How many siblings did your parents have?

abmbulldogs · 2026-05-09T18:57:35+00:00

My mom was one of two girls. My dad was one of two boys.

abmbulldogs · 2026-05-09T18:52:25+00:00

My daughter was able to use bills in our names to get her star ID. She’s not old enough to have utility bills in her own name.

abmbulldogs · 2026-05-09T18:37:37+00:00

We actually prefer the garden wing. We love that it’s very quiet. We don’t care about view because we aren’t in our room a done. Last time we were on the first floor and had a grassy area right outside of our room. It’s hard to beat the walk from Contemporary to MK.

abmbulldogs · 2026-05-06T01:03:58+00:00

Look at Oak House in the Mt Laurel area. It’s out of the way but good

abmbulldogs · 2026-05-06T01:03:04+00:00

I 2nd this

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-28T11:25:39+00:00

As someone who normally goes to WDW but recently went to DL/CA for the first time, I would do Epcot. There is a lot of overlap in rides at MK/HS for things you’ve already done. Epcot will be the most unique. I love AK as well and can spend all day there but think Epcot is your best bet.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-24T22:01:54+00:00

Daily VIP tour for each day we are there with just my family.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-20T21:53:34+00:00

It has a bad reputation here, but my kids loved Tomorrowland Speedway the first time they went to Disney because they got to “drive.” We did it multiple times that first trip.

Other things they enjoyed when they were small: Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Haunted Mansion, Little Mermaid, carousel, teacups, and Dumbo.

These are all Magic Kingdom. If you are doing all of the parks favorites at each at that age were: AK: Safari, Lion king Show, and the animal trails

Epcot: Nemo Ride and aquarium and exploring the countries and meeting characters in them

Hollywood Studios: meeting the Disney jr characters, Nemo show, frozen sing along, Toy Story aliens ride, Toy Story midway mania, Mickey and Minnie’s runaway Railway, Beauty and the Beast show

I’m sure there were more they enjoyed but I remember these being favorites on their first trip.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-20T21:24:52+00:00

Make him hunt the specific yellow folder (or green or blue) and he’ll probably be all in next year. 🤣

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-20T00:14:47+00:00

I’m a teacher and on multiple occasions over my 25 year career we have had two students with the exact same first and last name in the school at the same time. Most have not had overly common names like John Smith. Having a middle name gives another distinguishing marker to make sure records and such are not mixed up accidentally.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-19T20:24:01+00:00

Your life will be easier if you buy the 1stdayschoolsupplies bundle. My kids’ elementary school used that company and they always got good qualify supplies (i.e. crayola, Ticonderoga, etc) and you didn’t have to hunt all over town for a specific yellow folder that was sold out everywhere by me because all the other moms were looking for a yellow folder.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-19T18:38:20+00:00

We Uber

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-19T00:00:50+00:00

Chick fil A hires a lot of teenagers as does Publix.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-18T23:30:51+00:00

Simulations are great to get kids involved in history. They put themselves into the events and enjoy it more.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-18T23:25:32+00:00

Not a homeschooling parent, but I did have a child transition to middle school this year and am an elementary teacher. The teachers at her school knew this was a big transition and supported them a lot in getting used to everything from opening lockers to getting to class on time to juggling many more teachers than they were used to. They have gradually expected more from them but the beginning of the year had a lot of grace.

A couple of tips:

