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Sales of note for 9.10.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
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Kid/Family Sales
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Anon says
Cross-post. I’m looking for a solid wood twin bed with built-in drawers for a kid’s bedroom. There is one from IKEA (the Hemnes), but I don’t necessarily love the white painted look and would prefer natural wood. Any other recommendations? The drawers are a must for storage and to prevent midnight cat attacks from under the bed and I would prefer built-ins – after-market drawers never tend to look tidy. TIA!
AwayEmily says
We have a solid wood bunk bed by Harriet Bee (ordered via Wayfair) and it’s been fantastic. Looks like they also have a twin bed with drawers in natural wood: Boling Kids Twin Bed with Drawers.
Anon says
That looks really promising – thanks so much for the brand recommendation! I have never heard of it.
NYCer says
Check out Maxtrix Kids. They have lots of configurations.
Anon says
Do you have experience with Matrix Beds/Quality? I’ve been looking at them because I need an XL twin frame that can accommodate a trundle and am having a very difficult time
NYCer says
My younger daughter really wanted bunk beds, so we bought them from Maxtrix earlier this year when we moved. I liked that they had stairs as an option. So far so good, but it has only been 6 months….
CCLA says
I don’t but a friend has had them through multiple moves and loves them.
Anon says
Check out Max and Lily. Solid wood and reasonably priced. We just got them for our kids (literally over the weekend), so I can’t speak to longevity, but we like them so far. The one thing I didn’t like much is that the slats that the bed comes with are very far apart, so we had to buy upgraded slats.
Anon says
i have twins in K. last night at dinner somehow it came up that Twin A and Twin B were playing with a girl from Twin A’s class (so group of 3) and someone from Twin B’s class came over and asked to play and they didn’t want to play with her so they ran away from her. I was trying to understand why they didnt want to play with her (maybe something happened where she did something mean, or she wanted to play something different, etc.) but they did not do a particularly good job of articulating that. We talked about how this is not kind and how you might feel in the reverse situation (though I’m not sure it got through to them), etc. and we generally talk a lot about being kind and inclusive, but what do I do to make sure I am not raising mean girls? I am also kind of surprised my girls are playing with each other so much on the playground as in PreK it was more sporadic, but now it sounds like every day, though it is only the 4th week of school and I’m sure that will change
Anonymous says
Don’t stress unless you know this is a persistent issue. I just leave it at ‘it’s kind to include people’. It could be that the other girl was trying to take over their game or that one of the girls had a previous conflict with her or something but they didn’t have a good way to articulate the issue.
Not saying it isn’t hard on the other kid. One of my twins has likely been the excluded twin more than a few times but you can’t make kids play together at the elementary level. Just emphasize kindness and inclusion.
Mary Moo Cow says
Gently, try not to stress about it. It is Kindergarten. When both of my kids were in Kindergarten (2 years ago and last year), friendships were fluid, recess was a free for all, and information coming home was not always reliable. Running away from someone one day does not a mean girl for life make. This is their first year of school and they’re still pretty new to it at 4 weeks in; they’re figuring out how to be a person in a group. Short and earnest conversations about recess and playing nicely are valuable, and trust they are getting the message, but no need to belabor the point or convince yourself they will grow up to be animals.
Anon says
Kids don’t have to play with other kids just because they ask. Maybe they have a good reason to not want to play with her…or maybe it’s a bad reason, but it’s still their choice to make. If three kids are in the middle of a game, adding another kid could totally disrupt it.
I wouldn’t make them feel like they’ve done anything wrong, and am a big fan of letting kids manage their own playground social lives — it’s how they learn!
Continue to talk about inclusion, empathy, etc, but don’t harp on this incident.
OP says
thanks! i agree that kids don’t have to just play with other kids, but if they are in the middle of a game can say so, i think running away is mean/rude, though i realize they are 5.
Anonymous says
Agree, but I would add when I had this situation with my kid around that age, I would empathize that often it’s kinder to tell the person why you don’t want to play with them — e.g. we’re in the middle of a game, let’s play later — so they don’t feel like you’re being unkind.
Anon says
Yeah I think you’re overthinking it. My K kid has been on both ends of this. They bounce back from rejection easily at this age and I wouldn’t stress about it unless it’s consistently one kid being excluded from a group.
CCLA says
As the parent of a kiddo who has struggled with feeling excluded at recess at that age, I don’t think it’s true that they always bounce back quickly. I very much understand that no one is obligated to play with one another, but OP I appreciate your being tuned into it. Don’t think you need to dwell on it, but noting the kindness aspect is great.
Anonymous says
Thoughts on what to send a friend who just had her second baby? She lives in Reading, MA and local-ish suggestions would be welcome (I live in TX) but I’m open to any ideas. DH already set up their meal train.
Mary Moo Cow says
What I appreciated most after our second child was time and adult connection. And really nice unscented hand cream because of all the washing. But really, a phone call from a friend when I was mired in baby life was worth more to me than meal delivery.
