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Children's Books, Motherhood, Sponsored
Easing First Day of School Fears with We Don’t Eat Our Classmates Book
- 12:13 am
- 0 comments
- by Adanna Dill
This post is sponsored by Disney Book Group. As always, all opinions are my own.

Thirty years ago, I started Kindergarten. I can’t remember if I had dinner yesterday but I’ve somehow managed to remember my first day of Kindergartenvividly. As many of you know, I grew up in the Caribbean and it was a rainy morning. I remember my grandmother dropping me off and standing with a group of other kids in white shirts and blue dresses. As I stood at the back of the line, another kid named Alex stood next to me as my partner. His big sister asked me my name, I told her and she responded her name was Raine and smiled. I had never heard the name Raine before but I thought it was beautiful and of course, I would never forget meeting her on a rainy first day of school. This distracted me from my first day of school fears, her smile made me relax and her asking me my name made her brother talk to me too. I told my son this story recently because I realized that he’s a bit nervous about starting Kindergarten next week.

He’s attending the same school he did for the past two years but this is the first year that him and his buddies will be split up into two different rooms. I wouldn’t lie, even as I type this my heart already breaks a little bit for him as I worry if he would be with his best friends but if it’s one thing I’ve learned from navigating this process with my oldest is, it always works out. The first day of school can be tough but as the school year progresses it gets better. Here are a few tips to help ease your child’s first day of school fears:

Determine the cause of your child’s first day of school fears.

The best way to solve a problem is to determine the cause right? Ask your child what makes he/she so worried about the first day of school. My son told me he will miss his Pre-K teacher, he grew really fond of her and she was really kind to him so I understand his fear of getting to know a new teacher. Fortunately, we’re attending an orientation with his new teacher today, so he will meet her before the first day of school.

Help them through story books.

Books are a great way to teach kids life lessons, first day of school is no different. This summer, we got our hands on the recently released We Don’t Eat Our Classmates book by Ryan T. Higgins and I immediately added it to my toolbox to help ease my son’s fears. This story is all about a dinosaur named Penelope who eats her classmates causing them to distrust her and leading to her having no friends. It ends well though, Penelope learns her lesson and makes friends. The book is hilarious, my son laughs hard whenever we read it and although he is one of the kindest kids I know, he is reminded that we’re treated the way we treat others. Whether or not your child is fearful of school, this is a great book to have in your home library for those rough days that may pop up during the school year.

Let your child know that first day of school fears are normal.

When my daughter was entering Pre-K she asked me if I thought other kids were nervous too and I let her know that they would be. Letting your child know that having some jitters is normal will help ease those fears.

Work through your own anxiety.

It’s no secret that the first day is often much harder for the parents than for the kids. If you feel emotional especially if your child is younger, try your best to not let your child know as this would make the day difficult for them.

I hope these tips help you and your family get through the first day and week of the school year and more importantly that your child/children have a wonderful school year.

What are your tips for calming your child’s first day of school fears?
Baby, Caribbean, Family Travel, Motherhood, Sponsored
Our Experience Cruising Carnival Horizon with Kids and a Baby
- 10:26 am
- 0 comments
- by Adanna Dill
We partnered with Carnival Cruise Line to share our family’s experience cruising Carnival Horizon with kids.

My kids have been fascinated by cruise ships for a while now. I remember the first time my daughter saw one, she asked: “Is it like a hotel on water? I want to go on one.” I agreed that it might be fun but since I had never been on a cruise and have heard both good and bad stories, I wasn’t sure what it would be like to cruise especially with children. My daughter kept pressing me though and she got her brother to join in too. I finally got on board to go on a cruise with them this summer (see what I did there) and we had such a good time that I’m mad it took me such a long time to do it. We were fortunate enough to sail on the new Carnival Horizon ship for our first cruise. The Carnival Horizon sails with up to 3,960 guests, it’s like a fun city on water, much more than a hotel.

We went on an 8-day cruise and docked at Grand Turk, San Juan, and Amber Cove. I shared a lot of our experience cruising on Carnival Horizon in my Instagram stories, you can watch the highlights here. I received lots of questions about our experience cruising on Carnival Horizon with kids so I wanted to share this post with all of the details.

What activities did your family participate in onboard?

