Finish this sentence..

[MUN]

Nothing against Xanax (can Kids take Xanax?) if absolutely necessary but there must be other things they can try first.

I'm not a health care professional, but I think children can take a smaller dosage of Xanax.

 

[mevelandry]

are we seriously discussing medicating a child because they cannot get over their Disney experience? Speechless

Wasn't my idea...

 

[mmouse37]

Our 2 year old granddaughter is in love with the Mickey boat.....we took her in October on the 7 day Magic Marvel cruise and she still talks about it everyday. She knows Grandma loves the Mickey boat as well....so much that the other day when they came to our house and my husband and I were not home she turned to her mother and said...."oh, they are not home...must be on the Mickey boat"! When our DIL told us that we cracked up. She knows grandma too well.

But seriously, she talks about going back everyday. She is not in the least bit depressed but more she remembers everything about the trip and loves looking at the pics and stating she wants to go there again.

MJ

 

[mkh531]

We got a Mickey toaster and I have a DCL mug to help add some Magic to our mornings and help with PDD. Disney pajamas help too

 

[frostymom]

I work on my fish extender items for my next cruise. Read blogs and I just recently became a Disney Vacation Planner that keeps my addiction in check.
How old is your child? Maybe draw some pictures of his favorite parts of this vacation so he can remember them in his room, work on a scrapbook together.

 

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

Others have said the best advice look into if there are other underlying issues. No surprised he wishes to be at Castaway. I wish I was at WDW now instead if working again Monday. But life is not a vacation.

But without sounding harsh your son needs to realize this.

I completely agree that he needs to realize that life is not a vacation. He understands the difference but this is the first time he has had to go back to school after (he is only in kindergarten) So, the re-entry experience is different.

For crying outloud I want to be at Castaway Cay...This is proof that 3 day cruises are just not enough.

 

[lds0191]

Seriously people? The child is having DCL withdrawal and your answer is therapy and drugs??? DCL withdrawal is really a thing. I have seen my DD lean against a pole outside of the terminal and cry. We all cry on the way home. We cry when we board the ship. We are cruising in 11 days and I am as excited as a little kid and I am almost 60 years old. I tear up when I watch a video on youtube of the ship horn or when I hear the announcement tone that is played on the ships. My DD is 16 now and her life goal is to work on one of the ships which is a result of her love of our past cruises. I understand you need to keep a watch on your children as depression is very serious but please don't make your children think there is something wrong with them because they love Disney Cruise Line and Castaway Cay.

 

[Shanti]

Every day DS tells me that he needs to go back to Castaway Cay. I find him sad at school upon pick up. It's heart breaking. DH and I are diligently working on another trip, where we have invited MIL to join us. (No worries. It's all good) I am looking at pictures, attempting to convince myself that Disney Depression really isn't a thing...ok who am I kidding??? So, please finish the following sentence.

The best way to combat Disney Depression is to....

(We already have another trip planned-so that does not count! LOL)

Switch gears & focus on cool things that are happening (or that you can plan to happen) locally. Don't talk about the cruise, Mickey or even WDW, & redirect him from perseverating on it. If no one else is talking about DCL & there are cool things going on in his world, he'll adjust quickly enough.

 

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

Our 2 year old granddaughter is in love with the Mickey boat.....we took her in October on the 7 day Magic Marvel cruise and she still talks about it everyday. She knows Grandma loves the Mickey boat as well....so much that the other day when they came to our house and my husband and I were not home she turned to her mother and said...."oh, they are not home...must be on the Mickey boat"! When our DIL told us that we cracked up. She knows grandma too well.

But seriously, she talks about going back everyday. She is not in the least bit depressed but more she remembers everything about the trip and loves looking at the pics and stating she wants to go there again.

MJ

Thank you for this.

We got a Mickey toaster and I have a DCL mug to help add some Magic to our mornings and help with PDD. Disney pajamas help too

Ohhh. I like this idea.

I work on my fish extender items for my next cruise. Read blogs and I just recently became a Disney Vacation Planner that keeps my addiction in check.
How old is your child? Maybe draw some pictures of his favorite parts of this vacation so he can remember them in his room, work on a scrapbook together.

DS is 6. This is a great idea. Thank you!

Seriously people? The child is having DCL withdrawal and your answer is therapy and drugs??? DCL withdrawal is really a thing. I have seen my DD lean against a pole outside of the terminal and cry. We all cry on the way home. We cry when we board the ship. We are cruising in 11 days and I am as excited as a little kid and I am almost 60 years old. I tear up when I watch a video on youtube of the ship horn or when I hear the announcement tone that is played on the ships. My DD is 16 now and her life goal is to work on one of the ships which is a result of her love of our past cruises. I understand you need to keep a watch on your children as depression is very serious but please don't make your children think there is something wrong with them because they love Disney Cruise Line and Castaway Cay.

