Family Reunion with The Mouse

My family, on my mother's side, is composed of the following members:

• My mother and her husband
• My brother, his wife, and their six children (ages 3 months to 8 years)
• My aunt
• My two cousins, each of whom is married and has one child under 10

My brother has cooked up an idea for a family reunion. Bless his heart. He is a genuinely good person who wants to create stronger connections among our small clan. He has proposed that we spend four days together at Disney World in Orlando. Four days. Together. At Disney World. He imagines that this will be a fun, bond-building adventure.

I do not. It somewhat pains me to be confronted with the reality that I am not this kind of person. To say that I am not into theme parks is an understatement. Rollercoasters scare me. I clam up and become oddly shy when approached by people in large, furry costumes. I don't like crowds. I love my nieces and nephews and am regularly charmed and awed by how they've turned out so far. But I have to take a power nap after spending four hours, never mind four days, with them all. The idea of standing in line for 45 minutes to get on Pirates of the Caribbean with eight children under 10, two cousins I barely know, and their spouses whom I know even less makes me anxious.

I hate to sound this curmudgeonly. I do! I would prefer to be an enthusiastic, theme-park loving, extended-family-embracing kind of gal. Maybe if I pretend I am, it'll take.