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And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
- I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
- I’m thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?
- I’m now a SAHM and my husband needs to step up…
- How can I change my thinking to better recognize some of my husband’s contributions as important, like organizing the shed?
- What are your tips to having a good weekend with kids, especially with little kids? Do you have a set routine or plan?
NewMomAnon says
Looking for encouragement! I left my job in Big Law to move across the country and am now job searching in my new city. I don’t have enough traditional legal experience to go in house, though the sum total of my work experience would qualify me. And I’m scared of going back into big law with my infant – who I will never see. I’ve been networking to try to avoid it but law is such an inflexible field. Even if you have great qualifications, you have to check every box. Ugh. Advice on trying to find non-big law jobs? I’m in a larger city but with little government opportunity.
Anon in NYC says
Best of luck! Are you currently working? Are you able to leverage connections from your current employer or former biglaw firm to find something? Maybe some of the partners/associates you worked with have law school friends or clients in your new area.
pockets says
Small law? Someone’s gotta do the car accidents, construction accidents, small-time criminal offenses, wills, divorces, child custody, closings, etc. Your work may not be as interested or well-paid, but the hours won’t be biglaw hours.
NewMomAnon (the first) says
Just in case anyone was wondering, the OP here is a different NewMomAnon, not the single mom with the 18 month old daughter! OP, could I ask you to please pick a different handle? Thanks.
OP says
OP here! Sorry newmomanon – I have used that from time to time and did not realize there was another!
I think I was discouraged because I have met with a recruiter and the first job she pitched me was non-partner track small law. I could do small law, but she assumed I would want non-partner track because partner track’s billable hours even in this small law were 2200 hours. I went to a Top-3 law school so in this midmarket city my network actually isnt very deep. The regional law school networks are much better. I’m not working now because had to quit and take a new bar. I’m just hoping there are jobs out there that can still be challenging and fulfilling without taking over my life – and ones that might consider a third year associate?
Huge vent, sorry guys. Job searching sucks. And the legal profession needs to evolve.
OP says
Also I should not complain! I’m lucky to have the chance to take a step back and figure things out. I just hope there’s actually a job out there for me!
TwinMOM says
You might want to keep your eyes open on in-house opportunities, even if your legal experience puts you on the more junior side of things. Some companies might find that you are in experience sweet spot – you’ve had a few years of a partner looking over your work/drafting, but you are not so entrenched in the firm mindset of issue spotting without offering a concrete solutions that your still mold-able to the company’s business values. It can’t hurt to throw your resume in the ring if you see something come up, even if the job description asks for more than the amount of legal experience you have. My experience is that in-house job listings are often more fluid than they appear.
FVNC says
+1. I started my in-house job after 3 years experience in biglaw. Don’t discount in-house opportunities, if that path is something you’re interested in.
JJ says
My company has two junior-level in-house positions that we’ve been trying to fill for almost a year. Don’t discount those opportunities!
Allergy Mom says
My daughter is allergic to a lot of things, but principally dairy, eggs, soy, and sesame. We are traveling to Europe next week and I’m very nervous about this. I’ve got the translation to tell people this at restaurants, but how easy will this be to avoid? Has anyone else dealt with similar allergies successfully while traveling?
Famouscait says
I just returned from Europe (Finland, Estonia, Netherlands and UK). I saw “tell us about your food allergy” signs in all restaurants. I’m guessing it’s a law there that this be made upfront for customers. Hopefully this alleviates some of your anxiety!
Jen says
Is it contact allergy or consumption? I’d plan to BYO and be pleasantly surprised when you’re accomodated.
Allergy Mom says
thankfully, it is only consumption and not contact.
D says
My husband is allergic to tree nuts and peanuts. We’ve found that as long as we had a translation telling about his allergy that we could provide to the restaurant, the restaurant would help. I think it helps if you look into the cuisine of the country so you know what types of dishes to order or avoid ordering (e.g., he avoided baklava while in Turkey).