Anon says
Same.
anon says
I recall having so much to do that even dealing with receiving flowers was too much. I think practical support like food is great, as is emotional support, but I might hold off on sending stuff for awhile unless you suspect finances might be tight.
anon says
Reporting live from Reading, MA. ha!
What are you looking to send? Food? Flowers?
anon says
In case helpful…. a couple of great local restaurants are on grubhub or the various take out apps. Public Kitchen and Professor’s Market are great. GCs to one of those might be really helpful (esp Prof Market as they are an upscale deli with some prepared foods, have breakfast and lunch, are open throughout the day, including early. Public Kitchen is good dine in/ take out but wouldn’t necessarily be practical but for providing them one or two nicer meals, which honestly isn’t what I’d have wanted right after a newborn.
anon says
What would you serve for an afternoon birthday party for a bunch of 4 year olds and their parents? party is 2:30-4p. So far, I’m planning veggie tray, fruit tray, cookies, soft pretzels and of course cake. Oh also juice and seltzer and beer. This doesn’t seem like enough variety to me. (Several of our guests are vegan (parents, not kids), so I do want to be sensitive to that – currently all of that is vegan except the cookies and cake.)
Other suggestions? Or just tell me that’s enough for an afternoon party. I’m so used to doing a pizza birthday that it seems like there isn’t enough food without a pizza…
Anon says
I’m not sure about the vegan part, but I think people may expect more substantive food even if the party ends at 4. I don’t think we attended any preschool party that didn’t have pizza or chicken nuggets/tenders. Can you get pizza from a vegan friendly place and get one vegan pie?
Anon says
+1 to not attending a preschool party without a more substantive option. Also, we are definitely not vegan, but my kids would have been starving at a party at that time with nothing more substantive. That’s peak snack time, and the hanger would have been strong if the kids only had sugar (which is basically fruit and cake). I would add a chicken nugget platter, and some hummus for the vegan set.
Anon says
we attended MANY without pizza or nuggets, but usually there were at least bags of goldfish, pirates booty, etc.
More Sleep Would Be Nice says
+1 – Order the pizzas. Worst case you take home or share the leftovers for folks to take home.
Of all the birthday parties I’ve been to – family, friend’s kids, and classmates – only ONE did not have anything substantive, and I was confused how this was a thing.
Anon says
I freely admit that I accept preschool party invites for two reasons, (1) to get to know the parents of my kids’ friends, and (2) to skip having to feed my kid the meal that falls closest to the birthday party. I don’t need to be fed as an adult, but if I’m spending the afternoon at a party with a bunch of 4 year olds, I would be annoyed (secretly and quietly) if I had to then go home and cook for my kid. I usually use those evenings to order in something that my husband and I like that kid won’t eat, and take the night off of worrying about what to feed my child. Obviously, if cost or finances are tight, this doesn’t apply.
Anon says
Same. And the guests are buying a gift for your kid, which likely runs at least $10-15, so I think it’s courteous to buy people dinner if you can afford it.
Anon NYC says
But the party ends at 4 pm. This means eating pizza or nuggets for “dinner” at 3:15-3:30 pm. My kid would definitely still need dinner. I am not saying that OP couldn’t have pizza at this party, but I honestly don’t know anyone in my circle who would expect dinner at a 4 year-old’s party called from 2:30 – 4 pm. Clearly this varies by area or friend groups though!
More Sleep Would Be Nice says
Yup. Also, if my kids eat a heavy snack of pizza or nuggets at 3:30, they get a light snack-y dinner at 6 PM dinner time and it frees up my bandwidth.
I also think it’s just weird not to feed everyone present (or at least give them the option to eat) – with the exception of that one party I mentioned above, all the birthday parties (with families of all types of cultural and financial backgrounds), I’ve attended have had plenty for all in attendance.
Anon says
I guess in my experience, the party would actually go a little later, and yeah, my 4 year old would have eaten chicken nuggets and veggies at 3:45, cake at 4ish, then I could throw a heavy snack in their direction just before bedtime, and still not have to cook or clean anything up. Just being honest since the OP asked. It makes sense to me to go if I can feed my child and chat a bit, usually not worth it enough to me if I can’t feed my kid. *ducks head*
Anonymous says
This party is an hour and a half long in the middle of the afternoon. OP doesn’t owe her guests dinner. I would add hummus to the veggie tray and/or some cheese dip for the pretzels just for some protein. Or drop the pretzels in favor of cheese and crackers. And you don’t need the cookies.
Anon says
Yeah I feel like these parties rarely end on time (especially if it’s only scheduled for 1.5 hours) and eating dinner at 4 pm would be fine for my kid. She might eat again before bed but not a full meal.
you've got this says
This is plenty of food for the time of day and I see no need to serve anything else, except maybe also have a pitcher of plain water since some kids don’t like bubbles.
Anon says
Our circle’s norm is just to do snacks at that time so that sounds fine to me.
Anon says
so first of all you could do pizza (though i realize that isn’t vegan). but otherwise you could add in bags of goldfish, popcorn, et.
NYCer says
I would probably include some more snack foods for the kids. Maybe cheese sticks, yogurt pouches, goldfish or other crackers of your liking, hummus to go with the veggies (if you weren’t already planning that). Something along those lines.
