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I wore a lot of smocked dresses as a kid, so I love this dress from Janie & Jack for a summer wedding.
This cheerful yellow dress has ruffled straps and a stretchy smocked bodice, and it’s fully lined. It’s made from 100% easy-to-care for cotton, so unlike other fancy dresses, you can just throw it in the wash after the party.
This sleeveless dress also comes in a wide range of sizes from baby to teen, so it’s perfect for matching siblings.
Janie & Jack’s Emily Smocked Sundress is $69 and available in sizes 6–12M to 18. It’s also available in a range of other prints, some on sale!
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
Anonymous says
This is cuter than the kids’ version of the Nap Dress. The print is nicer and the ruffles are less wing-like.
Anon says
I agree. It’s very cute. Although I avoided styles like this for my daughter because I preferred dresses with fabric on the shoulders for sun protection.
Anon says
My 4.5 daughter’s daycare teacher started giving her class dum-dum lollipops a few weeks ago. When my daughter started coming home with them, I thought it was going to be a short-lived thing so we let her have it when she came home. Now it’s happening every day and it’s my understanding that the kids who behaved well get the lollipop. So yay, my daughter is behaving but I don’t love that she’s having the lollipop every day. My thought was to tell her that she can take the lollipop but we can give her another treat like a starburst that isn’t as terrible on her teeth. Or should I just let it go. Thoughts? Not looking for insight on teachers classroom management strategies, just the lollipop.
Anon says
I think a starburst might be worse on teeth! Perhaps allow it but brush teeth after the lollipop? (In addition to regularly scheduled teeth brushing).
Cb says
What about trading 5 lollipops for ice cream?
Anonanonanon says
I love this idea! Treat the lollipops like currency or you would stickers on a chore chart.
Anonymous says
This. Starburst are way worse than lollipops for teeth. My dentist always says to avoid any of the sticky candy, hard candy don’t get stuck between teeth in the same way.
OP says
I agree. I don’t like the idea of Starburst or any other kind of candy every day, I was just trying to think of something that she’s not biting down on which she’s tending to do as she bears the end of the lollipop.
NYCer says
Ha! I was wondering the same thing re starburst vs. lollipop. Regardless, brushing after seems like a good solution if you want to let her eat the candy every day.
I would be inclined to stockpile the lollipops and let her have one on Fridays only, but YMMV. We try not to eat candy every day, but I know there are differing opinions on that.
Anonymous says
Either say something to the teacher or let it go.
Anonymous says
I would hate this. I’d ask the director or teacher to make lollipops a sometimes food (perhaps 1x / week), and reward with a sticker on the back of the hand or something else other days.
And I get that candy is out of control (birthday party gift bags, etc), but I’d still ask that it not be daily in the daycare years.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Same. Our preschooler gets stickers for listening to teachers, lining up, etc. Can they do that instead of lollipops? These kids love stickers.
Anonymous says
Right. I don’t need to pay someone to bribe my kid with candy.
Anonymous says
This is a choking hazard, among other issues. I would talk to the daycare.
Anon says
I’d talk to the teacher or admin. This isn’t great and I’m sure you’re not the only parent who doesn’t want their kids eating candy daily.
anon says
+1 in talking with the staff. A skilled early childhood educator shouldn’t need to bribe kids with candy. Nor do I want all the problems that come with daily candy bribes.
I sometimes need to bribe my own children with candy, but I’m not educated or trained in the field. I expect professionals to do a lot better than I can–that’s a big part of why I send my children to them each day.
Cb says
Reading Pogo’s comment on sharing the load and laughing as it reminds me of a fight my mentor recounted to me. They were arguing about how to handle annoying teenage stuff and her husband said “why do you act like you know everything? It’s like you wrote the book on this…” “Erm… i didn’t write one but I did freaking read one”
My husband has never cracked a parenting book… my husband is the primary parent but I’m better in the event of illness or upset. I think I went into parenthood knowing I have a quick temper and am naturally impatient and worked incredibly hard to neutralise those behaviours. Versus my husband thinking “I’m super chill….” And not developing the same skills.
Anonymous says
Why does he need to read a book? He’s the primary parent whilst you are out of the country, he is doing just fine.
