Postpartum Tuesday: Document Organizer
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I am intrigued, ladies — when you were pregnant and postpartum, did you rely on paper organizers or online organization? This Baby Briefcase looks like an interesting way to store and organize things, but my complaint would be that it would hold things that I could easily jettison after a few months (like a thank-you tracker or the original research on childcare, which I’m guessing would be lots of pamphlets for agencies and daycares and the like) along with things that I would keep forever, like a birth certificate. But I am heavily biased towards online organization anyway because, well, I’m me. (See my earlier posts on photo organization and kid-clothes-purchasing organization!) Still, it’s an interesting idea, and I can see it being a thoughtful gift at a baby shower. The Baby Briefcase is $29.99 at Nordstrom. Baby Briefcase Document Organizer
Update: It’s $26 at Amazon (with Prime!).
(L-3)
Sales of note for 12/30:
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – The Half-Yearly Sale has started — up to 60% off! See our roundup here.
- AllSaints – now up to 60% off (some of the best leather jackets!)
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your purchase; extra 40% off + additional 30% off sale styles
- Banana Republic Factory – The Winter Sale: 50% off everything + extra 60% off clearance
- Boden – Sale, up to 60% — readers love this blazer, these dresses, and their double-layer line of tees
- DeMellier – Sale now on, free shipping and returns — includes select options like Montreal, Vancouver, and Venice
- Eloquii – Semi-annual clearance, up to 85% off; extra 60% off clearance
- Everlane – Sale of the year, up to 70% off — reader favorites include their scoop tee, Dream Pant, ReNew Transit backpack, silk blouses and oversized blazers!
- Hannah Andersson – The Twice-a-Year Big Hanna Sale: Up to 60% off (even new arrivals on sale!)
- J.Crew – 25% off full-price styles; up to 50% off cashmere; 70% off 3+ sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – 60% off winter faves; extra 25% off $100+
- L.K. Bennett – All sale half price or less
- M.M.LaFleur – Flash sale, extra 30% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off, plus free shipping on everything (and 20% off your first order)
- Talbots – Semi-Annual Red Door Sale, extra 40% off markdowns, and daily Red Door Deals starting at $19.50
And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
- I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
- I’m thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?
- I’m now a SAHM and my husband needs to step up…
- How can I change my thinking to better recognize some of my husband’s contributions as important, like organizing the shed?
- What are your tips to having a good weekend with kids, especially with little kids? Do you have a set routine or plan?
Visited the parents. Said many times I didn’t have space to bring presents back. And I don’t. Parents insisted they needed to buy something- I asked them to buy a replacement hoodie for my kid (zip broke on hoodie on day two). We are three days in to vacation. Parents have brought everything under the sun except hoodie. When it comes time to leave and they and my kid get upset because we can’t take any of this stuff back (I’ll suggest mailing) they are going to get upset with me.
Last two times they bought me a suitcase for all the stuff they bought (most of which I didn’t want and donated). I refuse to take another suitcase of junk back to my house. And I can’t manage an extra bag with a kid at the airport (props to those of you who manage to pack everything under the sun on trips- we only ever bring one duffle and a diaper bag as that’s all I seem to be able to manage).
Late in the day, if I remember I’ll repost tomorrow just to be sure everyone sees. My mom is a teacher and just told me about an adorable idea: The parents of one of her students bought “Oh The Places You’ll Go” when kid was in preschool and have asked every teacher since then to sign it and write a quick note with the plan to give it as a HS graduation gift.
Help! I need a gut check on a babysitter situation. There is a woman who babysits for us, usually once a week. She’s one of my daughter’s former daycare teachers. She usually makes about $80 when she babysits (depends on how long we are gone, of course). She just texted me and said she wants to try to make $100 a week babysitting for us because it is her grocery money. We love this woman, and she’s great with our kids and I really want to help her as much as I can….but it would be a stretch for us. We could probably afford it for now, but not when my husband quits his corporate job to run a small business later this year. I’m just uncomfortable with the request, somehow. Is my discomfort justified, or is this an entirely reasonable request?
Anyone have experience with having a toddler go through a sleep study? My son (2.5 yr) is getting a sleep study to evaluate him for sleep apnea. My parents and husband are very pessimistic about having a toddler actually sleep during the procedure. One parent has to stay overnight with the child. My son is actually a pretty great sleeper once he falls asleep and I don’t really see this as being such a big deal. He has slept at both my parents house and MILs house overnight so he can sleep in unfamiliar places. Am I deluding myself in thinking this is not going to be a big deal?
Anyone have a torticollis baby and consider using a helmet to help with a flat side of the head (it’s really one side on the back)? Or any other helmet experiences?
I have a six month old making good progress in PT for torticollis but the head shape isn’t great. Meeting with the ped for the 6 month well baby visit soon and will ask her, but I’d love some first-person accounts, especially in light of (perhaps flawed) studies showing it may not be worth it.
Thank you!
I just returned from a trip to visit a friend with my 13-month-old. I posted for advice about whether to buy him his own seat. I did, and it was definitely worth it.
