Family Friday: Pom-Pom Pets Book and Activity Kit
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Good thing my kids don’t read anything I write, because here’s something that’s ending up under the tree.
I love the idea of craft kits, but not so much the idea of doing them with my kids. Here’s one I hope will occupy my oldest without occupying me. Kids will use a fork to wrap, tie, and snip in order to make cute mini pom-pom pets. Just add the included eyes, nose, ears, tail, and rosy cheeks for a new little friend.
This kit from Klutz is available at Amazon.
Sales of note for 5/14/25
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Beauty Deals up to 25% off (ends 5/17)
- Ann Taylor – Suit Yourself! 30% off suiting (ends 5/16) + 25% off your full price purchase (ends 5/18) + extra 60% off sale (ends 5/14)
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 25% off
- Eloquii – Up to 60% off everything + extra 60% off sale + $1 shipping on all orders
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off long-weekend styles + 50% off select swim and coverups
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 50% off clearance + extra 15% off $100+ + extra 20% off $125+
- M.M.LaFleur – Lots of twill suiting on sale! Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – 40% off all markdowns (ends 5/18) + 30% off dresses, skirts, accessories, and shoes
How far along in pregnancy would you travel for true family emergency (e.g., funeral for spouse’s parent?)
I’m in the third trimester but still technically allowed to fly (I think?). Travel involves flying with a layover. Destination is a smallish city in a very red state, very religious area (which feels relevant even though I know it shouldn’t be). They do have an hospital with a NICU, thou it is a lower level NICU than my local hospital. Obviously women give birth there all the time, and it isn’t a rural area with literally no medical access. The likelihood of the hospital becoming an issue is really small. But it’s spinning in the back of my mind, along with a million other things.
I am very much not wanting to travel right now for a bunch of reasons (pregnancy, COVID/flu, weather, usual holiday travel issues), but these are extreme circumstances.
Happy Friday! Does anyone have tips for making mornings easier, quicker with a 3 year old? I’m doing a lot of prep the night before, waking up earlier, etc. but still feels like chaos and madness trying to get out the door to daycare and work. I’ve seen chore charts and routine cards online but skeptical that will really get this little bum moving!
How did you know you were done having kids? DH and I have a 5 month old baby and couldn’t be happier. The adjustment from no kids to 1 kid was natural. We always said we’d have an only child. However, I’ve started feeling sad that our baby won’t have a sibling, and thinking about what life would look like with another. It would be a tight squeeze in our house, but we could make it work. I’ve heard the transition from 1 to 2 kids is really hard though. I think my husband would go along with it if I REALLY wanted to, but I’m not sure if I do.
How do I slow fade a toxic friend when my other friends keep pulling her back in? Toxic friend and I are the only moms in our friend group. She brags about how advanced her toddler is, joins our Zoom calls just to talk about herself and then leaves before hearing from anyone else, receives time, attention, and gifts from us but does not reciprocate, has backed out of our girls trips at the last minute leaving us in a lurch, etc. Also, she is cruel to her stepson who is on the spectrum, but our friends take her side and I am the only one calling her out. I really like these women and I want to continue being friends with them, but I am baffled by how infatuated they are with Toxic Friend. Since Toxic Friend and I are the only two moms in the group I am a bit more sensitive to her insufferableness (sends her son to a special Montessori school 45 minutes away, speaks to him only in French, etc). She has also made rude comments about my son, family, culture, etc which the rest of the group is not aware of. I don’t know how to explain all of this to the rest of the group without seeming jealous or petty.
For those who have experienced postpartum depression what prompted you seek out treatment ultimately? And if you didn’t did you wish you had done so sooner, or did things just resolve on their own? Anything you would have done differently? I am considering finding a therapist or even a psychiatrist but it is harder than I thought to find someone local with appointments available.
How do you handle it when your kiddo has a lot of social drama? My 9 year old recently became friends with this new group of girls. Two of the girls have been friends forever, but my daughter is new to the group along with another girl (let’s call her Mia). Both came to the group at the same time. Mia does not like my daughter and is constantly convincing the other two girls to not be friends with my daughter. So the girls have gone through one day periods where they won’t be friends with my daughter, and then they make up. This leads my daughter to be very upset. I spent hours with her crying and talking about it yesterday, emailing the teacher to resolve, etc.
Any tips on how to handle? I just validated and encouraged her to spend time with other girls who are less drama filled (she has another group of good friends who never have this type of drama) and making new friends and to think about what she is willing to tolerate with friends.
Also this is exhausting. Between this, the million of extracurriculars (almost every night we don’t get home til 8 pm) and a 4 year old boy who is a lot I am ready to pull my hair out.
My daycare just sent a note that they’re doing a holiday theme week next week, with things like santa hats day, ugly Christmas sweater day, and taking pictures with Santa. They’re also doing secret santas and stockings, so we’ll need to bring in little gifts for everyone. We’re Jewish, and I don’t really care about our kid participating in Christmas events, but it seems weird to me! They did have another Jewish family come in last week and tell the kids about Hanukkah (which I only found out about afterwards! It would have been nice to know in advance so we could participate in that, but oh well). But a whole week of Christmas events, including meeting Santa, seems like a lot.
This week my husband dropped off our daughter at daycare Weds-Friday. Normally I do it all, and I’ve been working on offloading some of my responsibilities on him. Wednesday he forgot her socks and shoes. Thursday he forgot her snacks. Today he forgot her entire lunch. He’s upset because daycare probably thinks he’s incompetent. Well, yes. They do.