CHJ says
My son has a severe egg allergy, and we took a trip to Italy this past spring. We figured out a few basic meals that were almost always available and ordered those over and over again. In Italy, that was antipasto plates, tomato salads, and Sicilian-style grilled vegetables. Plus granitas, which are fruit-flavored ice desserts. DS ate like a champ and still asks for “salamimi.”
Where in Europe are you going?
Allergy Mom says
Thanks! I’m headed to France, UK, and Switzerland.
Prague Mommy says
This year the EU introduced legislation that requires restaurants to list all allergens contained in their food directly on the menu (at least 14 main allergens groups – such as gluten, eggs, nuts etc). In my country (I think it would be similar in other EU countries) typically you would have a name of the dish on the menu and right next to it the number codes for the allergens it contains. Not sure about Switzerland, since they are not an EU member, but hopefully, they would have something similar. Wish you a safe and pleasant trip!!
New Mom, Pumping Mom says
Any reason why a 3-month-old’s wet diapers would be stinkier than usual, if he’s only drinking from the breast or expressed milk? We just switched to a size 2 Huggies, from size 1 Pampers, and my husband is convinced there’s a chemical in the Huggies that changes the smell to bad. I wondered if it was something I hate, but how would I even track that, if he’s drinking expressed milk from 1 month ago and otherwise seems happy? But the smell continues, for a few days, now… thoughts?
New Mom, Pumping Mom says
Ha! Something I ATE, not hate.
honda fit for life! says
Probably the different scent of the new brand of diapers. We can’t stand Pampers, for example, for that very reason!
sfg says
+1 – I also hate the smell of Pampers, which seems to be worse with wet diapers.
honda fit for life! says
unscented Target diapers all the way !
anon says
definitely the diaper brand. Huggies REEK.
2 kids with 4-year age gap? says
Hi Moms! Seeking input from anyone with experience or thoughts on sibling relationships when there are 2 kids and there is a four year age gap between them? My daughter is 2 and we are probably going to wait another year before trying again due to various reasons. My only other concern is that I would be 37 at the time of birth for the next kiddo, if everything goes as planned……Thoughts on the timing? Thank you.
Anon for this says
I haven’t been there myself, but I am considering the same age gap, should we ultimately decide to have a second (also have a 2+ year old now – we tried unsuccessfully for the last few months, but due to job changes now have to backburner things for about 6 months, so there would be at least 4 year gap if we are lucky). I’ve talked to some friends with similar gaps and I think there are benefits – the older child is a little more independent and even helpful, you have a limited time of paying for double daycare. And the drawbacks are the same as you would think – you’re finished with diapers and all the baby stuff and then diving in again. My brother and I were 4 years apart though and I didn’t think it was bad. We played together as little children, though I ordered him around a lot. And we never were in the same school together really, which I actually liked. As adults, it’s really no age gap at all.
anon says
My sibling is 3.5 years younger than I am (4 school years), and we are extremely close and always have been. We always played together, still chat/email daily, etc. I think it’s perfect, because they’re not in high school at the same time so there’s less competition.
JJ says
My little sister is almost 4 years younger than me and we’re best friends. We still played together growing up, but it was nice to not have to “share” high school with her, if that makes sense.
buffybot says
Also might be good not to have 2 kids in college at the same time, from a financial perspective…Several of my friends had a 4 year age gap with their siblings. While it maybe meant a less close relationship growing up, the age gap became less and less meaningful as they aged.
Lyssa says
I remember learning in a long-ago psychology class that the worst spread for sibling rivalry is when the kids are between 18 months and 4 years apart. So, theoretically at least, going 4 years or more would seem to lead to less sibling rivalry. Which makes sense, since they’re likely to have less in common and not as much to “rival” each other about.
Meg Murry says
My boys are 4.5 years apart (5 grades – youngest will entire K when oldest enters 5th). My sister and I were 3.5 years apart (4 grades) and my husband and his brother were 4.5 years apart (5 grades) like my kids. It is sometimes hard because they aren’t doing the same things at the same time (for instance, our friends with kids 2 years apart can sign them up for the same or back to back classes at the Y). My husband says he doesn’t really remember interacting much with his brother at all when they were kids, and he went off to college before his brother went to high school, so they didn’t have much in common until his brother was around college age. My sister and I were also not all that close in middle/high school/college. Now that we are all adults, however, we get along very well, and the gap doesn’t mean much at all.