Cb says
Yeah, true, I guess sometimes I’d like to not be the “authority” on developmental and behavioural stuff… like I spend time reassuring my husband that certain things are normal.
Boston Legal Eagle says
I agree that I do more of the “research” on parenting, although my husband is more of a natural at the gentle parenting/Janet Lansbury type approach of accepting and listening to their feelings (whereas my natural tendency is to be more reactive). He did read a lot of baby books and the Oh Crap book for our first, but by the second, not much research is going on. I’m on this site, listen to a lot of parenting podcasts and follow various parenting accounts. I think my husband does read r/parenting on reddit, but that’s more anecdotes.
I don’t know that there are too many books on teenagers as problems there tend to be unique to the kid…should be interesting.
Mary Moo Cow says
My husband has never read a parenting book cover to cover, either, and he is sometimes the child whisperer with my youngest. Drives me crazy! Like, I read all the books and follow the “experts” on social, and I can’t figure it out, but you can?!
Cb says
Haha, right? I stopped following the parenting influencer about a month into the pandemic and never looked back, though. I like parenting books, but the influencers drive me nuts.
Aunt Jamesina says
I freaking hate the parenting influencer world. They have to keep up their engagement, which means a lot of recycled content and a LOT of preying on parenting fears. Algorithms also seem to create a lot of absolutism. The more I read and learn about parenting, the more I realize we’re all just winging it and there are no hard and fast rules for every scenario, family, or kid.
Be involved while letting them take controlled risks, be thoughtful, connect with your kid and your family unit and decide what your firm boundaries are and go from there. The end. Heh.
Anon says
I definitely do more of the parenting reading, but I feel like that makes a lot of sense: I read more in general, I like to get lots of external inputs when I have a problem to solve, it’s tangentially related to my job so it’s a subject interest. He literally said the other day “you’ll have to read up on how to raise confident kids because it’s important to me that Daughter is” and my response was “okay!” rather than telling him to do his own homework.
My husband has a very internal problem solving method so I don’t think parenting books will be his go to. I feel like we help bring each other more into the center- he pushes me to really think about what I want and I push him to collaborate and have discussions before making decisions.
Aunt Jamesina says
I have a girlfriend who was going crazy a few months back because her husband was suggesting crazy/boderline unsafe ideas for getting their infant to sleep (trying to sleep train at a few weeks old, giving him a stuffed animal for comfort, trying out solids early to keep him full longer…), which she would counter with actual evidence. He got frustrated that she “always got her way” on these decisions, and she countered that she had plenty of evidence to support her ideas, but he had none other than his gut feeling (slash what his mother mentioned doing when he was a baby), and he was welcome to discuss with the pediatrician or read up on it, but until then… sorry, dude!
My husband has never read a parenting book but did do an online infant parenting course through our hospital. TBH, he’s not a big book reader, although he does read the news. Baby Jimsie starts solids this week (sob!), and he’s taken the lead on looking up safety info and strategies, though not through books.
My anxiety language is reading everything humanly possible to prepare for major life changes, so I think I’ve read all the parenting books and articles published in the last decade, hah.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Don’t they give out those one page fact sheets at every baby appointment for the first few years? Like safe sleep, feeding guidelines, etc. This guy can at least read those… We relied on our various pediatricians for a lot of our questions.
Aunt Jamesina says
Yup. I think his mother bent his ear early on and convinced him it was fine because she did it that way.
More Sleep Would Be Nice says
There is a special place, somewhere, for MILs who won’t STFU about how “They did X [unsafe by today’s standards thing] and everyone turned out fine.”
My MIL mentions this about many things, which annoys DH and regularly, but once she mentioned it about the lack of carseats in the 80s and early 90s I started to disregard much of her “experience”.
Anonanonanon says
My (ex) MIL tried to tell me there are “more” children with autism these days because women don’t drink during pregnancy anymore. Knowing full well I have an autistic brother. This was said after rolling her eyes because I wouldn’t have a drink (WHILE PREGNANT)
SC says
I hate the whole, “We were rolling around the back seat, and we all survived” shtick. It’s survivorship bias. The number of motor vehicle related fatalities has declined dramatically since they were children, and since we were children, even as speed and mileage has increased. Also, motor vehicle fatalities are still one of the leading causes of accidental death in children, so there’s plenty of reason to keep being as safe as possible!
