I'm in a wheelchair, Daughter sits on my lap - opinions?

[Buckimion]

Last November at WDW / Universal, I rented a (manual) wheelchair. My 11-yo daughter pushed me most of the time and while we would wait in lines, would occasionally hop into my lap to rest. My wife found out about it later and had kittens...said that she had no buisness in my lap since she had two perfectly good feet. I insisted it was no big deal and our little trooper 'earned' her rest, and no one else cared if she was in my lap or not while we waited.

I'm curious about other opinions on this subject.

 

[aphasia83]

I don't understand the problem... unless it's something to do with the paranoia some parents feel when their kids are hitting the age of puberty and they're worried what other people will think when their daughter sits on dad's lap. Really, that's just silly and rather disturbing. Everyone knows how tired you can get after spending most of the day on your feet - sometimes you just need to take a rest, sit down for a bit. That's all there is to it.

 

[Buckimion]

Wife never brought up that subject although I would probably understand her concern more if that was the case given the headlines lately. I think my wife is more afraid that someone will think we're 'faking' my disability if they see my daughter hoping in and out and / or is afraid our daughter may get lazy if she can ride around instead of walking / standing.

 

[SueM in MN]

Wife never brought up that subject although I would probably understand her concern more if that was the case given the headlines lately. I think my wife is more afraid that someone will think we're 'faking' my disability if they see my daughter hoping in and out and / or is afraid our daughter may get lazy if she can ride around instead of walking / standing.

People will think what they will think.
Some would think you had no disability if they saw you stand up. You (and your family) are the only ones whose opinions matter though.
I guess, if I saw an 11 year old pushing a wheelchair around with an adult in it, I would think she was entitled to rest whenever and where ever she needed to.
You might want to look into renting an ecv for your next trip if you can (check out the disABILITIES FAQs thread on this board). That way, you can be more independent and your daughter won't need to push you.