Pros:
-Oldest is more self sufficient by the time youngest is born. Potty trained, able to feed himself and get himself basic things like string cheese and premade PBJ and water from the sink with a stool when I was home with just oldest and tiny baby.
-Oldest was in preschool when youngest was born, so I didn’t have to deal with him plus a newborn alone all day while home on maternity leave.
-Other self sufficiency – oldest understood (generally) “Mommy is feeding baby/changing diaper/etc and will play with you when baby naps” – I feel like friends with a toddler didn’t really “get it” that Mommy couldn’t carry both them and baby at the same time and were more needy.
-Youngest has hero worship of oldest, and loves nothing more that to play with him. He looooves getting to play with “the big kids” when his brothers friends are around.
-No need for double stroller, 2 rearfacing car seats or 2 cribs, etc
-Because there is so much separation, I feel like it’s less sibling rivalry because they are in such different places in their lives and don’t see each other as competition.
-Oldest gets a long time being “only child” before 2nd is born, and 2nd gets a good stretch once oldest goes off to college
-Less time paying 2 daycare bills
Cons:
-Oldest has to be held back longer doing things that are appropriate for the whole family, or have to take him on separate outings. For instance, older one would enjoy longer trips from home/bigger vacations/fancier playgrounds/bigger amusement parks but that just wasn’t do-able for us with a 2 year old in tow as well
-Along same lines – oldest had to keep his little toys away or at Grandmas for a lot longer, since we couldn’t trust little one not to put Legos in his mouth, etc.
-Have a lot of stuff that is too small/young for oldest, but youngest isn’t ready for. For instance, I just boxed up all my older son’s size 5, 6 and 7 clothes, and only just got out the size 4 for the younger one. Same with toys – lots of things in the playroom that my oldest has outgrown but my youngest isn’t ready for, so I either have tons of stuff or have to shuffle things in and out. We actually gave away a lot of the baby clothes after #1 was 3, because I figured most of the were hand-me-downs or secondhand anyway and it wasn’t worth saving them if we weren’t sure if we were going to have another boy.
-things like carseats expire, so you either have to decide whether you are willing to use a carseat past the 6 year “official” expiration date or buy another carseat just to get you through one more year.
-Completely starting over again with an infant, diapers, strollers, cribs, bottles, potty training, etc after you’d put all that behind you. It’s rough mentally to go back in that zone.
-If too far a gap, no sibling preference at daycare (other friends learned this the hard way when they couldn’t get new baby into same daycare as her older brothers went)
-No 2 kid discounts for things like daycare (for very long) private schools or college financial aid.
In my ideal world, I would have had 3 kids, and had one in between these 2. In reality, this is how our life worked out, and I love that our boys love each other and have a good relationship, even though they aren’t all that close age-wise.
Anonymous says
My sibling and I are nearly 6 years apart (intentional, apparently). We didn’t have the rivalry issue due to the distance, but are also not close (though I would say this is more a function of personality and family dynamics and not related to our age gap). My mother actually told people that they waited so that I would be of help to her. Then I was used for a lot of babysitting (without pay) once I turned 11 or 12. I would say I am not a fan of such an age gap.
DH and his sibling are about 2.5 years apart and aren’t especially close either, which I again think is a function of personality as opposed to their ages.
Carine says
My daughter turned 3 in June and I’m due with our second in December, so ours will be 3.5 years apart. I’ve worried a bit about the gap being too large for them to truly be playmates or to be close, but (1) I think personalities play a big part in that, no matter the age difference, and (2) I am really grateful to have had this much time with only my daughter. Of course we’ve experienced some terrible twos and threes, but she is often just so easy and fun to be with! I feel like we’re in a sweet spot right now where we communicate well, she can play independently, go potty and dress herself, she loves our routines and is super excited about new experiences…it’s a really fun stage and I’m glad to have been able to focus on her.
