Family Friday: Fun Flash Skip Ball
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Who had a Skip-It back in the ’80s? Well, skip balls are back.
My oldest has a skip ball like this one — as the ball spins, lights automatically flash. It’s an easy, fun way to get kids outside and staying active all summer long.
Joyfy’s Blue Ankle Skip Ball is on sale for $14.99 (originally $29.99) at Target.
Sales of note for 6/24/25
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Designer clearance up to 60% off
- Ann Taylor – 30% off tops & sweaters + extra 30% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Eloquii – Semi-annual clearance, up to 80% off
- J.Crew – Big Summer Event: Up to 50% off almost everything (ends 6/26) + extra 50% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – Up to 60% off + extra 60% off clearance
- M.M.LaFleur – Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Spanx – Free shipping on everything
- Talbots – 29+ summer shirts + $29.99 all markdown sweaters + extra 30% off other markdowns
Any tips for hiring an after-school babysitter? Did you use care dot com or another platform to find someone? Is now too early to look? I’m changing jobs and have vacations coming up so I’d like to get ahead of this. Advice appreciated!
My husband’s siblings are all much older, so we are closer in age to our nieces and nephews than to his siblings. Our niece’s son has all sorts of problems and diagnoses, and will probably end up diagnosed with ODD. He hits his cousins and sister, destroys property, has tantrums in public places, and purposely tries to hurt his parents’ feelings. At school he has violent outbursts at that require the rest of the class to be evacuated from the classroom. His parents don’t want him on an IEP or placed in a special education classroom that can deal with his behavioral needs; instead, they want a 504 plan that requires his teachers to spend all their time coddling him. For example, they want all transitions from one activity to another to be made “enticing” to him. If he doesn’t want to put down the book he’s reading when it’s time for math, they want the teacher to be required to wheedle him into putting the book down instead of taking it away. They also want the whole classroom modified with different lighting, etc. just for him.
My daughter is a few years older and attended the same elementary school. She also has special needs that we don’t discuss with our family, and the school was terrible at accommodating her needs because she still got As and behaved well. Elementary school was a miserable experience for her because the school ignored her needs while allowing outrageous behavior like her cousin’s. At one point she was assigned to be “friends” with the class bully, who had some sort of serious behavioral disorder, and was even forced to serve as a role-play partner for this child in the child’s sessions with the school counselor. This was humiliating for my daughter and caused her to miss out on instructional time. So I have Feelings about my niece’s attitude and constant griping about how hard her life is and how unfair the school is to her son.
For the past few months I’ve been avoiding my niece and her family. Her parents, who are my favorite BIL and SIL, are coming to town this weekend. This means that there will be several get-togethers with the extended family. During these gatherings, my niece sits back with an adult beverage and complains nonstop while ignoring her children and expecting the rest of us to keep them from running into the street or falling in the pool or beating one other up. My BIL and SIL are also extremely protective of their daughter and won’t be open to any alternative perspectives. Would I be a horrible person if my daughter and I happened to be busy all weekend and didn’t turn up to the family get-togethers? I am genuinely worried that I won’t be able to hold my tongue and will speak my mind, which won’t do anyone any good.
Hey guys – I posted yesterday about my kid needing prism glasses to help with his eyes staying aligned. I’m really struggling. I’m the anxious Mom that posts from time to time. It just feels like whack-a-mole with this kid and once something is in a better place (e.g. speech), something else pops up (now his vision!). It’s just felt nonstop since I was pregnant with him on multiple fronts of my life and he’s now 4.5.
How do I get out of this bad headspace? I’m scared it’ll always be like this with him and I’m just not emotionally equipped to handle this type of journey (that’s my anxiety talking, I know). I’m trying to focus on the fact that he’s happy, learning, thriving, and generally fun to be around. Every time we’ve gotten him help, it’s pushed him forward successfully.
My friends IRL just haven’t had this kind of experience with their kids, AND I don’t want them to think differently about him, so it’s hard to share my feelings with anyone except DH and my immediate family. I know this is more about me than him.
Does anyone have any advice, or happy stories about similar experiences they can share?
Anyone have recommendations for a good postpartum strength course I could do for free on YouTube at home with minimal equipment? I would be open to a paid program as long as there is a generous free trial. I’m recovered from my C-section eight months ago but I just haven’t really regained my core strength in particular.
School’s finally out! We marked the end of school with 5 other families (14 people in total), and it was so, so nice. I did the Smitten Kitchen poolside slaw, dough balls, and we had veggie and vegan pizzas delivered, and ice cream bars in the freezer. Wine and sparkling lemonade. All in all, very low maintenance. The parents all sat around and chatted, and the kids ran wild in the front garden. My son’s had a tough year – and we’re away for most of the summer – so I was really keen to end the year on a positive note.
Also, lol at my son’s teacher, who sent him home with the 6 foot tall prized painting of Horus (the Egyptian god of the underworld) who know resides on our hall cupboard door. Just the touch of elegance I was looking for.
Aaaand the Skip-it jingle is in my head.
My mom would not buy me one when I was a kid, because she said it was plastic junk that would only last a day, so I fashioned my own with found materials. And my mom was right, all my friends’ Skip-its were short-lived. Super fun song, though!
Thank you so much for your response, it was really helpful. We are not in LA, unfortunately. But I feel confident (so far) in the professionals we’re engaging. We are open to the procedure if we end up needing it; from everything I understand it’s minimally invasive and is ultimately really successful, with all the caveats of any procedure. We’ll see what the ped ophthalmologist says and how it goes with the glasses first, of course. I liked your point about getting any procedure now vs. 6 months vs. 1 year, will definitely ask.
I’m hoping because his vision is so far good, we can get some success with minimal intervention. I’m also curious if this will help with some other things like motor skills/balance – he is within the range of normal, but is definitely on the lower end of the curve in this realm.
I’m honestly sad about it all. I know this isn’t a big thing on its own, but there is other history/stuff at play with this kid and I just feel beat down by it all. I have to remind myself that he’s happy, learning, growing, and thriving and that’s what actually matters.
Is bug spray OK for babies >6 months? What kind do you recommend? We’re heading to a beach soon and it was pretty buggy last year so I want to be prepared.