Organizing Thursday: 5-Piece Packing Cube Set
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With summer vacations in the rearview mirror, I have to give thanks to my packing cubes for keeping me organized and sane.
Packing cubes like these guarantee you can quickly find what you need, even in your bottomless Mary Poppins suitcase. This set comes with four cubes (two small, one medium, and one large) and a water-resistant pouch for wet/dry storage (perfect for wet swimsuits from that one last dip in the pool). The cubes have a breathable mesh that lets you see what’s inside and an exterior ID label so you know which cube belongs to who.
This 5-piece packing cube set is $68 at Nordstrom.
Sales of note for 4/24/25
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – 7,710 new markdowns for women!
- Ann Taylor – Friends of Ann Event: 30% off your entire purchase, including 100s of new arrivals
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 25% off
- Eloquii – Spring Clearance: Up to 75% off + extra 50-60% off sale
- J.Crew – Mid-Season Sale: Up to 60% off sale styles + up to 50% off summer-ready styles
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 50% off clearance + extra 15% off $100 + extra 20% off $125
- M.M.LaFleur – 3 pieces for $198. Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Friends & Family Event: 30% off entire purchase, includes markdowns
Low stakes question – how early do you put up Halloween decorations?
We’ve only ever done a bunch of pumpkins on the steps, but my toddler loves LOVES skeletons and ghosts and so we’re going more all-out this year.
How do you find or rebuild your sense of self when it feels like it’s missing? I’ve had a hard few months – nothing terrible but various stressors – and am feeling like I am not much more than my work and my family. Feeling very disconnected from friends and outreach’s have been ignored or people are too busy. I just don’t feel like I know myself anymore.
(This sounds more dramatic written out than I feel, so don’t worry).
That’s completely developmentally appropriate for that age. PLAY IS LEARNING. All they need to learn at this age is social skills. And they learn that through play, If you want them to learn more about nature or art or music they need to be in a nature preschool, or you take them to those experiences yourself. You’re co-opting? Like in the class? That’s wildly expensive unless it’s like a Waldorf school. My co-op in Rockville was $200/month! Even Bethesda co-ops aren’t more than $500/month. So yeh it sounds like you’re being ripped off.
How much learning should I be expecting from preschool for a 2/3 year old class? I don’t mean like sit down lessons but how much time per day is your kid doing some kind of enrichment, learning, whatever as opposed to playing with toys or outside time? I guess I want my kid to be learning more about the world through hands on things than they are but maybe my expectations are high. We’re paying $2300+ for a NoVa coop so I feel like we’re paying a premium for what we’re getting. Right now they do 15 minute circle time and one 15 minute project/lesson/whatever a day I think? I just think my kid is bored.
WWYD: elementary orchestra.
My kid is in 4th grade. We got a flier for orchestra, which is offered to 4th and 5th graders. At our elem, orchestra is a “pull out” meaning kids are pulled from regular class to attend lessons. Unlike my elem, they do not do band/orchestra in lieu of regular music class. I checked with the classroom teacher and for my kid’s class, she’d be missing math.
Facts:
– Kiddo could go either direction on orchestra. She’s interested, but also fine with not doing it since her BFF isn’t.
– Kiddo is an excellent student and is particularly strong at math.
– Kiddo is fairly bored in school; she is always done first and given extra/”challenge” work.
– Kiddo has heard from older friends that when you don’t do orchestra, you have coloring time/busy work instead.
Our open house is tonight and I plan to talk to the classroom teacher. On one hand, I don’t want my kid missing math for orchestra. On the other hand, if 5 kids are pulled out of math for orchestra, the other 13 aren’t going to move on without them, so what do they do instead? It kinda sounds like a waste of time *not* to do orchestra if you aren’t in need of extra math practice, which my kid isn’t. I value music education a lot and I’m super disappointed that orchestra (and next year, band) are pull-outs. I had just assumed that “music class” became a choice of music class vs orchestra or something in the upper elem but I was wrong.