I’m mid-thirties and this pregnancy isn’t that much harder than my first, physically. Whether this second time was now or a little bit older I don’t think it really would have mattered much, but I’m glad I didn’t get pregnant sooner. I have had enough time after the first to really feel like myself again (that’s a hard concept to define and might mean something different to you!), to figure out how to fit in self-care and be kind to myself, so I think that experience will be helpful.
BigOrangeDrink says
I’m 35 and my kids are almost exactly 3 years apart. The first trimester exhaustion was harder with the second pregnancy because I was chasing son, but I was fortunate that both of my pregnancies were relatively easy. I even had considerably less swelling and weight gain with #2. Son’s behavior went off the rails for a bit when our daughter was born, but he had also just turned 3, so I’m not sure it was all related to his new sister. He seems to really love her and will sometimes be my helper, and the tantrums have eased up quite a bit in the past month. Also, lots of people told us not to let the first child get out of diapers before you have your second child, that it is so hard to go back there. But that hasn’t really been our experience so far. Our second baby has folded in to our current routine quite nicely.
Side note that I have been lurking here for quite some time but this is my first post. So many great tips and such good advice!
Switching Daycare says
So I posted a few days ago about switching daycares. I dropped off my daughter this AM, and just walked out giggling. She greeted EVERY SINGLE KID she saw on the way in (it’s a long hallway to walk through) by name and made some ridic. comment.
“Hi, Lucas.” “Hi Megan.” “Nice hat, Emma.” “Ooh, pretty dress Miss Tracey.” “No, Casey, not yours. Mine lunchbag [to the boy that tugged her lunchbag as she passed him]”
I am really not wild on the teachers but the thought of her having to re learn a bunch of kid’s names and where her cubby is and etc etc etc in an environment where she is safe and apparently quite the socialite is just too daunting.
Switching Daycare says
also, she’s not even 2, so this sassiness is particularly hilarious as several of these kids were like, 4.
Meg Murry says
Maybe what you saw as “the teachers just standing around chatting” was actually “the teachers standing back and letting the kids play with each other and not managing it”? Or at least that was the indirect effect?
I think on one hand you are right and switching could be hard to start over, and she seems happy there. On the other hand, it sounds like she would make an adjustment fairly quickly to wherever you send her if she is already that outgoing with all the other kids, so she would be fine either way – staying or moving to a new center.
Switching Daycare says
It’s both. Her old daycare had teachers sitting down playing WITH all the kids (reading stories, building towers so the crowd of kids had something to knock down, talking about the colors/shapes/names for things they were playing with, making “take out” orders from the play kitchen, etc). New daycare is more sit back and make sure they don’t kill eachother (while chit chatting).
Amelia Bedelia says
I’m traveling for several weeks with my one-year old and want to bring a portable high-chair. I’ve seen several “cloth” ones on Amazon and am looking for recommendations from someone who has used one.
My number one concern is ease of use in a variety of different types of chairs.
any suggestions?
Here’s one I saw, for reference:
http://www.amazon.com/Washable-Squashable-Travel-Chair-Chocolate/dp/B001QC77W0/ref=pd_sbs_75_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=07MC48JVQG2VEQQT39FA
thanks!
rakma says
This may not be what you’re looking for if you’ve got space constraints, but we have a folding high chair which has been the best baby purchase we made. It’s like a camp chair, but with a built in tray. We’ve used it in restaurants, outside, people’s homes, and DD loves it.
http://www.amazon.com/ciao-Baby-Portable-Chair-Black/dp/B0072IINY8
hoola hoopa says
This one!! I really can’t recommend it enough for travel. Very versatile with different types of chairs (we’ve tried them all, I swear). Packs very small and lightweight. Has held up for three kids.
http://www.amazon.com/First-Years-Booster-Seat-Safari/dp/B004GCJN6K/
Disadvantages is that it has no try and doesn’t stay up on it’s own, so you do need a chair with a back and a table (although we’ve spoon fed without a table).