Thank you for this. I appreciate the sanity that came with your post.

 

[mevelandry]

Seriously people? The child is having DCL withdrawal and your answer is therapy and drugs??? DCL withdrawal is really a thing. I have seen my DD lean against a pole outside of the terminal and cry. We all cry on the way home. We cry when we board the ship. We are cruising in 11 days and I am as excited as a little kid and I am almost 60 years old. I tear up when I watch a video on youtube of the ship horn or when I hear the announcement tone that is played on the ships. My DD is 16 now and her life goal is to work on one of the ships which is a result of her love of our past cruises. I understand you need to keep a watch on your children as depression is very serious but please don't make your children think there is something wrong with them because they love Disney Cruise Line and Castaway Cay.

This is not what I said at all (but yes, I suggested therapy IF the sadness is persistent because that COULD indicate an underlying cause)

+ There's no "people" but 1 person who suggested medication and it wasn't me (to me medication is a last resort and I did not agree).

I'm more of a mediTTTation type of person.

 

[lklgoodman]

Switch gears & focus on cool things that are happening (or that you can plan to happen) locally. Don't talk about the cruise, Mickey or even WDW, & redirect him from perseverating on it. If no one else is talking about DCL & there are cool things going on in his world, he'll adjust quickly enough.

I agree with Shanti. My dd and I both get sad after our cruises end, so it helps to remember all the fun things we can do at home. If he misses the free ice cream on the ship then take him to get ice cream after school some time, and ask him about something he did at school that day. Our YMCA has a indoor splash pad that we go to when it's too cold to play outside. Our local library and park services also have fun activities for kids to do on the week-ends. Nothing wrong with still talking about the trip, but if that's the main focus, then it will take longer for him to stop being sad about it being over.

 

[Dug720]

Our 2 year old granddaughter is in love with the Mickey boat.....we took her in October on the 7 day Magic Marvel cruise and she still talks about it everyday. She knows Grandma loves the Mickey boat as well....so much that the other day when they came to our house and my husband and I were not home she turned to her mother and said...."oh, they are not home...must be on the Mickey boat"! When our DIL told us that we cracked up. She knows grandma too well.

But seriously, she talks about going back everyday. She is not in the least bit depressed but more she remembers everything about the trip and loves looking at the pics and stating she wants to go there again.

MJ

I think the difference is the OP stated that her son is "always sad when they pick him up from school". He clearly IS depressed about it and/or something is going on at school that wasn't happening on Castaway Cay. Which is why several of us have suggested that the OP dig a little deeper into what is really going on.

 

[Dug720]

Seriously people? The child is having DCL withdrawal and your answer is therapy and drugs??? DCL withdrawal is really a thing. I have seen my DD lean against a pole outside of the terminal and cry. We all cry on the way home. We cry when we board the ship. We are cruising in 11 days and I am as excited as a little kid and I am almost 60 years old. I tear up when I watch a video on youtube of the ship horn or when I hear the announcement tone that is played on the ships. My DD is 16 now and her life goal is to work on one of the ships which is a result of her love of our past cruises. I understand you need to keep a watch on your children as depression is very serious but please don't make your children think there is something wrong with them because they love Disney Cruise Line and Castaway Cay.

I didn't suggest drugs, but I *do* feel like based on the OP's post that the child is "heartbreakingly sad" every day when she picks him up from school there is at least cause to dig a little deeper. There is no indication there that the "heartbreaking sadness" is there at other times. It could be nothing, but there COULD in fact be something going on at school that is causing the sadness to be especially present after that.

And FWIW, therapy is NOT a bad thing. Many, many people go to therapy for a variety of reasons, and it CAN be helpful - even if it is just post-vacation sadness, a therapist could help him learn ways to cope with that because we can't live on vacation all the time. (Even if people work on the ship...they are NOT on vacation when they're there. It's hard work.)

 

[jlynch924]

If you took any stunning pictures of the beach and/or water, get one printed on a huge canvas and put it in his room.

 

[mousefan73]

A bit iff topic. I was just thinking this might be a good opportunity to teach your child about saving money. I mean it might be a little bit off topic but maybe make a Mickey/DC money jar. Give your child chores to do and for each one he can put a little bit of change in. Maybe there is another cruise in your future? This way your child also learns the Disney cruise was something special he can reflect on his great memories and also build excitement for a future cruise. I think nowadays we are all just so used to having things instantly. I think it’s a good practice to learn to wait for things in anfun way.

