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I’m always a fan of closed-toe strappy pumps, particularly with low heels, and these nice Clarks heels look great for a long day. They’re available in limited sizes at Zappos in black and “nude snake print,” on sale for $70; Macy’s has the remaining the sizes for the same price. Clarks Crewso Reading Pump (L-3)Sales of note for 4.18.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 50% off full-price dresses, jackets & shoes; $30 off pants & skirts; extra 50% off sale styles
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything; extra 20% off purchase
- Eloquii – 50% off select styles; 60% off swim; up to 40% off everything else
- J.Crew – Mid-Season Sale: Extra 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off spring-to-summer styles
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Spring Mid-Season Sale: Up to 50% off 100s of styles
- Nordstrom: Free 2-day shipping for a limited time (eligible items)
- Talbots – Spring Sale: 40% off + extra 15% off all markdowns; 30% off new T by Talbots
- Zappos – 29,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
Kid/Family Sales
- Carter’s – Up to 70% off baby items; 50% off toddler & kid deals & 40% off everything else
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off spring faves; 25% off new arrivals; up to 30% off spring
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Up to 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off kids’ spring-to-summer styles
- Old Navy – 30% off your purchase; up to 75% off clearance
- Target – Car Seat Trade-In Event (ends 4/27); BOGO 25% off select skincare products; up to 40% off indoor furniture; up to 20% off laptops & printers
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And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- If you’re a working parent of an infant with low sleep needs, how do you function at work when you’re in the throes of baby’s sleep regression?
- Should I cut my childcare down to 12 hours a month if I work from home?
- Will my baby have speech delays if we raise her bilingual?
- Has anyone given birth in a teaching hospital?
- My child eats everything, and my friends’ kids do not – how should I handle? In general, what is the best way to handle when your child has some skill/ability and your friend’s child doesn’t have that skill/ability?
- ADHD moms, give me your tips to help with things like behavior in the classroom, attention to detail, etc?
- I think I suffer from mom rage…
- My husband and kids are gone this weekend – how should I enjoy my free time?
- I’m struggling to be compassionate with a SAHM friend who complains she doesn’t have enough hours of childcare.
- If you exclusively formula fed, what tips do you have for in the hospital and coming home?
- Could I take my 4-yo and 8-yo on a 7-8 day trip to Paris, Lyon, and Madrid?
CHJ says
I posted a few weeks ago about pulling my son from his daycare after one of the teachers yanked him by the arm. In a happier follow up, I found out yesterday that we got off the waitlist for an amazing preschool for next fall. This preschool is truly amazing – it’s a Reggio Emilia school and a big fixture in our town (a small suburb), where about 50% of the children in town go before Kindergarten. It also has an active parents community and a lot of the parents in our town are friends from their kids’ time at the preschool. But (of course) it’s only 8-12 every morning with no full day option.
Is anyone doing something similar? How do you make it work? So far we’re happy with the daycare that we moved him to a few weeks ago and I don’t feel like we absolutely need to move him, but it would be nice to be able to do this community preschool if we can make it work. Any advice?
anne-on says
Au Pair? Or a nanny share? That’s the direction we’re going in for our son starting school in the fall.
Betty says
We do this. Our son and daughter are each in a part-time preschool program in different schools (based on age). We have a nanny who picks them up, brings them home, gets the youngest down for her nap and plays with the oldest until we get home. Doing the part-time school and part-time nanny thing can be a lot to coordinate, with more opportunities for something to fall through. We also found it challenging to find a good part-time nanny. We are doing a similar schedule again this fall but with an au pair, because we just found ourselves in too many situations where one preschool was closed for a single day, one kid was sick, etc. Also, we have found that preschools in our area that do part-time programs tend to cater to families with a stay at home parent or other full-time care (i.e. they are not a daycare).
TK says
Under those circumstances I’d just keep my kid in the fulltime program that he’s happy with. The more moving pieces there are to coordinate, the more hassle it is if even one thing goes wrong.
While it’s great to have an ‘active parent community,’ my reality is that I work full time and intend to keep working full time so I likely won’t be involved with activities during the traditional workday even if those opportunities were there.
Two Cents says
Yes, I agree. If you’re working full time I think it could just be too logistically challenging to figure out care for a part time preschool. The way I could see it working out well is if you have an au pair or live in nanny. From my experience, finding a part time nanny is really tough. Most are looking for full time work.
pockets says
My (probably stemming from envy, not entirely thought out, and maybe overly judgmental) view is that programs like these are a type of status symbol. It is a way to signal that you can send your child to a fancy pre-school while either a) one of the parents stays home, or b) you also pay for a full time nanny.
Anonymous says
+1 to all of this, including the self-awareness about it probably stemming from envy and not being entirely thought out. :)
If I had an au pair, though, it would be ideal. Keep my au pair hours down below the threshold AND provide socialization for the kids.