Anon S says
Ladies, need advice about requesting to go part time. I’m a mid level associate at a law firm. My maternity leave ends in October, and I’m going to reach out to the head of my group to request to go part time at 60%. Our firm HR manual says that when you return from maternity leave, you can work at 60% for 6 months subject to your group’s discretion. However, I don’t know anyone in my group who has done this before (there is one partner who works 80% and there used to be an associate at 80% but she left last year). The head of my group is 40, very friendly and warm and he has 4 children (but his wife is a stay at home mom). My biggest fear is that he’ll think I’m slacking. The truth is I want to ease back into things, I also want the reduced hours so I can spend as much time with my daughter as possible. My husband is also an attorney and his hours are really insane (he averages 2500 billables). We will have a nanny 3 days a week and my mother in law the other 2, but ideally I would either work from home two days a week so I can still see my daughter when I have lulls in work and I would also like to breast feed her as much as possible. I do still want to have my career, but I am ok with the reduced hours and salary for a year or so or whenever I decide I’m ready to work more (maybe when my daughter goes to pre school?)
Anyways, long story short, I’m looking for advice on how to approach the head of my group about all of this. Thank you!
Anonymous says
I think just do it. We have a very senior, partner track associate who works 60%, and it works out fine. No one thinks she is slacking. I think we are pretty respectful of her time. And we all see it as an investment in a great person who probably won’t always want to be part time (but if she does, she will still have a successful career with us).
NewMomAnon says
I went to 60% when I came back from leave, and have been really struggling to make it work. Understand your workflow before you jump to part time; my work tended to be big, very involved matters that blew up suddenly and would require all of my attention for several days at a time. It was hard to have a predictable schedule before going part-time, and going part-time basically meant that I stepped out of that workflow and had to build a new type of practice.
Have the conversation with your supervisor about whether your work flow and client base are conducive to a reduced, predictable schedule (which you’ll need if you have less than full time child care). Talk about the firm’s requirements to ramp back up to full time and what that will look like.
And also, I think a lot of people who are “full time” aren’t working as hard as many Type A women think you need to work to be full time (does that make sense?). Maybe you don’t need to drop all the way to 60%, maybe drop to 80% and just barely hit your 80% instead of overshooting it, and spend some of that time working from home. I don’t know your work habits, but it turns out that nobody would have noticed if I had come into work an hour later or taken a longer lunch break when I used to work full time.
Anon S says
It’s great to hear about your personal experience. How long have you been back from leave now? Why did you decide to do 60%? Was your firm ok with it? My practice sounds like yours. You say that you built a new type of practice – did you have to switch groups?
NewMomAnon says
I’ve been back more than a year, and the “new practice” is a work in progress. My department covers a lot of ground, so I was able to stay in my home base and just develop the connections and expertise I needed to retool (although they would have moved me to a different department if I had asked). It isn’t a full retool; it’s more a re-emphasis on what had been a huge part of my practice at a different firm and then dropped to a very small part of the practice at this firm, and now I’m growing it here. The firm has been supportive of me building the new practice area (and several of the partners have really bent over backwards to help me). Some people have been supportive about feeding me projects so I don’t get fired in the interim, but that help has been less forthcoming than I had hoped.
NewMomAnon says
Forgot to say: I chose 60% because I had really serious antepartum anxiety and that’s what my psychiatrist recommended. Honestly, I didn’t plan it out very well on the front end and sometimes I feel like my part-time struggles are my own making. It’s really, really hard to be part-time when you’re part of a 24-7 business cycle. I’ve taken Saturday and late night calls while part-time, I’ve been told to cancel vacations. I’ve been told that I’m never in my office so that’s why I don’t get work from certian people. Being 60% makes me feel better about holding firm to my boundaries when those issues come up.
