Why i write this

I was browsing the Internet this afternoon and I came across a Groupon for Vegas hotels.  I thought about how my boys would enjoy the bright lights and colors and general circus atmosphere of Vegas.  They would also enjoy the swimming pools and just walking through the hotels. 

I know some casinos in other states (Ho Chunk in Wisconsin) offer child care.  My first impression when I heard this was that it was sleazy – parents just dumping their kids so they can go gamble, drink and do who knows what else. 

Once on our way home from the Dells, the weather was awful.  We were near the Ho Chunk, so we decided to stop there to wait out the storm.  We walked past the child care center.  It was actually very clean, the people in charge were proper day care workers, there were plenty of things for the kids to do.  It was $6 an hour.  The kids took one look at all the fun stuff and didn’t even say goodbye to us.  We went to the casino for about an hour and a half, came and got the kids, who didn’t want to leave.  (Although my teenage stepdaughter told her mother we abandoned her with the children all day so we could gamble, but that's a whole other therapy session.) By this time, the storm was letting up, so we got something to eat and then headed home.

Remembering this, I wondered if any Vegas hotels had anything similar.  Several do.  I then did a search to see if there was day care available for special needs.  Nothing. 

 My kids really love the beach.  Maybe we could go to a beach resort.  I looked for any resorts that offer special needs day care.  The Beaches chain was the only one that came up.  I know there are nanny services where you can hire a nanny to go on vacation with you, but if that costs almost as much as your hotel or flights, what’s the point?

 I prefer doing things with my kids on vacation, but it’s nice for my husband and I to have some grownup time, too, whether it’s wandering around for an hour, a quiet dinner or just a soak in the hot tub.  This is a benefit of traveling with extended family, by the way – there’s usually someone willing and able to watch the kids for an hour or two or take one of them somewhere.  I hope the tone of this post doesn’t come off like I just want to go gamble on vacation.  This is about how an ideal vacation has a balance of things to make each family member happy, together and individually, whether it’s in a big city, a beach resort, another country, wherever.

 I read about a special needs theme park just outside of San Antonio, Texas (Morgan’s Wonderland).  I was so excited – booked flights and a hotel.  My husband cannot pick his vacation dates, his company does for him, so we had to go in February.  Morgan’s Wonderland didn’t open until March.  We had a decent time, anyway, kids actually got into our trip to the Alamo and I had the best Mexican food ever. I’ll save that trip for another blog post.

 The lack of information on the internet reminded me of why I started writing this blog.  When I officially became a special needs mom, I looked high and low online to find resources for special needs friendly resorts, theme parks, restaurants, activities, anything. The lack of information just increased the feeling of isolation.  I gave up searching and decided to figure it out myself and write about it for others like me.