Thoughts on St. Louis for a long weekend with an almost 6 year old? Our kindergartner has a Friday off school soon and it’s a pretty easy drive (~4 hours) for us.
all of my comments keep ending up in mod so trying again – we are new to public school this year and there is something scheduled by the PTO that is on Friday night/Saturday which also happens to be Rosh Hashanah. We are Jewish and are definitely the minority, (though not the only jews at the school) and I don’t expect things to be planned around me and don’t want to be THAT mom, but I also kind of feel like events shouldn’t be scheduled during the most important holidays for the major religions. i of course don’t expect anything to change for this year, but more to put on radar for future years. do i say something?
We just started speech and occupational therapy in the mornings, twice a week, for our 4 year old. Therapy is from 8-9:30 and then we drop off at daycare. Yesterday, the daycare teacher asked us not to be late because it throws off the class routine and our son is more disruptive. We said it’s for therapy, and I don’t think there’s a way to avoid it. Is there something I’m not thinking of? Our current therapists will not come to the school, though I could call around and see if I can find one who will.
Based on some of the questions here recently, I’m taking a philosophical turn and asking, to the group, what is the purpose of school and an education to you? Is it to have the most rigorous curriculum available/best test takers? That seems to be what schools, especially by the high school level, are ranked on. We certainly need the foundations of strong math and science skills to enter into today’s most in demand jobs. Is it to meet as many people as possible and develop the social skills to navigate in the world? Is it instead to be in a small class and really be prepared to question the very nature of the state of the world, in order to be ready to tackle society’s biggest problems? When a lot of us here get into so called “successful” jobs, a lot of us feel the need to have more of a balance, so I just wonder.
I don’t have any answers BTW, but I think I would like my kids to just be in an environment where they have a good group of friends and where they feel valued, because at this stage in my life, my connections are what I value most and wish I had valued more earlier. But I am coming at this from the now privileged position of having had a job for a decade plus that’s given me enough money to be comfortable.
TW: supplementing academic schoolwork during elementary school.
My kid is currently at a public school in America that is understaffed, and where she says that she does not learn anything during the school day other than new games. So, after school, I have her do a page of math in a workbook before she is allowed to watch TV.
For parents in similar situations who can relate — how are you supporting your children’s access to learning opportunities? Thank you.
would you say something…i dont like being THAT mom, and we are new to public school and live in an area that is not as Jewish as the one where I grew up where it would have been on people’s radar not to schedule events on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur and I do not expect anyone to change anything for this year, but just learned last night that there is a one thing on Friday night and one thing on Saturday (Rosh Hashanah is on the weekend this year) and can’t decide if I should say something or not. I feel like even if it only impacts a few people, that the major religious holidays of major religions should be considered when scheduling, but perhaps I am off base? thoughts?
Figuring out where to live. My whole fam/friends are from City A and partner’s parents/friends are from City B (4 hours apart). As the outgoing one, I thought I would be able to “make it work” and we picked City B. Ten years later, I still don’t have any close friends here (and we spend a lot of time traveling to City A to visit my friends/family, which is getting harder with kids). When our two kids were under 3 we renovated and moved into a house in a very nice town in a suburb of City B (with good schools, but terrible support services). As my 5 y.o. is high needs, we have a private school that we could send kids to that we love, but it would be a bit tough financially and kind of defeats the purpose of moving to this fancy town. We both have jobs that can be remote or work from City A’s office. I want to move back to City A for my fam/friends support so my kids can go to a public school with good services (starting K next year). My kids have cousins the same age in City A and I am very close with my siblings, while my partner is not close with their sibling that is here. I feeling like one of us compromising everything for the other and we can’t get past that. Any suggestions of what else to consider?
Can’t find last year’s thread on school labels for clothes – what are your favorites?
Also a big fan of packing cubes. We have a set in a different color per family member.