Anon for this says
100% this. If you really want to go part time, well hey, you do you, but I came back at full time and honestly, between being more protective of my time and the general ramp up associated with coming back from a long leave, it really was not bad. I’m not Big Law – I’m regional mid-law – but I saw too many people drop to 60 or 80%, along with the commensurate salary drop, that worked about as much as I did.
pockets says
Yes. Don’t go down to 60% unless you really can’t think of another way to create more time/slack off more. Can you try to get in earlier, eat a shorter lunch, commit to working 1 hour a night 3 nights a week and 2 hours during weekend naps? Think about how many hours you need to bill to not get fired, and then bill that much. I would suggest going back to work fulltime and being super-protective of your time and then, if after 3-6 months it’s not working, re-consider going to 60%.
Anon S says
I don’t think going in earlier would work since I’d want a little morning time with my daughter (she gets up around 6:30 or 7 now). I already never really took a lunch – mostly eating at my desk, but sometimes (like maybe once every 3 or 4 weeks) had an hour lunch with a friend. I also used to work nights and weekends . . . I dunno, I mean I totally get what you’re saying, but with the way my schedule was before when I was 100%, I don’t see how I can squeeze in time with my daughter, which is why I desire the 60%. Also, you don’t think it would be better to start lower (60%) and then go up after that, as opposed to start back at 100% and then go down?
pockets says
I get what you are saying too, and I have a very unique perspective on this issue that works for me (because of a combination of my personality and the expectations my job has on me) but might not work for everyone. Basically, my advice would be to do as little as possible and see what you can get away with. Commit to leaving the office every single day at the same time. Give yourself an hour every night after the baby is sleeping to read and respond to email, and that’s it. Do what you’re asked to do, but don’t go seeking out work and don’t go above and beyond.
Basically I am echoing what NewMomAnon said above – you probably don’t have to work as hard as you’ve been working to get by. That’s why I suggest not altering your hours – see if you can self-alter to allow yourself to work less while still getting 100% of your salary. And if it turns out that you really do need to work as hard as you’ve been working, then talk to your office about going part-time. Otherwise, you’re accepting 60% of your salary for work that you could be paid 100% of your salary for.
Anon S says
Ahh, ok I hear you now. Interesting strategy. Honestly never thought about it!
meme says
I’ll add a counterpoint: I worked at one firm at a 60% schedule where it didn’t work out at all because the people in my practice group thought I did not exist if they could not see me in my office chair. They would be frustrated and find someone else to do the work. I moved on to another firm on a part time schedule and it worked out great, I think mostly because working remotely/odd hours was already a big part of their culture. Everyone just emailed or called (but mostly emailed) me if they wanted something.
Anon for this says
I went back at 80%. I’m a 6th year associate in big law, back from leave for a little over 6 months.
I had made some hints prior to leave that I would be doing that and before I went back, I stopped by the office and let the partner I work with the most that I would like to go to 80%. I then told the other partners, and no one had a problem with it. But, my practice is well suited to reduced hours and I already had a good reputation among the group and clients.
That being said, it’s harder than I thought to make 80% — but I am in the office less than I was before. I’m glad I’m not at 100%, that would be really hard given my husband’s work.
No idea how it’ll work out long term — no one has said it’s an issue, but I’m always paranoid they will. BUT, I’d be more paranoid if I wasn’t making my hours.
I would say go to 70%, 60% seems like too close to 50% and 80% is still hard to manage with daycare (may be easier with a nanny and MIL, since that may give you a little more time in the office, thought).
Anon S says
What do you mean it’s harder than you thought to make 80%? Do you mean you’re struggling to get enough hours in, or do you mean it’s more work than you thought it would be?
I wouldn’t be opposed to 70%. I guess my thought is I should ask for the lowest that I would take, and then go from there if they have a problem with 60%
Anon S says
This might be a weird question but when you popped by the office to talk to your partner did you bring your baby? I do feel that this is a conversation I would prefer to have in person than over the phone. Did you set up a meeting with him/her?
anon says
Are you planning on having more kids? I ask because your last sentence makes it sound like when your daughter is older you might go full-time, but if you’re planning on having more kids, would that really work? Obviously not something you need to decide now, but maybe something to take into account as you consider how to best navigate your career.
