CorporetteMoms

Week in the Life: Technical Expert in Sub-Saharan Africa

09/20/2018 by Guest Poster 3 Comments

For this week’s installment of our Week in the Life of a Working Mom series, I’m happy to introduce CorporetteMoms reader J, who lives in sub-Saharan Africa with her husband and son and was works as a technical expert for a large international institution. Our usual caveat applies: Please remember that this is is a real person who has feelings and isn’t gaining anything from this, unlike your usual friendly (soul-deadened, thick-skinned, cold-hearted, money-grubbing) blogger — so please be kind with any comments. Thank you! — Kat

If you’d like to be featured (anonymously or otherwise), please fill out this form! You can see all posts in this series here.

First, Some Basics About This Working Mom…

Name: Reader J
Location: Capital city in sub-Saharan Africa
Job: technical expert for a large international institution
Age: 34
Home Situation:

My husband (39, works in government), my one-year old son, and I live in employer-provided housing in an expat neighborhood. We have a three-bedroom house with a small yard and a swimming pool in a walled compound.

Childcare Situation:

We have an amazing nanny who works about 45 hours/week as well as a full-time housekeeper who helps out with childcare. In total, we have childcare coverage from 7:00–5:30 on weekdays and a few hours on Saturday morning. I won’t share how much we pay because it would make your U.S.-based readers keel over with jealousy, but we pay top-of-the-market salaries and benefits to both our nanny and housekeeper and it accounts for less than 5% of our take-home pay. (We both work professional jobs.)

A Week in My Life

Budget Thursday: Striped Pleated Skirt

09/20/2018 by April 162 Comments

This is a fun, cute skirt that looks like it could be much more expensive than it is. In a quick perusal of Anthropologie, they have several mid-length, colorful, pleated skirts being shown for fall — and this one is a very convincing dupe. I really like the wide stripes and the color combo, and extra points for an elastic waist — woo! The way it is styled here looks a little crazy to me and definitely does not do the skirt justice. I would do a simpler shirt, shoes with a heel or block heel, and accessories that matched the skirt. The skirt is $24.99 at Target and comes in sizes XXS–XXL. Striped Pleated Skirt

A plus-size option is $29.99 and comes in sizes X–4X.

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Filed Under: Everyone, Recent Recs

Washable Workwear Wednesday: Striped Tie-Neck Shirtdress

09/19/2018 by April 201 Comments

I really like the combination of elements in this dress. I like how the black and white vertical stripes are broken up by the elasticized waist that has a little bloused element to it. The elasticized waist makes the dress look like it could be separates. There are buttons down the front to the waist, which could be helpful for pumping at work. I like the v-neck with ties, although I would probably tie them instead of leaving them loose like in the photos. This dress gives me a “Kate Middleton attending Wimbledon” vibe — and I don’t know about you, but I’d like to be putting those vibes out into the universe. It’s $129 full price at Ann Taylor (but be on the lookout for one of their frequent sales). Striped Tie-Neck Shirtdress

Two plus-size options are at Talbots (on sale — and available in all size ranges) and Bloomingdale’s.

Looking for other washable workwear? See all of our recent recommendations for washable clothes for work, or check out our roundup of the best brands for washable workwear.

This post contains affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support!

Filed Under: Machine-Washable Work Clothes, Recent Recs

Tips for Packing School Lunches

09/18/2018 by Kat 9 Comments

It’s that time of year, ladies — let’s share favorite tips for packing school lunches. Who does it: you, your partner, or your caregiver? (Or your child?!?) Have you adopted any favorite hacks or tricks to simplify it? Are you on “Team Everything Must Be Reusable” or on “Team Prepackaged Preportioned Foods are Great” (or somewhere in the middle)?

My new tip for packing school lunches is to do it throughout the day and week — basically, whenever you open a package for another reason, put some aside for the kids’ lunches if they’ll eat it and it will keep for a day or two. Let me back up a bit: This year I have two lunches to pack (I do it most days, but my husband knows my “formula” by now: protein, drink, fruit, tiny salty treat, tiny sweet treat, and veggie or fruit for snacktime snack) so I’ve been thinking a lot about a post I saw a while ago about a woman who packed lunch for five kiddos in 30 minutes because she did it immediately after coming home from the grocery store. I’m not at that level yet (and my kids are far too fussy) but I have adopted a “while I have it open” policy — if I have the popcorn bag open I’ll pack a bunch of popcorn for lunches. If I have the Goldfish crackers open I’ll pack a bunch of smaller containers. If I make myself green beans or crackers for lunch I try to put a few aside for my kids (odds of them eating them are slim to none, but I feel like just seeing them in their lunch is good).

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Filed Under: Gear, Schools and Working Moms Tagged With: posts, school lunches

Accessory Tuesday: AirPods Case

09/18/2018 by April 139 Comments

I never thought that I would own AirPods. My first instinct is always to resist new Apple products, but I always seem to give in. The reason I gave in this time is I lost my regular set of headphones and my husband surprised me with AirPods. Since I would lose my head if it were not attached to my neck, these seem like the perfect combination of elements to get lost: three separate pieces, all the pieces are small, and I am using them every day in different locations, while out and about and usually while distracted in some way. My opposing counsel one day had this case attached to a belt loop, and I asked him where he got it and immediately ordered one. I use the carabiner to loop in my bag, so it is always in the same place. I ordered it in bright red so that I can always spot it in my bag. Hopefully this is a successful coping mechanism for my tendency to misplace things. The case is $9.95 at Amazon and is eligible for Prime shipping (and a coupon for 6% off). AirPods Case

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Filed Under: Everyone, Recent Recs

Maternity Monday: Tie-Waist Tunic Shirt

09/17/2018 by April 141 Comments

I like this shirt as a maternity version of the crisp white button-down. (As I was writing that, it occurred to me that since having a child, I could not describe anything I currently wear as either “crisp” OR white.) I like how the buttons are on the top half as if it were a non-maternity shirt and the rest flows over the stomach. The tie-waist part is a nice feature to define the top half from the bottom. The shirt is $36.99 at Old Navy, is machine washable, and is available in sizes XS–XXL. It also comes in a blue and white stripe, which I also really like (and which is 35% off), though not all sizes are in stock currently. Maternity Tie-Waist Tunic Shirt

Target has a plus-size option that comes in sizes 1–4X and is $26.99.

Building a maternity wardrobe for work? Check out our page with more suggestions along both classic and trendy/seasonal lines.

This post contains affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support!

Filed Under: Maternity, Recent Recs