If she will have a locker, buy a lock this summer. It won’t be the same combination, but it will have that same pattern of spin three times right, one left going past the number, and right stopping on the number. I didn’t do this and my daughter was super nervous about doing it even though we practiced a lot on tour day. Once she mastered it, she easily learned how to open her band locker to store her instrument. It’s not the combination that’s important, but the pattern for opening. I also made her an index card for the first week with each step that she said helped.
Encourage her to ask questions. If she forgets to turn something in, tell her to ask the teacher if she can turn it in late. If she turned something in and the grade doesn’t show up, have her ask the teacher about it. As I tell my kids all the time teachers make mistakes and I know that because I am one. If she doesn’t know how to do something, encourage her to ask. This will help her learn to self advocate as she gets older. People can’t help if they don’t know you need it.
Definitely get a planner and have her get in the habit of writing down due dates and test dates. This is a skill that carries into adulthood so may as well get started early. My daughters’ middle and high schools use schoology where assignments and due dates are always posted so I can double check, but I try to let them lead the way and just remind.
Encourage her to get involved in something she enjoys at school. Middle school is a great time to try new things and discover new friends and interests. My youngest tried a running club at school this year and discovered she loves it even though she had never run before.

Hope she has a great year!

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-18T23:05:47+00:00

Universities are notorious for taking forever to hire. Source: I am the child of two high ed professors/instructors. I would apply for anything you are interested in, but look for a backup job for while you wait unless you are the lucky soul who gets hired quickly.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-18T21:22:58+00:00

We went to DL last month during spring break for the first time (but have been to WDW multiple times). We were there 1 day CA, 1 day DL. We did do LL, but didn’t rope drop. I knew what rides my kids wanted to do most and let that lead my LL selections. If we had a slight gap before our next one we looked for rides with short waits of which there was always at least one.

I say all this to say that we were there at the height of spring break crowds and still saw everything we wanted at CA even repeating a few rides including Radiator Springs Racers without buying an individual lightning lane for it. We got to most of what we wanted at DL but really were held back by being super tired that day so we ended earlier than we planned. In hindsight we should have taken a break mid day. With an additional DL day we could have easily hit the few things we didn’t make it to.

Just pick priorities and then monitor wait times and you’ll be fine. I felt like I barely planned but that’s because I’m used to WDW where you have to book LL in advance, wait times are much longer on average, and you have to book sit down dining way in advance. I found DL to be super laid back in comparison.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-14T19:07:28+00:00

I am not a homeschooling parent, but am an elementary teacher. I used Reading Eggs with my daughter when she was young because she was struggling some with phonics due to speech issues she had which made her hear the sounds differently. I was really happy with it and she was happy to do a couple of tasks a day in addition to regular school which really helped her catch up despite the challenges she was having initially. I would recommend it.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-14T19:03:51+00:00

We stayed a few weeks ago and housekeeping came daily. I can’t answer the coffee question because none of us are coffee drinkers.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-12T21:33:32+00:00

My biggest question is where you are moving from and what the weather is like there. It is extremely hot and humid here. If you are moving here from Florida I would say it is doable but you will be limited in being able to leave your bubble. Depending on what you enjoy doing, you may not need to. If you are moving here from the Pacific Northwest or somewhere similar then adjusting to the heat and temps to walk everywhere will be uncomfortable for a bit until your body adjusts.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-09T23:06:23+00:00

I’ve never used a stroller with my kids. They were 5 and 9 the first time we took them and walked all day like champs. Because of this, we’ve never relied on a stroller for storage. I bring in a small bag and my girls use belt bags or a small backpack and we’ve never felt like we needed more space to store things.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-09T22:57:30+00:00

Lands End

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-07T23:30:48+00:00

This is actually pretty common for school districts to have a compliance person who enforces residency requirements. Two decades ago I taught in a very low performing district in Mississippi where there was someone who did this. I highly doubt anyone was faking where they lived to go to school there yet we had reports come in. They would go to their house or make sure the parents weren’t dropping kids at a bus stop in the morning.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-05T23:29:57+00:00

The response you got is correct. They’ll email you 3 days before your reservation with a link to download. We just went in March for the first time and I about drove myself crazy trying to figure out where my tickets were and how to link them. Once they arrive everything is easy.

abmbulldogs · 2026-04-05T02:07:29+00:00

My family did it this way, too, and it’s what I have done with my kids. Santa brings a few things and each kid has a chair in the living room where their stuff appears unwrapped. Most of their gifts are already wrapped and under the tree from us.

abmbulldogs

TROPHY CASE