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Getting Back To School Over a Mountain of Paperwork

Remember the good old days?  We were all out to save the planet – remember that?  We were recycling, conserving energy, having our bills and bank statements sent electronically to save paper, and stopping the junk mail to save trees.  Remember back then?

I have just printed out nearly 50 sheets of back to school paperwork – between Eilis, Granuaile, and myself.  My printer has waved a white flag, and the guy selling toner down at the office supply store just ordered a brand new BMW.  Oh, and there’s a group of conservation enthusiasts chained to my dogwood tree out front with signs that say, “You Won’t Take This One Without a Fight”.

Let’s not even talk about the writer’s cramp I’m about to get while I fill out all this paperwork!

Is there no way to order a Seat Sack online for Granuaile?  She goes to Catholic school, for pete’s sake, they have my bank account number on file in case I skip out on the $11 bucks because the school doesn’t take PayPal or credit cards for this particular item.  And while I’m at it, what IS this particular item?

There are lunch order forms, emergency contact forms, parent volunteer forms, school supplies which can only be purchased from school order forms (Really?  Just tack that extra $10 on my tuition and give my kid the supplies on the first day.  You already know they need them – you typed it out on a form to tell me!), and even a form from the PE teacher that I have to sign that says my child will be exercising in PE class.

Where is the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor in support of fewer back to school forms?  They could call it “Mom’s Gone Nutty” – vanilla ice cream, sprinkled with nuts, spiked with tequila.  That should keep me unconscious until next year’s school forms have to be filled out.

Perfect Preschooler Park Time!

It’s the time of year when most moms and dads are running around, picking up back to school supplies, buffing up the back to school wardrobe, purchasing the perfect back to school shoes.

But if you are a mom or dad with a preschooler, who doesn’t need any back to school stuff because they aren’t in school yet, head to Walt Disney World!

Because most of the families with children are just starting back to school, and hesitating to have the kids miss those precious early days back, you’ll find the parks less crowded and the lines a bit shorter – perfect for those sometimes impatient preschoolers! 

Although free dining often offered during this time of year may make it a little tougher to get those cherished dining reservations, we’ve often found at this time of year that we can get last minute reservations for character meals – like ‘Ohana for breakfast or Crystal Palace for dinner.  I love that the lighter crowds make it possible to grab a special meal at the last minute, when I know that my preschoolers were well rested and ready to eat!

I’ve also always found that the characters have a few extra seconds to spend with my littles at this time of the year.  With the lines a bit shorter, and not as many children clamoring for character attention, they’ve just always seemed a bit more attentive to the children going through the line.

 

You can also usually find the Photo Pass photographers – who I think are awesome any time of the year – will snap a few extra candid shots if there aren’t lots of others waiting for character or camera time.  I’ve gotten some of my favorite pictures this time of year!

This is a great time of year to see what your child is ready for!  Because the attraction lines are not as long as they are during other times of the year, if you get to the front of the line for something and your Tiny calls a time out, you haven’t lost that much time if you have to step out of line and skip the attraction.  And speaking of losing time, while I’ve never been a big fan of leaving the theme parks to head back to the hotel for nap time, I was always more inclined to do it in late August/early September, when it didn’t seem as crowded to take a bus or monorail back for some R and R.

It really is the most wonderful time of the year – to be a preschooler at Walt Disney World!  Take advantage of lighter crowds, shorter lines, and fewer children!