Anonymous says
Anonanonanon WHAT EVEN?!?!?
Anon says
I have a 20 month old and I’ve never gotten a handout/fact sheet from our pediatrician.
Aunt Jamesina says
Ours is appended to the post visit doc online, we don’t get a literal sheet.
More Sleep Would Be Nice says
For anyone nerdy enough to care, as someone who works on the admin side of healthcare – it’s usually electronic medical record (EMR)-dependent. Practices/Systems that use EPIC as their EMR (e.g. Kaiser and many, if not most, others) will typically either give you the After-Visit Summary and/or have it accessible in your account.
I’ve had to mention this to preschool when they ask us to “just print out the vaccine record from MyChart!”, as that’s a specific EPIC thing and not all medical offices use that particular EMR.
Anon says
Geez, you’d think a preschool operator would have enough common sense to know not everybody is using the same system.
Anon says
I guess if you live in a big city you might have more options, but I live in a college town with only two major medical systems and they both use MyChart, so it wouldn’t be silly for a school or daycare to request someone print out MyChart records.
So Anon says
I think this is part of the mental labor that many moms take on with regard to raising children. I am not suggesting that everyone needs to do everything the same way or that each person needs to spend a huge amount of time reading different parenting approaches. And yet – many of us benefit from having a general idea of child development and what behavior is developmentally appropriate at various stages. Even though I babysat as a teen, I did not have much exposure to children on a day-to-day basis until I had my own. I also didn’t want to emulate the way that I was raised and I recognized that many of the things that I was taught about how children “should” behave were totally not developmentally appropriate. I knew that I wanted to understand and do things differently, so I read different books (and also went through a ton of therapy). There are most certainly parents out there who were raised in healthy (emotionally and physically) and happy homes, who are content to rely on their instincts and the way that they were raised. Awesome. My ex nor I came from those homes. As a result, when I wanted to grow and do things different than the way that either of us were raised, it came with friction. My ex declared that he didn’t need to read (or grow or change). For me, I guess that’s what it comes down to: If both parents agree on general ways of raising kids and don’t have their own baggage to unlearn, then go forth. If there is disagreement or a desire to do things differently or understand, there can be great value in learning and it shouldn’t be just on the mom to do the learning and teaching the other person how to parent.
Anon says
I 100% agree that there’s some baseline learning and willingness to change that comes with being a good parent. I know for me though the mental load thing is a tricky line – I read a lot of parenting books and follow the Instas and frankly, I’m at the level where it’s diminishing returns and I should be viewing it more as entertainment than education.
Anon318 says
Any tips for encouraging development of writing skills for reluctant early elementary kids? My son is a rising first grader and stereotypically boy. His gross motor skills are excellent, but he has never enjoyed coloring, cutting, playing with playdoh… basically anything that trains fine motor skills. He loves to read and is doing so well above grade level, but hates writing and has minimal stamina. My guess is he could benefit from occupational therapy, but his K teacher recommended we wait because he made significant improvement in the second semester of school. As we enter summer, what can I do to avoid tears when school starts again and he is required to write a lot again? We are already writing letters to family and friends, but even that is not going over well.
Anonymous says
Mazes and dot-to-dot books are great for this. Can you find one with a theme he enjoys?
Anon318 says
BRILLIANT! Thank you so much for being the part of my brain that I apparently can’t access between work, parenting and life. He loves mazes and puzzles, so this is great!
Anonymous says
If he can read, word searches where you circle the word? I have always hated them with a vengeance and all through elementary school thought they were a pointless waste of time, but to my surprise my first grader LOVES THEM and always wants to do them. You can print from the web.
anon says
I would ignore the teacher and go to OT, honestly.
Anon318 says
I’m definitely leaning that way. If nothing else, having the opinion and direction from a professional will help me chill out!
Anon says
Legos, Wiki sticks, Plus-plus blocks, Scratch art, Shrinky dinks, puzzles
My rising first grader loves pretending she’s a waitress and using a clipboard to take orders.