Listen, there was never a dull moment for my children on the Carnival Horizon and even with 8 days of which 4 entire days were out at sea we didn’t have the chance to do everything that was offered. There were fun activities for the entire family. Not once did my kids have the chance to complain of boredom. These were our favorites:

Dr. Seuss Waterworks

We did the virtual tour of the ship about a week before we left and when the kids saw the Dr. Seuss WaterWorks that’s all they could talk about. This waterpark did not disappoint.

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Whenever the kids came down the water slides they had the biggest smile on their faces. This waterpark was as fun as it looked and the kids played there every day. It was the first thing they asked to do when they woke up. Since the baby is in diapers, she couldn’t get in on the fun so my husband played with the big kids while I hung out with her. I did go down the Cat in the Hat slide one day. Don’t judge me but I’m not big on heights especially on a ship so I went up to the top and changed my mind about the slide on two occasions before actually going down the slide. One time, a family was actually cheering “Do it! Do it!” and I still wasn’t brave enough to go down. I’m happy I did go down the third time though, it was fun and I wasn’t as scared as I imagined I would be.

Camp Ocean

This is Carnival’s camp for kids and I wasn’t sure if my kids would be fans. I took them while their baby sister napped for about 30 minutes on the second day and they were hooked.

The camp is separated by age groups so my kids were in two different groups which I was initially worried about but they had a blast nonetheless. They’re still in the same space and were able to see each other but they did age appropriate activities which were great. They made jewelry, played video games, read, did artwork, performances etc. Most times when we picked them up from Camp Ocean they did not want to leave. The staff there was incredible, they were very thoughtful and they got to know the kids by name really quickly. Kids must be 2-11 to go to Camp Ocean and it’s included in the cost of the cruise.

Camp Ocean came in really handy for our family during the cruise. Since my husband and I weren’t traveling with other adult family members taking the kids to Ocean Camp gave us some time to enjoy each other (albeit with the baby). Camp Ocean ended at 10 pm so we took the kids after they had their dinner a few nights.

Groove For St. Jude

As a St. Jude Children’s Hospital Ambassador, Groove for St. Jude was one of my favorite onboard activities and I loved watching my little ones see that they could have fun all while giving back. It’s also not just on the Horizon but on all Carnival Cruise ships.

Dive-In Movies

There is nothing quite as magical as watching movies under the stars in the middle of the ocean. My kids loved the Dive In movies and with Black Panther as one of the showings, it was a memorable experience. Carnival made it a comfy experience with blankets and popcorn and some guests even watched from the pool.

SkyRide

One of the coolest offerings on Carnival Horizon was the Skyride. My son and I cheered on as my daughter and husband raced each other on the Skyride. It’s like a combination of a zip line and a bike, very cool.

SportSquare

We discovered the SportSquare during our second day at sea when we decided to play minigolf as a family. The SportSquare has lots of games like ping-pong, a jogging area. plus an obstacle course called SkyCourse

Dr. Seuss Breakfast

I think this was one of the kids fondest memory of the trip! The attention to details and them having the opportunity to see so many of their favorite Dr. Seuss characters was fantastic. There is so much to share about the Dr. Seuss Breakfast that it deserves its own blog post so stay tuned for that.

Dr. Seuss Bookville

One of our family’s happy places on the Carnival Horizon was Dr. Seuss Bookville. This is a library/playspace where we were able to read books and play games. As most of you know, reading is really important to our family so this was a much-appreciated space. There are lots of books and games available and the space is fun, modern and beautiful. Even the baby loved crawling around Dr. Seuss Bookville and climbing on me to read books.

Was Embarkment/Disembarkment Stressful?

While most of my friends who’ve done cruises have chosen to sail from South Florida, I thought it would be best for my family to embark in New York City. Since we were going from a local port, it was easier for us to pack everything we needed (especially for the baby) without having to worry about TSA rules or the logistics of traveling.

Our experience was really good and went smoothly, we had priority check-in and I printed our boarding passes at home. We arrived at our assigned arrival time 3:00 pm and we were onboard within minutes. With a baby in tow, I was really happy we had such a stress free experience. We also had priority disembarkment and that was also a smooth experience.

What was our room like?

We had two staterooms on the Carnival Horizon. Our rooms were next to each other and one of them was a balcony room. One room had a king size bed with a sofabed while the other had two twin beds. This worked well for our family as we were able to spread out. Having a balcony was a good respite, it gave us time to enjoy the ocean views privately especially at night.

It seems like there is a lot onboard how did you keep up?