For the adults, I think a veggie tray and fruit tray is sufficient for a party at that time.
I would also offer regular water, not just juice, seltzer and beer.
Anon says
I’m planning a birthday party from 1:30 – 3 and doing pretty much exactly what you describe, plus a basket of pirates booty and goldfish packs. so if you’re wrong, so am I!
OP says
This is super helpful. I feel like folks are right – there should be some kind of protein-y snack if not pizza. We’re having an organized activity for the bulk of the party, so there’s not really “sit down and eat pizza” time, which is why I wasn’t thinking pizza, but I think I will add something in the ‘snack dinner” vein. Maybe a cracker, meat and cheese plate, some yogurt pouches? and yes on the hummus suggestion.
Anonymous says
I think adding a protein is a good idea (not that my carb craving child would have eaten it). I refuse to provide lunch or dinner for my mid-afternoon birthday parties but I do try to make clear on the invite what I’m serving so people know what to expect and can plan (or decline) accordingly, e.g., “snacks and cake will be served.”
Anonymous says
In our circle, cut up veggies, individual crackers packs or pirate’s booty, string cheese, fruit. Maybe little sandwiches. Then cake.
Growing up I don’t think food was a part of afternoon between-meal parties except for cake and ice cream!
Vicky Austin says
Right, starting solids soon…tips and opinions?
Anon says
My biggest tip is “food before one is just for fun” – got that from our ped. It’s great to give baby bites of baby food and/or what you’re eating as long as it’s fun but you don’t need to stress about hitting a certain quantity or variety of foods at this age.
Our ped told us to introduce new foods one at a time so it’s easier to pinpoint the cause of an allergic reaction. There’s some recent evidence that introducing allergens early is good so don’t feel like you have to avoid them.
Kids naturally get pickier between 18 and 24 months and it’s not your fault, it’s just how humans are wired.
Avoid Solid Starts and other fear mongery social media accounts.
Mary Moo Cow says
I liked The Amazing Make Ahead Babyfood coobook, just for its month of menus. Even if you don’t make your own food, printing out/copying the menu and posting it on the fridge frees up so much mental energy spent on “what should I feed you today?”
I did make some of the food and found it to be pretty easy. I bought more than half of the suggested foods, though (like prunes, brocooli, etc.) and felt zero guilt.
An.On. says
FWIW I felt like husband was overcautious on solids (he wanted to do rice cereal in milk instead of just trying a puree, at like, nine months) and we relied a lot on purees instead of baby led weaning, which made me feel like kid was behind on developing spoon/fork handling and self-feeding skills but frankly at two years old it’s all water under the bridge and it feels silly to have spent so much time worrying about whether we were progressing fast enough.
We were (and are) kind of bad about feeding ourselves and trying to manage an infant didn’t help, so we ended up doing a meal subscription (when kid was moving past purees) and that helped us prepare regular healthy/balanced meals with some variety. Now we can just do couscous and steamed veggies just for kid if we need to so we’ve gone off the subscription.
Also, the long skinny spoons are better for getting the last of the puree from the jar, but the fat chunky spoons are easier for kids to hold. I’d get both. And we had great success with penne. Easy to hold and nibble.
Anonymous says
In my observation, BLW babies actually take longer to learn to eat solids. A progression from purees to chunkier mashed-up foods to finger foods teaches them to swallow properly. All the BLW babies I know have had trouble figuring out how to swallow. They cram a bunch of food into their mouths and then gag.
Emma says
I know it’s late but in case you see this – I agonized about doing BLW or purees. I know some people frown on this, but I ended up doing both. The spoon fed purees and cereal helped me ensure she actually ate something because she was a bit too skinny at 6 months, but then I started giving her some blw style chunks too. At around 9 months she decided she wanted nothing to do with purees and was all BLW but by then she had good eating skills and a pincer grasp. She’s a great eater now at 1.
Anon says
I did both too. I think it’s pretty common and it worked great for us. My kid is super picky now but ate everything as a baby and young toddler, and I don’t think her pickiness has anything to do with purées or lack thereof.
Anonymous says
That’s parents offering them too much food at a time though. No one is gagging on like two cheerios.
Anonymous says
Cook your regular food without salt or honey and just dice it small. I liked various puree pouches and rice cakes for being on the go.
Start early – 6 months at the latest. UK study showed a 77% reduction in peanut allergy in babies who had peanut between 4-6 months.
Anon says
My K-er casually mentioned yesterday that a classmate showed her his p3nis at rest time. She seemed pretty unfazed by the whole thing – tbh, she seemed more upset that the boy wasn’t being quiet like he was supposed to. She said she told him to stop it, she looked the other way while it was “out” and she told the teacher, who apparently talked to the boy. We told her she did all the right things and she should tell us and the teacher if it happens again or if he does anything else weird. Is there anything else I should do? My instinct is this is not a big deal but want to make sure I’m not under-reacting.
Anon says
Sounds like she and the teacher handled it well. You could mention it to the teacher just to check in.