etc...for better or worse. On one hand I hate inappropriate holidays and I refuse to go to hotter places in the summer. On the other hand...I have first hand experience on how it feels to have a spouse complain during your family's vacation and that sucks too. I've heard there are lots of air conditioned places to go in Vegas that are kid friendly...no first hand experience.
Will this cost you $? If so I'd just say no that you're saving for a family vacation. If it won't cost you anything though...just go and enjoy having a hand with E and make sure to plan a day to do what you really want to do while you're there.

[Brookem]

I know that sometimes it is nice to just want to say **** off! To people so I will totally validate you in your anger. Why choose LV in August? Why not consider the fact that Eliza will be miserable? Why not spend more time involved in your lives so they know that she won't nap instead of you having to be the petulant child and bring it up.

Here's the good news: (!!)

August is far enough away that no matter what you don't know for *sure* what sleeping pattens will be

There are so many darn people in Vegas that there must be something amazing for a mommy and cutie patootie two year old to do together that would be amazing and memorable and totally fun for both of you

You have time to plan! Or plot a scheme . Self fulfilling prophecies, baby! Try not the believe you will hate it because if you believe it, I will happen. Focus on a few positive things and try to remember that for some reason "family dynamics" is synonymous with "bugs me most if the time but I love them"

I do agree with N in that if this will cost you $$... Just say no.

Good luck

[BobbityBoo]

I already commented on FB but... a lot of the hotels are linked via air conditioned walkways and malls, so you dont have to spend so much time outdoors. But if its a time share you most likely will be off the strip so you have to take a taxi there.

Its hot, for sure but its dry heat, which I find WAY more tolerable than our humid 80 degree summers here. Just get a yard frozen drink, or whatever they are called (a virgin for E, of course)... you will be good!

[lunarmagic]

I personally loved LV when I went there (but I didn't have kids with me). But that's my thing.

I think what would get me - and what is probably the crux of your frustration - is that they planned it and decided it without thinking about how difficult it is to travel to a place like that with a kid, much less asked you what you thought about it and if you even wanted to go. I admit it, I get childish, even if someone decides to do something that I think is a good idea I get really ticked off when things are decided without my input. Especially when there's a small child involved. It's just not as easy.

Also vacations are expensive, stressful, did I mention expensive? I wouldn't want to spend all that time and energy and money on a vacation I didn't want to go on in the first place.

A much smaller scale, but I recently had an annoyance where a friend was like, "Get a babysitter on X night! We're doing Z!" Babysitters are expensive. Nights out are expensive. We only get one like every two months. And I'm not going to drop that kind of cash for something someone else wants to do - when we do finally get to go out I want a dinner with just my husband!

[edgeofelise]

That's exactly what bothers me. It happens all the time. "Family pictures, we'll start at 5:30!" It was an hour away, and my kid's bedtime was a 6 at the time. Christmas day, we went down there and made sure to get there early so we could be home at a decent time. We told them we wanted to leave by 6, and at 5:30 dinner wasn't even close to being ready, and we hadn't opened a single gift because they're always waiting on something or another. The day before MY WEDDING DAY--DH's dad held him up all day and we didn't get down there until 10pm. FIL said "So, she'll sleep later tomorrow!" Umm, no. She was up at 5:30, because she was all overtired and thrown off.

These people raised four children and FIL is a freaking pediatrician, and yet they seem to be completely out of touch with reality. And they think I need to just suck it up and go with the flow. Trust me, I'd love to. But I'M the one who gets zero sleep! It just pisses me off beyond belief. They're sweet people. They mean well. But unfortunately they think that because they're paying for everything (they are paying for the trip--it's their time share, and I'm assuming they're dealing with airfare too, because we're sure not) we should be overjoyed, when they never even ask if we want this stuff in the first place.

Eliza melts down after an hour at the aquarium. She's a super sensitive kid. She probably gets that from me. And I'm probably not helping by being uptight, I know that. And I know she'll be older; she's a completely different child now than she was 6 months ago. She'll (hopefully) be weaned by then, so I'm trying to relax and not make the experience worse by stressing about it. But I'm still pissed off.

[survey77777]

My sister would LOVE to have this chat with you. She has the very same complaints about our family and raises her 3 girls very similar to how you do with E. She's an awesome mom FTR. I'm just really different due to the other extreme factors in my life. If I didn't have those I would likely be more similar to her. ANyway...I just wanted to add the blabbering on and on part to show that I meant that you are similar in a good way and that I still heart you dearly.

[lunarmagic]

It's funny, because when Kate was little and was SUPER flexible I had a tendency to think that people with unflexible kids (SIL) was doing something wrong. But as she gets older and changes I'm realizing that some are just born that way. Even now Kate is really pretty flexible and easy going, but there are some things I can't compromise without major issues later - I can push back her nap and she can nap in the car, but if she doesn't get enough of a nap or skips it I'm going to pay later. Bedtime... I can push it back (see: New Years Eve) but it won't mean she'll sleep in, and she'll probably be cranky and off for a few days.

It's really hard when they're paying for things... I know when my mom does stuff for us I feel like I can't really complain, she's paying. but at the same time... yeah. I'm sorry your in-laws don't seem to care what your opinion is or how it affects Elise.

[survey77777]

Yep...my sister's kids are like that too. The 7 year old is starting to catch on to the sleeping in thing, but the youngest is up around 5:30 no matter what. Right now GG is a flexible one but funny enough I always thought I'd be pretty strict about night time scheduling...and still may.