To answer your actual question, I think you know your group and your practice area best and what will and won’t work from their perspective. I think it’s incumbent on you to put forth the best plan (from everyone’s perspective) possible, and have some real ideas about how you are going to make it work. I went to 80% after my second son was born. I knew that my group was not going to be OK with me working from home regularly or working only 4 days a week at that point, so I made it clear that I expected to be in the office during regular business hours and be available after my kids go to bed, but that I didn’t want to work during 5:30-8 as much as possible. Since then I’ve transitioned to working from home one day every other week (because I really don’t like working from home), but I eased my group into it before asking to make it a permanent thing.
Also, I think if you want to do 60%, you should ask for 60%. You can always change the number as you get settled in.
Anon S says
If you asked me now, no I’m not planning to have more kids.
Was 80% really much different than 100%? I am pretty confident they wouldn’t bat an eye if I asked for 80%, but I feel like whatever % I’m at, I’m going to work more than that, so I fear that 80% would basically be 100%.
anon says
It was for me. At 100% I was billing around 2000-2100. At 80% I was right around 1600-1700 (which for us is over 80%, and I did get bumped up). I do think you should go to 60% if you can afford to/want to – I personally didn’t.
Will they adjust your salary if you go over?
NewMomAnon says
So, my daughter’s summer tops are all stained and gross, but she’ll need t-shirts and sundresses through September and maybe into October (with cardigans in the morning). I don’t think there is any chance she’ll still fit into them next summer, so these need to be bargains. I was planning to hit the outlet mall this weekend, and then realized I could hit serious back to school shopping, which is not good when shopping with a toddler in tow.
Long story short – does anyone know of any killer online sales of leftover toddler summer clothes?
(former) preg 3L says
Have you checked the usual suspects — Old Navy, Carters, maybe even Target? And yeahhh I would avoid the outlet mall this weekend unless you’re in a part of the country where school has been back in session for a week or two already (e.g., Midwest ime).
pockets says
Check j crew. While the kid’s clothing is expensive full-price, tons of stuff is on sale right now and it’s an extra 30% off sale prices.
Katarina says
The Children’s Place usually has some good bargains, especially late in the season.
SC says
You could hit the outlet mall either early in the morning or, if you can make it a bit longer, on Labor Day weekend. I went to the outlet mall to shop for clothes coming back from maternity leave on July 3rd and hit some amazing sales. When we arrived at 10am, there really weren’t that many people there. By 2 or 3pm, it was nuts.
target says
I got a bunch of summer stuff at Target last weekend and each piece was priced under $5. The selection in store was very picked over, but you may have more luck online.
Meg Murry says
If its just for her to stain again, what about Goodwill? Our goodwill is under $3 per item and sometimes less.
FYI, depending on what size, in our area a lot of moms repurpose too short dresses as tunics with leggings. Either to be thrifty or because they can’t pry that favorite dress away from the kid. So you might be able to get a second season out of them.
Pigpen's Mama says
I had to do the same recently — she was busting out of some of her tops.
In addition to the above suggestions, Oshkosh B’gosh has a bunch of $5 t-shirts and some good sale stuff on the racks.
Macy’s can be pretty good if you can get a sale coupon. I’ve also had luck in the boys section for t-shirts, sometimes it seems less picked over.
anon says
Gymboree is running a pretty good sale, and they had sent out 20% one-time codes to their members (I used mine, unfortunately). I thought the boys’ stuff was better priced (DD didn’t get anything), but you could check there.
NewMomAnon says
Target clearance for the win! Three t-shirts for $3.50 each, and a Minion t-shirt for full price that I liked. And one of the t-shirts has a sparkly kitty on it, so I’m probably in the running for mom of the year.
Next year, remind me not to buy white t-shirts with cute graphics – only dark colors. Between watermelon, peaches, bloody noses, paint, and antibiotics (why is that stuff pink? just … why?), there were days I honestly thought about sending her to daycare in her pj’s so I didn’t have to display my lack of laundry skills.