I also printed out sheets from the internet so she can pretend she’s a veterinarian and do check ups on her animals. There are blanks she has to fill in
I also got her a dry erase alphabet handwriting book and she loves to trace the letters when we’re riding in the car. The dry erase aspect keeps her interested for some unknown reason.
Mary Moo Cow says
DD’s kindergarten teacher sent home a packet of handwriting worksheets for us: lower and upper case letters, one letter per page, and 3 copies of each. She recommended DD pick out special pens or pencils to use, do one a day, and then get a big prize when the stack was completed. This motivated our kid; Ooly has some really fun writing instruments (like Ninja pencils and erasers, colorful erasable pens, etc.)
Also seconding the maze and activity books: DD zipped through the Kumon maze and activity books. She also likes the BrainQuest summer work books. A few pages a day is enough to keep skills up but not feel unbearable.
Anon says
+1 for the Summer BrainQuest books. They have them for rising kindergartners through maybe 6th grade? We have the kids do two pages in the morning with their breakfast and surprisingly, they rarely complain. I think it’s the colorful pages, sticker chart, and distraction during eating? I don’t know, but those books are great.
GCA says
Hi, you describe my older kid, whose minor writing issues seem to have resolved throughout this year (first grade). If your kid is anything like mine, he might be interested in origami this summer – specifically, folding increasingly elaborate and long-gliding paper planes from all manner of books and YouTube videos. Origami is great for those fine motor skills, but be warned, he will go through all of the suitable scrap paper in your house & then some, and the living room will look like an airport.
Anonymous says
I’d go to an art store and let him pick out a few things. We have a paint with water dinosaurs book that DS loves right now, and there are a lot of options like that.
Anon says
For cutting, my two love to take the scissors outside and cut leaves/grass etc. I’d consider going to OT, assuming it won’t stretch your budget. The OT will probably have excellent activities to recommend (even better than us) and also can tell you if he needs more sessions.
Anon says
Fine motor things my almost 5YO loves to do:
all the lego
painting (washable watercolors are your friend but we also have washable craft paint for the big easel)
using a stylus on one of those LCD writing tablets (great for car coloring)
the scratch off paper where it is rainbow underneath and you use a stylus
lite brite (getting those little pins in)
help with cooking (using nylon knives to mince things).
I also think practice with adult silverware helps too; kiddo is a work in progress. I know when my arthritic hands are suffering from overuse, holding a fork or knife at dinner is one of the first pain points (we have silverware on the heavier side which all other times I like).
Anon says
Can I end therapy via email? I’ve been seeing the same therapist for nearly two years and she really helped me manage some intense pandemic anxiety, but now I feel like I’m just talking in circles. i could tell her during a session, but she doens’t take insurance and so paying her hundreds of dollars to quit feels unnecessary. But is this really bad manners?
anon says
Of course. She is a professional you have hired, not your friend. Be polite, say thank you, done.
test run says
I’ve also talked about this with other therapists during a session (“seems like we might be coming to a natural end of treatment,” etc. etc.) but I think e-mail is fine. Therapists are used to clients suspending services for a variety of reasons so I don’t think you need to worry too much about it.
Anon says
I think it’s fine. I will say I told my therapist in person and I thought it was beneficial/therapeutic for me. She was surprised (that I was ready to be done) but we were able to discussed why I thought it was the right time and I was able to express my gratitude because it really did help a lot. In retrospect it was nice practice for gracefully ending a relationship and getting some closure, that you don’t often get in real life.
Anonanonanon says
Even if it is bad manners (which I’m not saying it is), does it matter? You’re not being mean or hurtful so if something that is possibly less-than-perfect etiquette saves you literally hundreds of dollars, I hereby grant you permission :-)
Anon says
+1
SC says
I think there could be therapeutic value in ending during a session. It may also keep the door open to coming back in a couple of months if the transition out of therapy doesn’t go as well as you hope.
Anonymous says
Can you do it via phone call rather than a visit to save at least some money? I mean, isn’t this a scheduling thing versus an actual substantive visit?
anonamama says
A close friend just had baby #4; she has lots of support/meals, but said she’s struggling hard with migraines. I plan to take them dinner in a few weeks when things die down, but what could I do now for her as a little gift or to help with the migraines? thanks & happy Fri!