However, if you can avoid it, do not fly Delta with a baby. On the positive side, all my flights were on time, my baggage showed up, and the vast majority of the crew were polite and helpful. BUT it seems like the airline itself is actively discouraging parents from flying with children. First, there are no changing tables in the airplane bathrooms. That resulted in me changing a poopy diaper with my son in my lap (over a changing pad) while I sat on the toilet. He wriggled until he was basically upside-down and then screamed at the top of his lungs until it was over. The only silver lining was that he couldn’t escape because the bathroom was too small to give him anywhere to go. Second, I gate-checked a stroller, and on both flights yesterday, nobody brought the stroller up from the cargo hold when the plane landed. On the first flight, the flight attendant had to personally go get the stroller, and on the second, the pilot got involved to get the cargo hold open–which finally happened at least 10 minutes after the last people de-boarded and while the cleaning crew was on the plane. Third, and I realize this is probably not unique to Delta, the pitch between the seats was so small that the car seat did not really fit if turned rear-facing (I could wedge it, but it pushed the seat in front), and if front-facing, my son’s legs reached the seat in front of him, which meant he spent the entire plane trip trying to kick the seat. Also, not a huge deal, but turning the seat front-facing required a seat belt extender. Finally, I find Delta’s new policy of having to pay extra to reserve seats annoying, especially when airline policy and safety require you to have certain seat assignments (car seat in window seat, parent next to child).
I received this as a present and I thought for $30 why would I not just purchase a plastic file box with some hanging files? It will hold 10x more documents and you can customize your files. I would probably steer away from this one.
I was one of the ones yesterday who just felt so worn down by the endless loop of little kid full-time job life. I felt like I had been hit by a Mac truck. Lo and behold: I had a UTI brewing, which decided to make itself well known at 3am. I felt/feel awful but capable of functioning (AZO plus Tylenol took the edge off). I called at 8am, visited the doc at 9:00 and was to work with prescription in hand by 10:30. Now I am wondering if this pattern of behavior is part of my overall issue? Would you ladies have taken a sick day today?
Can anyone recommend a lunch bag for a toddler? I need to fit two bottles, tupperware for solids and a sippy cup. Ideally it would be insulated and stay upright so that I don’t dump milk all over the car on the way to daycare. Thanks!
Hey y’all. My don’t-give-a-4u&* is showing at work, and I need advice on either hiding it better or getting my mojo back. Any ideas?
I start a new job next week and found out last week I’m pregnant with #2. Obviously this was not the timing I had in mind. Our first is 13 months and we weren’t decided on whether to have more. We are excited and happy to have another, but I’m anxious about what this means for the new job.
I would love to hear any thoughts or advice. Do I tell right away? How to deal with nausea/exhaustion when trying to impress new bosses? I’m in biglaw and junior/midlevel.
Does anyone else read Cup of Jo?
Her recent post on Germany was really interesting – I’m torn about how I feel. Right now I can’t imagine doing it, but my baby is only 9 months old. Does anyone with a kid closer to three have any thoughts?
http://cupofjo.com/2016/06/parenting-in-berlin-germany/
How do all of you cope with day-to-day stress? I was never the “my home must be perfect” type, but I do feel a sense of moral failure if my house gets past my admittedly low standards. I often feel stressed and like I’m always failing someone somewhere in my life. Last night, I got back from a business trip during which I didn’t sleep much since I had picked up my kids’ cold just before leaving, and wound up dissatisfied, cranky, and stressed because I stayed up later than I “should” have because I wanted a little time to catch up with my husband, but that meant that I would have to either get less than 5 hrs of sleep (while sick with a cold) or skip walking the dog in the morning. The dog tends not to get walked if I’m not around, so he’d already gone a few days without a walk (also it’s just hard for one adult to walk the dog and watch our two small kids at the same time, so he tends to go unwalked if one of us is traveling). I feel like I’m always trying to decide who gets the short end of the stick — my job, my kids, my husband, my dog, me — and almost always feel either guilty about whoever got shortchanged or run down/exhausted because I managed to give myself the short end of the stick by sacrificing sleep to avoid short changing anyone else. Of course, if I short change myself, I wind up short changing everyone else because I get crabby and hard to be around. I know I’m not the only one dealing with this. How do you manage your own expectations so you’re not taking on more than you can realistically handle, and how do you decide what’s going to slip and what’s going to get your time?
Sort of a sleep training question. For those of you that did some form of sleep training, what did you do when baby woke up after falling asleep? Let him cry himself back to sleep? Feed him and then put him back? Our little one sleeps okay but refuses to sleep unswaddled so training really focused on that not on sleeping generally. But he also still wakes up to eat at night and is not at a point where that’s really necessary so I am wondering what order we should be tackling these issues. Get him to sleep unswaddled first and then move on to eliminate one feeding and then the second? He more or less has eliminated the first one around midnight since we started to sleep train, but then last night kept waking up on and off after falling asleep and crying for 10-15 min. Normally I’d go in and give him a pacifier at that point and he would be back asleep but I didn’t do it last night because it seems at odds with sleep training. Obviously we make sure nothing is wrong but wondering if this is normal/we should be doing something else.