Again sorry if I’m a little bit off topic but I just might be having to take my own advice soon when we get off our first cruise I can see my kids being bummed afterwards

 

[YawningDodo]

I completely agree that he needs to realize that life is not a vacation. He understands the difference but this is the first time he has had to go back to school after (he is only in kindergarten) So, the re-entry experience is different.

For crying outloud I want to be at Castaway Cay...This is proof that 3 day cruises are just not enough.

I hadn't realized he was in kindergarten from your original post, which does change my read on it a little bit. Readjustments can be a lot harder when one is still at such a young age and doesn't have a lot of experience with shifting one's expectations back to "normal" after something big and exciting. It may be as simple as Shanti says -- shifting the focus of your conversations off of the cruise and onto the exciting things going on in your son's normal life may be enough.

Seriously people? The child is having DCL withdrawal and your answer is therapy and drugs??? DCL withdrawal is really a thing. I have seen my DD lean against a pole outside of the terminal and cry. We all cry on the way home. We cry when we board the ship. We are cruising in 11 days and I am as excited as a little kid and I am almost 60 years old. I tear up when I watch a video on youtube of the ship horn or when I hear the announcement tone that is played on the ships. My DD is 16 now and her life goal is to work on one of the ships which is a result of her love of our past cruises. I understand you need to keep a watch on your children as depression is very serious but please don't make your children think there is something wrong with them because they love Disney Cruise Line and Castaway Cay.

A single poster who has a history of making provocative statements suggested drugs. And yes, I agree that DCL/WDW/vacation withdrawal is a real thing. I've cried at the end of trips, too, and I have noticed that the first week after a trip is usually a week when I'm a little less functional due to feeling kind of "blah" about things and missing my vacation. I have not seen anyone in this thread denying that it's a real thing, just people pointing out that extended, "heartbreaking" sadness in a child following a vacation may be cause for at least minor concern.

I didn't suggest drugs, but I *do* feel like based on the OP's post that the child is "heartbreakingly sad" every day when she picks him up from school there is at least cause to dig a little deeper. There is no indication there that the "heartbreaking sadness" is there at other times. It could be nothing, but there COULD in fact be something going on at school that is causing the sadness to be especially present after that.

And FWIW, therapy is NOT a bad thing. Many, many people go to therapy for a variety of reasons, and it CAN be helpful - even if it is just post-vacation sadness, a therapist could help him learn ways to cope with that because we can't live on vacation all the time. (Even if people work on the ship...they are NOT on vacation when they're there. It's hard work.)

Thank you for saying this. The stigmatization of therapy and similar services contributes to people's reluctance to go when it could really benefit them. Taking your kid to a therapist doesn't mean there's something wrong with him, it means that you're recognizing that mental health is just as important as physical health and that professional help is sometimes a good thing to seek for both things. My elementary school (a public elementary school at that) had a psychologist on staff, and it was as ordinary for kids to have appointments with her as to be sent to the school nurse.

Someone else in this thread already mentioned that they saw a therapist and got advice on coping with their own vacation withdrawal. Therapy is not some big, dramatic thing to be afraid of.

 

[cruiser21]

take a medication to treat anxiety disorder such as Xanax.

LOL I'm starting to appreciate your sense of humor.

 

[OrcaPotter]

I believe most people of all ages go through a “depression” when a vacation is over and reality returns. That’s normal. If anyone of any age is going through a “significant sadness, melancholy, or depressive state” long after the vacation, then you SHOULD dig deeper as to why those negative emotions are persisting. If it’s been a few weeks and depressive signs are still shown, evaluating what other causes could be contributing should be the first step. Several posters have suggested healthy ways of coping with the return to daily life. These coping mechanisms should be the next step. If it’s been over a month and those methods aren’t working, talking to a trained professional (counselor, therapist) should be considered. There is definitely more going on, emotionally, and there is absolutely no shame in addressing that.

Medication should always be the LAST resort, and while I hope the earlier suggestion was in jest, that was a thoughtless comment.

 

[Pens Fan]

The one thing that helps our family ease the post vacation doldrums is we get to come home and see our dog. I know it probably sounds silly to a lot of people, but we really miss the big guy when we travel and thinking about picking him up eases the "ride home blues". Therefore, OP your solution is simple - buy him a puppy!!

All (bad) jokes aside, I do think it helps to have something to look forward to upon arriving home vs. just back to school / back to work/ piles of laundry, etc. It doesn't help with this trip, but maybe next time plan a fun outing in your hometown within a week or so of coming home. That way your son has something to look forward to vs. just looking back and missing his vacation.

Or buy him a puppy - your choice!

 

[cruiser21]

I get depressed when I have to go back to work. I probably need therapy, drugs and a new job.