Mary Moo Cow says
Eye masks help me: Snug eye mask, jade eye mask. The roll-in Migraine Stick actually helps, too.
test run says
I also like ice rollers for migraines – mine is called the ESARORA Ice Roller. I actually wedge mine under the back of my next instead of actually rolling it, but it feels good to roll on your forehead, back of the neck, etc.
Anonanonanon says
I totally have one of those silly purple hats you freeze and put on your head on my wishlist. (look up migraine hat or something like that). Silly looking gifts that are useful are also fun when you’re tired/have baby blues
Anonymous says
Can you take the older three kids when she is having a migraine sometime?
OP says
I did last night! good idea.
Runner says
There is a March for Our Lives this weekend in my red town in a purple state. I’d love to go and take my kiddos. They are 3.5 tho and I’m not sure I really want to explain to them what we are marching for and why. Thoughts from the wise hive?
Aunt Jamesina says
I would frame it as being about medical choices that should remain between an individual and their doctor, rather than people without medical knowledge controlling medical procedures.
anon says
March for our lives is about gun control
Aunt Jamesina says
Gah. So sorry, so tired. I knew that!
Boston Legal Eagle says
“Keeping friends/other kids safe” – that’s probably the most a 3.5 year old can grasp.
GCA says
+1. Though my almost-4yo has been asked to grasp a lockdown drill at daycare…She is on the older side of her class and understood that it was pretend, but anecdotally a number of the smaller kids in her class were confused and frightened by the drill – ‘is the bad man going to come to our house’, etc. It makes me so furious that we are in this place.
Anonymous says
In my daughter’s pre-K class they told the kids that they’d get shot if they weren’t quiet. She is still traumatized years later.
Anon says
This is not best practices. You need to insist that someone at the school find a toddler best practice lockdown drill. They are used for tons of things besides active school shootings: lost children, unknown persons in the building, nearby terrorism attack, nearby wild animals, electrical failures during bad weather, extreme weather, etc. Basically anything where going outside the classroom might be unpredictable and unsafe.
Anon says
I get your point, but I think it’s a little different than a drill for extreme weather. There’s no need to be quiet during a tornado drill.
More Sleep Would Be Nice says
I really wanted to go but it won’t work out for a few reasons. I have made a regular recurring donation, as I am in vehement agreement with what they advocate for and am beyond impressed the Parkland kids took tragedy and made this platform.
Thank you for getting out there. Know many of us who can’t are trying to push this issue however we can!
Anonymous says
I don’t take my kids to protests. Sorry not sorry. Many peaceful protests end in police violence and I have no desire for my kid to get teargas, exposed to panicky people, or hit with a rubber bullet while I’m trying to leave. If it’s really something you feel strongly about I’d get a babysitter.
Anonymous says
Do you but my suburban town protests are perfectly safe with lots of kids! No need to shame others choices.
Anon says
+1. I go to protests in my community that are specifically organized by moms to be family friendly. Know your protests.
Anon says
Seriously? Where do you live that protests are ending like that?
Anonymous says
In DC. You seriously forget the BLM protests already?
Anonymous says
Not a single daytime NYC BLM protest ended in violence. We couldn’t go because pandemic + employment at a cancer hospital made it too risky, but we had multiple friends who went to different protests and one on our Brooklyn corner.
Anonymous says
I don’t think you can control the messages your kids receive. There will likely be people there holding photos of slain children, etc.
Anon says
Yeah the fact that I can’t control what other people are saying and have on their signs are the main reason I’m not taking my 4 year old. She does have lockdown drills at her preschool (ugh) but at least at this age just believes it’s a pretend game of being silent, I don’t think she has any understanding of what an active shooter is or even an understanding that a bad person is there to try to hurt them.
Anonymous says
Wish me luck, we’re attempting to potty train this weekend! I’m a little anxious about all the potential messes.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Good luck!! Hopefully it is a smooth process for you. And hopefully the weather is nice and they can run around a bit, if you’ve got a private yard and can keep them pantsless!
Aunt Jamesina says
Good luck! We’re trying some sleep training ideas from Precious Little Sleep this weekend. This kid has been waking up every 2 hours or so since she was four months old and it’s. killing. me.