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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Well a new school year is upon us, and as usual, the transition from peaceful summer to full force schedule takes its toll (For me as a teacher and for my kids as students) . DS11 has ADD and always takes some time to meet the challenges of a new teacher, homework expectations, and friends being in other classes. That's really not so different from other kids, but I worry about him anyway.
His teacher and I are pretty good friends, and she is aware of his ADD. Her classroom management plan includes being told once to do something, a second time is a warning and your name goes on the clipboard, a third is missing recess time, and it progresses from there.
He came home Thursday night so agitated because he had gotten on the clipboard twice and had to miss five minutes of recess. On top of this, he was a lunch helper, so he needed to leave class early to help serve lunch compounding the work he didn't have done.
He is so afraid he's going to get sent to the principal. (Now, keep in mind that the principal gave his own talk to the kids about how discipline is handled through the office. (Detention-Expulsion)) I think DS is confusing the talk the principal gave to the student body with the management program his teacher uses in hers.
Now, don't get me wrong here, I am not looking to excuse him from having things done. In fact, I know how exasperating telling him to do something ten times is. I do it daily. I do think he can become more aware of how he uses his time as a strategy with having ADD. After all, he's going to have it his whole life. He needs ways of coping to get himself through.
He does take medication, but it wears off at about 2 pm. His doctor refuses to put him on any more meds at this point because he's only in the 2nd percentile for weight, and I support that.
To end his all around rotten week, his friend is in another class. This friend and my son were in daycare together and have been close. They play like brothers and fight like brothers... As they were walking home yesterday, his friends decided to run away from him. (I think they thought they were being funny. I honestly can't imagine any of them being purposefully rude to him... : ) Each time he tried to catch up with them, they'd run even further. He called me at work just devastated. I asked him if he thought he caused them to run away, and he didn't think so. It's a combination of miscommunication and my son's sensitivity this week.
(Sigh) This poor boy sure could use a dose of "Surviving 5th Grade" pixies and any advice you can give his parents. He's putting an awful lot of pressure on himself for just being 11...
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All I tell you is that this is the age that everything changes for most kids. Their teachers and expectations are harder and tougher than past years, their friends are starting to pick up on little differences, and may decide they aren't "cool" enough to hang out with - and their bodies and minds are changing. It's a tough time for anyone. Honestly, so far with our kids, 5th grade has always been the hardest - and we're going through it once again! (for the last time, thank goodness!)
Just be there for him. Let him talk through what's going on. Help with ideas for social situations, i.e.: this is a time when school dances started for our kids - we went through appropriate touching, dancing, behavior, and ways to speak to friends. We also went through asking someone to dance, how to react if they said no, how to refuse a dance without upsetting the other person, etc.
Make sure he understands that he won't be expelled for not being able to sit still! Maybe you can have a conference with his teacher (and him), and go through some ideas for him being able to control himself better - like, can he get up and just walk around if he's antsy?
Here's hoping that after all the changes slow down and he makes adjustments to all the new stuff of the new school year everything will get back to "normal". I agree with Teresa in that 5th grade is a big year for changes and will probably be a bumpy year for him. Good luck with all the adjustments!
__________________
A Fairy Godmother wannabe -
Look what a little Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo can do!
I'd keep the lines of communication open with his teacher (and I know sometimes being friends isn't always as helpful as you'd think). Sometimes as a teacher, I'm the last to know a kid is having trouble with something, as the kids usually really want to please and downplay their feelings about things. It could be as simple as incorporating some extra "chances" in for him. Growing up is just hard sometimes.
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and tons of I hope this is just an adjustment period to the 5th grade for him. My DGS is going thru the same things with kindergarten. So tons of for him
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. DS11 has ADD and always takes some time to meet the challenges of a new teacher, homework expectations, and friends being in other classes. That's really not so different from other kids, but I worry about him anyway.
I do think he can become more aware of how he uses his time as a strategy with having ADD. After all, he's going to have it his whole life. He needs ways of coping to get himself through.
As they were walking home yesterday, his friends decided to run away from him. (I think they thought they were being funny. I honestly can't imagine any of them being purposefully rude to him... 
: ) Each time he tried to catch up with them, they'd run even further. He called me at work just devastated. I asked him if he thought he caused them to run away, and he didn't think so. It's a combination of miscommunication and my son's sensitivity this week.
He's putting an awful lot of pressure on himself for just being 11...
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Caitlin, my BBB Princess, Dec '08
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My Princesses Sarah and Hannah
I'd keep the lines of communication open with his teacher (and I know sometimes being friends isn't always as helpful as you'd think
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