The Carnival Hub app was my husband and I key to everything going on onboard. We were able to check to time of restaurants, make reservations, use the internet, see what activities were going on, look at photos etc. I can’t imagine what our cruise would be like without it since it’s a big ship. We downloaded it since we home and connected as soon as we got onboard.

How was the baby on the cruise?

The baby seemed really happy on the cruise and we never had any issues with her. Since she was only 8 months old when we sailed and I’m still nursing her, brought her snacks, we didn’t have to worry about feeding her much. The restaurant chefs were nice enough to get her avocado when we asked, which she loves. Overall, it was a good experience sailing with a baby and would totally do it again.

Did anyone in your family ever feel seasick?

Surprisingly no, we did feel the boat rocking at times but that was usually during docking. None of the big kids ever complained of feeling ill or nauseous and the baby never got ill.

I hope this post covers everything you need to know about cruising on Carnival Horizon with kids. We had such a wonderful experience that I plan to share a few more posts. Our family made memories that would stay with us forever and I hope your family can do the same.

Have you ever been on a Carnival Cruise?
Baby, Motherhood, New Born, New Mom, Sponsored
5 Hacks for Shopping for Baby on a Budget
- 2:28 pm
- 0 comments
- by Adanna Dill
This post is sponsored by BJ’s Wholesale Club. As always, all opinions are my own.

I am a regular mom with three kids living in my beloved New York City. I love raising my kids here, but it’s no secret that it’s also one of the most expensive cities in the country. With my first child, I overspent on everything like most new moms, but during my second pregnancy, I started to look for ways to save money and now that I have three, I am conscious of how I spend my money. I wanted to share a few hacks for shopping for babies that I’ve discovered over my past eight years of parenting. I know these would helpful, whether you’re a new mom or you’re looking to tighten up your budget.

Hack #1: Buy in Bulk

This is my top hack because I can hold on to my money and just as importantly my time. I would rather buy almost 200 diapers at once instead of making several trips to the store purchasing small packets with only 25. I’ve found that those small packets are much more expensive, and my baby uses them in just a few days.

As most of you know by now, I am a BJ’s Wholesale Club shopper, and that’s my preferred store for getting all of my baby’s products from baby food to detergent, to diapers and wipes. I joined BJ’s when I was pregnant with my second baby five years ago. My first child was still in training pants, so I knew that I would be buying diapers for two children. It’s not just diapers though, baby food, lotion, and formula are more economical to buy at BJ’s. For my older two children, I purchase their fruits, snacks and juice boxes. All at much better prices than the regular supermarket.

If you’re not a BJ’s member yet, you can sign up here for only $25 for a limited time, I’ve paid $55 for my membership for the past five years, and it’s been worth every dollar.

Hack #2: Shop online to save time.

My cousin told me last week that she can’t seem to find a moment to go to the store with her 5-week old baby. I told her that she needs to shop online if she can’t get to the store. We both laughed because we hate paying shipping fees, but I let her know that’s one of the reasons I shop for my baby at BJ’s Wholesale Club. They offer free online shipping so many products including diapers, training pants and wipes. Other retailers charge up to four times the cost of BJ’s annual membership fee for this service.

Hack #3: Use coupons.

I am no coupon queen; I have friends who have stockpiles that they could use to open a store. I’m your regular girl who wants to save a few dollars on products I purchase frequently. I use the BJ’s app to find coupons and save them while I shop. BJ’s also take manufacturers coupons so that you can double up on savings.

Hack #4: Use a pick-up in club service.

This is my go-to during the school week or if I am running errands. I place my BJ’s order online, and I receive an alert when it’s ready to pick it up. I’m able to get everything I need and get everything else on my to-do list done.

Hack #5: Shop for everything at one store.

There was a time when I would spend hours going to different stores to get everything I needed. Groceries, baby items, new pajamas for the kids, books, etc. Now, I shop at one store, BJ’s Wholesale Club. It’s less stressful for me, and I get all of our favorite brands and products usually at a better price. Groceries are 25% less than supermarkets, and I can find organic food, fresh fruits, and vegetables to keep my family healthy.

I hope these baby shopping hacks help you save money and spend more time with your baby. If you’ve read to this point, you’ve probably decided if a BJ’s membership will be worthwhile for your family. If you decided that it is, use my unique link to get your membership for only $25 for a limited time.

What is your hack for baby shopping on a budget?