Anon says
I’m the poster from yesterday who is stressing about moving my kiddo from a Montessori program to an RE program, and unrelated to your comment, but it’s nice to hear such great things about RE programs (I only recently became aware of the philosophy).
In any event, something I’m thinking as I consider my own move – does the RE program offer a “summer camp” option once your kids get to Kindergarten? Daycares often don’t have this option. Yesterday, a few posters made great points about being able to keep kiddo with school friends during the summer. I always forget that reaching public school isn’t a total walk away from childcare!
Also, if you do have another child, the au pair/nanny+part time preschool set-up can be a great compromise.
October says
Honestly, I wouldn’t want my kid in a full-day preschool. I don’t even want him in full-day kindergarten. I get that it’s more convenient for scheduling, but an actual full-day, five-day-a-week school (vs daycare) seems like a lot. Kids need time to relax and decompress. (Caveat being that I admittedly am not familiar with the RE philosophy…but think about it from the toddler’s perspective).
Anonymous says
Eh. My kid is at preschool for 11 hours. He spends 3 of those hours playing on the playground, has another 2 hours of free play, and an hour for nap. Only 5 hours are spent “in school” and I use that term loosely as our program is mostly play-based. When he is at home on the weekend he complains that he is not at school playing with his friends.
TBK says
We have an au pair and the kids are starting 2x/wk, 1/2 day preschool in the fall. The year after they’ll go 3 or 4x/wk for 1/2 days and we’ll still have the au pair. I used to live down the street from a 1/2 day Montessori preschool and it was seriously all nannies waiting outside for the kids at midday.
dc mom anon says
This question shows my inexperience. Where does your toddler sleep while on vacation? We are getting a beach airbnb next week and I am not sure where my kiddo will sleep. At home, she sleeps in a crib and takes naps on a cot at daycare. I can ask the airbnb host if they can provide a crib, but it doest seem likely. Should I buy a pack and play (can a toddler sleep in that?). I have also seen inflatable cots. I think that might be too different for kiddo to sleep easily.
Pigpen's Mama says
When we stay at hotels or my parents, my toddler is in a pack n’ play. Hotels usually have them, not sure how likely it would be for the airbnb to have one, though.
The advantage of a pack and play vs. a cot would be that you’d also have a containment device in a strange area. Sleeping on a cot is one thing if your toddler is in a daycare room with teachers awake and around, but I think my kid would get into trouble in a cot overnight, especially in a strange, possibly non-baby proofed space.
Anyone you can borrow one from? They also make some smaller travel sized pack n’ plays.
mascot says
How old and how much does she weigh? She may be too big/heavy for a PNP so check into that. We have a kid-sized air mattress. Or, can’t she just sleep in a regular bed? You can put pool noodles under the fitted sheet to create bedrails. You’ll want to take some outlet covers and do a little childproofing in the room.
There are usually companies in beach towns that rent baby gear (babysaway or similar) if you want a crib or PNP
pockets says
Pack n play. If you’re flying, my two cents is that the easiest thing to do is to order a cheap pack n play to be delivered to the airbnb, and then leave it there. You could ask the hosts if they’d like to keep it in exchange for some token amount off the rental fee.
rakma says
We put DD in this cot (link below) at Grandma’s house since she moved to her toddler bed, and it’s worked great. It folds up rather small, and will be going with us to a beach rental this summer.
http://www.amazon.com/Regalo-Cot-Deluxe-Sleeping-Navy/dp/B009FRKXKG/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1461856455&sr=8-2&keywords=toddler+cot
NewMomAnon says
My kiddo sleeps on a twin mattress on the floor at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We put one side up against a wall and a pool noodle under the fitted sheet on the other side. She still sleeps in a crib at home. It takes a couple nights to adjust though, so plan on a few nights of difficult bedtime/rough sleep. I also have her sleep in the room with me, so if she gets up in the night she doesn’t have an opportunity to wander. Not that she would…my kiddo would stand and wail before she would wander in the dark at a strange house. Bring a couple nightlights, a baby monitor (if you have one) and some outlet covers.
Nap times are often a bust on vacation for my kiddo (she is a difficult napper in the best of situations though). Plan for “quiet time” if naps don’t work and a potentially fragile kiddo in the evening (meaning, don’t make irrevocable family plans in the hour or so around bedtime).
anne-on says
We bought one of those inflatable bed rails, and stuck a bunch of pillows around the twin bed. My kid was never much of an escape artist so it worked just fine.
Anona Mama says
We’ve been using the Kidco Peapod tents for our toddlers since they starting being able to climb out of pack n plays. Look them up on Amazon. Our boys LOVE these tents and sleep like champs in them. The tents zip closed and keep the kids contained (we use a twist tie on the outside of the zipper since they have since learned how to unzip). Best part is that you don’t need to toddler-proof the whole room if it’s only being used for sleep. They also fold up fairly small and are super light for travel. Also second bringing the usual sleep accessories that your kiddo uses (night light, noise machine, blanket/stuffed animals) to keep as similar as possible to home.
