It was a long Drive, and it's going to get worse! - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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On Tuesday night at 11pm, we left Indy and headed out to get the grandkids for a visit (these are DH's son's kids). I drove through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and about an hour in to Oklahoma before DH took over at about 6am (their time - 7am our time).
He drove the last hour to the kids' town. Picked them up and we headed home, through Arkansas and in to Missouri. They live in a tiny little town about 2 hours from Ft. Smith Arkansas. We made it home today at about 3pm - making a 1400 round trip drive in just under 40 hours, including a stop at what I call "A Shrine to Everything Male"; The Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, Missouri, and stopping for food, potty breaks, just because I couldn't take another "how much longer, Grandma", and finally a much needed hotel room stop!
Anyway - we now have a 6yr. old girl and a 7 yr. boy with us. They are wild!! I don't mean wild as in crazy fun. I mean, don't know to stay with people, wander off all the time, if they like it they take it (really fun at the store!!), do what they want anytime they want, didn't know that when people take a shower there is soap and shampoo involved, don't flush, cuss, have the table manners of wild indians, think seatbelts and car seats are just a torture device I made up and - the grossest of all: evidently didn't know what TP was or what it was used for until yesterday!!
Their clothes are rags I wouldn't let my kids give to the Goodwill (and I know they've got decent clothes - I just sent them a box full last month!). My step-son's mom used to send him with rags so that we'd buy him all new clothes. I guess he learned from the master.
At least the kids are also sweet and eager to please. And they don't seem to mind the rules. We'll see.
Wow. You have your hands full. At least they're sweet. You may just have to roll with it, do the best you can, and try to enjoy their visit - you can't possibly "fix" all of that. Pixies for all of you.
(And I LOVE your description of Bass Pro!)
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Pat (a.k.a., PFlamingo) "We are the people our parents warned us about."
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you can't possibly "fix" all of that. Pixies for all of you.
Oh, we know we can't fix it. I was a nanny for many years for a family that took in foster kids. I saw first hand how you can make them live up to your standards while they're with you, but can't make them live like you want once they leave your custody.
We just figure we'll show them there is a different way to live and that someone "out there" loves them.
We have a few things planned, including a trip to the local kids' resale shop (I am not stupid enough to buy them all new clothes - I've played that game before!), the shoe store (shoes are too small/too big), and then normal things like the zoo, lake, park, museum, etc.
I feel your pain. I have 4 grandchildren that belong to my oldest step-son and they are as you describe. Luckily, (I guess), my DIL doesn't let them come visit me since DH passed away so I don't have to deal with that. I only have to when I go visit them which isn't often because I am not invited very often (just birthdays).
Sorry you have to go through this, but remember, you can be a positive influence in their lives, even for the brief time you have them.
Are these the same grandchildren you were concerned about when they lived nearby? It sounds like they are truly neglected children but you also mentioned they live on a reservation so I am assuming they are a good percentage of Native American? If so ICWA (the Indian Child Welfare Act) applies which gives significant rights to the tribe and may explain why the local protective services were a little reluctant to get involved.
I hope they will be with you long enough that they can learn some basics. I have worked with children who have come into the system because of neglect and they have many of the same problems as your grandchildren.
Are these the same grandchildren you were concerned about when they lived nearby? It sounds like they are truly neglected children but you also mentioned they live on a reservation so I am assuming they are a good percentage of Native American? If so ICWA (the Indian Child Welfare Act) applies which gives significant rights to the tribe and may explain why the local protective services were a little reluctant to get involved.
I hope they will be with you long enough that they can learn some basics. I have worked with children who have come into the system because of neglect and they have many of the same problems as your grandchildren.
Have a great visit with them.
Yep, you're right - they are part of the Cherokee Nation, and DH and I know there is no way we could fight them!
We also understand that we can't do much for them here, in the 10 days we have. To them, this is Disney World.
My biggest problem is that soap doesn't cost much, and there is always water (they live next to a lake!). I've always said to my kids that it's okay to be poor and have little, but it's not okay to be dirty! The majority of their clothes are either too big or way too small, all dirty and stained. The girl's shoes are too small, and the boy's shoes are about 3 sizes too big - they both said they don't know whose shoes they used to be, they just grabbed shoes from the pile at their other grandma's (where all of the cousins live, and I know that our DiL has 3 sisters, each with 3 to 5 kids).
DH says we're going to need a moving van to get them back to OK!!
Teresa, don't underestimate the influence you can have in ten days. I've had lots of kids tell me how much they took away from a couple of weeks at camp or a week with a relative.
I agree soap is cheap but I have met many children, much older than these, who were never taught to shower or brush their teeth or any other the basic fundamentals of hygiene (including the use of TP). But at least your grandchildren will leave knowing what it feels like to be clean.
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Many pixies to instilling some values that will stay with them. I honestly believe, and perhaps this comes from all the teaching I do being a nurse, that if you can give them a reason to do certain things then the knowledge makes sense to them and isn't just "some adults rules". Like "wash your hands before you eat BECAUSE we as humans have germs on our hands that can get in our food and make us sick". There are some wonderful web sites out there that are fun for kids and illustrate healthy habbits, maybe you could sit down with them and go over it. One of my favorites is bam.gov, it is actually a CDC (center for disease control) web site, so it is accurate and age appropriate. It even makes learning fun with games and is interactive. I think they'd enjoy it. It just might stay with them longer to see the reasoning behind hygeine and healthy habbits if the can relate it to a purpose.
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. Luckily they are still young enough to accept rule changes. Hope you have a nice visit with them.
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