When the opportunity to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Conference came up I was torn. We had already had our yearly family vacation to Disney World. We take our family vacation at the end of January/beginning of February to minimize what the kids miss in school. But, even then we are gone for two full weeks. School vacations just do not match our work commitments so we have to go at other times.

Since my son had already missed ten days of school for a trip I did not feel that I could have him miss more time. My daughter is in home school/virtual school so as long as she has her lap top and Wi-Fi she can go to school anywhere. We decided that this would be my long dreamed about Mother-Daughter trip with her to Walt Disney World.

I feel so fortunate that I was able to have this special trip with her. It was fun just letting her direct just about everything we did on our free time. I was reminded of so many great things about her during this trip:

My daughter is fearless and confident. She danced on stage at Raglan Road. One of the dancers saw her dancing outside while we were waiting for a table and asked her if she would like to dance on stage with them. She thought she was going up on stage with the little children and do their “1-2-3s” and little jumps. When the dancer came back to the stage and told her she would go on after the little children she was over the moon excited. She was able to dance her Reel all by herself onstage at Raglan Road in front of a full house.

This was a great motivator for her. She is hard of hearing, and dancing, especially Irish Dance that counts on being in perfect time, is tough for her because she can’t always hear the music. But, just being given the chance to dance in front of an audience like this and do it well, helped her renew her passion for dance again. This isn’t a great picture but I will never forget the feeling I had when I was standing by the stage and the entire restaurant began cheering and applauding when she was done. I don’t think her feet will touch the floor for a month.

My daughter can be goofy and funny. In the middle of teenage angst sometimes we forget how much fun our teens really are. Go-Go Squeeze, one of the sponsors of the Disney Social Media Moms Conference, gave everyone a cape in their Welcome Bag. My daughter quickly claimed it as her own saying, “Everyone needs a cape, despite what Edna Mode says.” That cape was worn for several days and is now handing from her bed post. It was also amazing to see her be a bit of a child again as she met each of the characters during our trip. From Olaf, to Mickey to the Storm Troopers each brought out a big grin and hugs for her.

My daughter is growing up before my eyes into a beautiful young woman. I have known this all along but this trip allowed me to pause for a moment and really spend time with her and see her in a bit of a different light. We went on the Dumbo ride late one night. I realized I had not gone on  this ride with her since she was about 5 years-old. I looked at her sitting there, almost 15 years-old, and I started to tear up. Time has flown by. Where did those 10 years go? We got off the ride just as Wishes, the fireworks show, was starting. She laid her head on my shoulder and I started to cry. In three short years she will be leaving to go college. I felt awed that we had these few minutes to stop time for a while and hold onto these special memories we were making in our hearts.

I am so grateful that my daughter and I spent this week together. I hope that she remembers how much we truly enjoyed being together and the wonderful memories we made this week stay with her forever.