Anonymous says
This. We gave our daughter the option of sleeping with it open but she actually wanted it zipped closed – I think she loves sleeping a familiar little cocoon when we visit different places.
Katala says
This is so great to hear. We just got one for my (as of today, sniff!) one year old for our first out of town overnight since he’s been in a crib. He has a tent from Ikea he likes so we have the Peapod out today in the hopes he’ll think it’s fun to crawl into. Fingers crossed!
In House Lobbyist says
We either take a twin mattress (that is already there) and put on the floor. Or we make a pallet on the floor with pillows and blankets in either our room or the grandparent’s room when we go to the beach.
dc mom anon says
thank you!
i was thinking of getting something ike this: http://www.amazon.com/Cosco-Funsport-Play-Elephant-Squares/dp/B00R7Q3B7E/ref=sr_1_13_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1461856142&sr=8-13&keywords=travel+pack+n+play
toddler is 19 months and 20 lbs,
Maddie Ross says
FWIW, my 3 yo still sleeps in a PnP when we travel. She’s nearly 30 pounds and it’s not been an issue. She sleeps really curled up like a cat though, so space isn’t a big deal for her.
dc mom anon says
thats really cute!
Philanthropy Girl says
My 20 month, 27lb, tall kiddo still sleeps in a PNP at Nana’s or when we’re in a hotel. He’ll be in one until he learns to climb out – sadly, probably in the next 4-6 months.
CPA Lady says
What fun little presents for yourself would you get if someone gave you a $25 target gift card? I’ve been on a pretty strict spending hiatus lately, saving up to replace my dying car, and someone gave me this gift card as a thank you. I’m sadly really excited.
anne-on says
Fun makeup and/or face masks. I am kind of obsessed with Korean skin care at the moment. ELF has some cute new spring colors, and I believe Target is the US distributor for the Tony Moly line – Korean skin care brand with lots of interesting masks/serums/etc. that aren’t super pricey.
layered bob says
Scarf, Burt’s Bees tinted lip balm, chocolate, cute coffee mug or water glass, paper, loud-colored sweater, beach towel, nail polish, fun little snacks that I would otherwise think are too expensive/frivolous.
NewMomAnon says
I would get new cosmetics or bath products too – bubble bath, Epsom salts, good lotion, new lipstick. Or a pretty scarf in spring colors.
No name says
I would get all the newest nail polishes! Or scarves (because I have too many and can’t justify paying for more out of pocket)!
Anonymous says
I’d use the gift card to buy household products that were part of my budgeted spending and use the $25 that would have been spent on those products to go get my nails done.
K says
Also available at 6pm.com for $15 cheaper
MDMom says
I was informed this morning that my son is the next to move up out of infant class, starting in 2 weeks. I was not expecting it yet because he’s the third-oldest of the remaining kids (Ok their birthdays are all within the first 2 weeks of May, but still!) and he isn’t walking yet (though this isn’t a requirement and neither are the 2 older than him). I’m so sad! I almost teared up. I even tried to argue why the other kids should move up first. I love his teachers and so does he. They do a gradual transition and he is familiar with most of the teachers in the next room already because they fill in. But I’m not ready! Any advice? Comiseration?
FVNC says
No advice, but complete commiseration. I also nearly cried when the director of my daughter’s daycare told me my daughter was moving out of the infant room, and had all the same thoughts/feelings you did. Actually — and this is nearly 2 years ago now — I still clearly remember that conversation and how torn up I felt. Ultimately, the transition was totally fine for her but rough on me (the “older infant” room is by far my least favorite of the now five classrooms she has been in). But! She did totally fine, and actually the move had big benefits — she finally got on a more predictable feeding and nap schedule (so helpful for weekends) and enjoyed being around some of the older infants. Just remember, he’ll be fine, even if it takes you a little longer to adjust. But yeah, it’s hard.
CPA Lady says
My daughter also did much better in the 12-18 month room than she did in the infant room. The schedule was very helpful. She recently moved out of the 12-18 month room to the toddler 1 room. I cried. Several times.
I loved her teacher in her old classroom. CPA toddler has been fine. After a few days of crying at drop off, and several extra crabby evenings, she seems to have gotten used to the toddler room and is doing great. She was ready. The teachers can tell when they are ready.
The silver lining is that I just got the bill for her first month in the new classroom and its over $100 less per month. So that’s what you have to look forward to eventually!
Anon for this. says
I just realized that my LO is about to turn one, and we never sent out a freaking birth announcement. She’s our first kid. I feel like a terrible mother. Can anyone relate? Please tell me that she will not feel deprived or neglected as an adult because her (theoretical) baby book doesn’t include something adorable from Tiny Prints.
Or, alternatively, can I somehow spin her first birthday into a birth announcement? I hate all of these “optional” parenting tasks. Every time I think I’m starting to wrap my head around them, I think of three more that I haven’t done and am never gonna have time to do…
CPA Lady says
Out of all my friends who have had babies, I have received a grand total of 1 birth announcement. Birth announcements are from a time when facebook hadn’t been invented yet. Skip all the optional tasks except the ones you really enjoy.
Anon in NYC says
Forget about it! They are completely optional and at least half my friends didn’t do them. You are not a terrible mom.
SC says
Don’t worry about it! Skip every optional task that you don’t want to do! Whenever I start feeling bad, I tell myself that I’m just saving my energy for the time when Baby is a Kid and really does care about silly-clothes-week at preschool or having a themed birthday party or taking “homemade” Valentines into daycare. And, yeah, a baby book was never on the table. I think it’s hilarious that my mom has several partially-filled-out baby books for me but never got around to completing them. (Despite that, she is Superwoman because she had me during medical school and completed residency and a fellowship year when I was a toddler through first-grader.)
PinkKeyboard says
Pish. Mine is 9 months and I never sent one out because I didn’t care. As evidence your child won’t care: my only baby book was made by my nanny at the time. My parents did 0. In fact, they remembered so little about milestones I got in trouble in elementary school for not doing my homework (it was on first tooth, haircut, crawling, steps, etc). I’m undamaged and still talk to my Mom all the time….
Anon for this. says
OP here– thank you all. My mom is older and super southern (and was a SAHM), and frequently makes me feel like I’m failing because I haven’t done X optional task. This was very very reassuring. Y’all are the best!!
Spirograph says
Birth announcements are definitely not mandatory! But if you want to send one, I would think a card with a newborn picture and a couple more at different ages saying something along the lines of “LO’s first birthday is coming up on X date, and we can’t believe how much she’s changed as this year flew by!” was adorable. And I wouldn’t judge you at all for not sending a card sooner.
DCK says
List of things I have not done (and do not plan to do) for my 6-month old (first) baby: birth announcement, newborn photo shoot, pregnancy photo shoot, baby book. Things I have done: take approximately 3 million iPhone pictures and videos of baby, spent many hundreds of hours cuddling and playing with baby. I have no regrets.
DCK says
Oh also on the list of have-dones: work full-time job.
Charm bracelet says
I want to buy my about-to-be-one-year-0ld daughter a charm bracelet – theoretically I would get a charm every year and give it to her at HS graduation or something. I don’t really want the Pandora-style, but more of a classic. Any ideas for reputable brands of bracelets and/or charms? I’ve never owned anything like this personally.
ANON says
we received a Links of London toddler charm bracelet and out daughter LOVES it.
Anon for this. says
James Avery definitely fits the bill here. Classy and classic.
http://www.jamesavery.com/custserv/custserv.jsp?pageName=Promo&internalLink=MDAY16_MC2_CharmEventPromo_BRAC_CharmEventBug
TBK says
Rembrandt
Goosebumpy says
I’d always been a morning exerciser, and now that my four-month old is sleeping through the night, I’d really like to add exercise back into my life. But he’s still nursing, and I wake up looking surgically enhanced (and often leaking). Is it possible to work out in the mornings, before the baby wakes up, when you’re still nursing? I’m a runner, so ideally I’d like to get back to that, but should I settle for something a little less…jiggly for now? Should I pump for a bit, exercise, and then feed him when he wakes up? Just seems like so much work….
Anon in NYC says
I have found that pumping before working out is the best solution for me. It is a complete pain in the butt and it sucks having to wake up even earlier for a morning workout, but I was too uncomfortable otherwise. I nurse my daughter before we leave the house for daycare/work.
FWIW, I once heard that exercise (perhaps only vigorous exercise?) could alter the taste of bm for about 30 minutes after a workout and your LO may refuse to nurse. It didn’t happen with my daughter, but wanted to share in case it happens!
Anonymous says
I recommend a super duper sports bra (or two) to bolt them into place. I highly recommend the running bra from Shock Absorber. I used those and put a champion-type sports bra on top of it to keep things from moving and hurting. I was able to do running, bootcamp, etc. Pumping beforehand would probably have been a deal-breaker for me — how would you have enough time? But… if you are so full that you are leaking, then, yeah, I guess you’ll probably need to pump a bit. That should pass soon though, I would expect!
Anonymous says
Can you nurse first and then exercise while baby watches? Maybe just set baby up in a bouncy seat next to the treadmill?
Katala says
Yeah, that stopped me from morning exercise but it will get better – soon, IME, as your supply regulates and baby starts solids. Until then, using a manual pump or even just hand expressing a bit might be a quicker way to relieve pressure before your workout?