This post may contain affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
When my son was a newborn, I used these types of gowns all the time. The frequent diaper changes in those newborn days made me regret anything with too many snaps.
With these gowns, you just lift up the bottom, handle the business, and pull it down, done. They’re the best for nighttime changes and make the process so much faster. I also liked the one-piece in those very early days when the belly button is still healing. These are a definite newborn essential!
A 4-pack is available at Amazon for about $16.99, depending on size. 4-Pack Baby Gowns
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
See some of our latest articles on CorporetteMoms:
Click here to see our top posts!
And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- If you’re a working parent of an infant with low sleep needs, how do you function at work when you’re in the throes of baby’s sleep regression?
- Should I cut my childcare down to 12 hours a month if I work from home?
- Will my baby have speech delays if we raise her bilingual?
- Has anyone given birth in a teaching hospital?
- My child eats everything, and my friends’ kids do not – how should I handle? In general, what is the best way to handle when your child has some skill/ability and your friend’s child doesn’t have that skill/ability?
- ADHD moms, give me your tips to help with things like behavior in the classroom, attention to detail, etc?
- I think I suffer from mom rage…
- My husband and kids are gone this weekend – how should I enjoy my free time?
- I’m struggling to be compassionate with a SAHM friend who complains she doesn’t have enough hours of childcare.
- If you exclusively formula fed, what tips do you have for in the hospital and coming home?
- Could I take my 4-yo and 8-yo on a 7-8 day trip to Paris, Lyon, and Madrid?
anon says
Did anyone else hate these? We got a few as gifts, but I vastly preferred sleepers with feet.
Cb says
Oh I liked them, but only had 2 so I don’t think I ever got into a good routine with them. I mostly used Burt’s Bees zipped sleepers.
Anonanonanon says
Oh I loved these and always recommend them as an essential to people for the newborn stage. Much easier to just pull up for the middle of the night diaper change!
anon says
Yeah, I can see that logic, but the fact that they rode up all the time drove me crazy!
Anonanonanon says
They never rode up on my kids for some reason. They were always long enough to go below their feet and the elastic seemed to kind of keep them there. But I only used them for the first month or so.
Anonymous says
This. That first month, things needed to be easy. The opposite of easy: anything with snap closures on the legs. #teamgown #teamzipper
Lyssa says
The riding up drove me nuts, too. It made more sense to just put kid in a shirt (or an unsnapped onesie). It made sense in theory, but I didn’t like them in practice.
Pogo says
Yes we have a couple of these and they ride up so badly! I love the idea but in practice not mg fave.
Anon says
Got one as a gift and barely used it. I hate how they ride up. I much preferred snaps or zippers.
Spirograph says
Zippers for the win! I loved zipper footie sleepers. We had a couple gowns like this, and they did ride up a lot, but still better than snaps.
Anonymous says
Snaps are the devil.
Anon says
Ha I preferred snaps because zippers would get all wavy and bunchy right under baby’s chin.
Anon Lawyer says
I hate snaps so much. Why do they make them so complicated?
The magnet ones are good, albeit expensive.
Lyssa says
I preferred snaps for the newborn, at least when it was cold, because I didn’t have to undo the whole thing, and he wasn’t wiggly enough that snaps were a problem yet. After 2-3 months, when baby got a lot wigglier, zippers were definitely better.
Mrs. Jones says
I never used them either. We used onesies with snaps or sleepers with feet.
anon says
Also hated these!
Anon says
Yes, because my kiddo was so chunky, it felt like trying to wrestle a tights waistband up her in order to change the diaper. Maybe the cinching at the bottom to keep them from riding up was absurdly small for her, but I was not a fan. Team zipper all the way.
Anon says
I liked it in theory but they ride up so it would be around the baby’s armpits. Maybe they work better on chubbier babies.
Anonymous says
we had a summer baby and a hot apartment so he spent most of his time in a diaper + swaddle, or just a onesie if we had to go out.
AnotherAnon says
Team zippers forever.
GCA says
I hated them because they rode up so much! Footie sleepers with snaps (no need to undo them all for a diaper change) for my spring baby, and footie sleepers with zippers for my summer baby.
Anonymous says
Team zippers, but zippers that go bottom to top, rather than head to foot. Cloud Island’s (Target) are fantastic.
CCLA says
Yes!! Reverse zip is amazing. These are the holy grail of infant sleepwear (or actually all the time wear…my kids lived in them for the first couple months of life).
Ashley says
Yes!!!
Anon Lawyer says
I didn’t love them, though I used them periodically, but they were a lifesaver the first week when she had to be hooked up to a bilirubin blanket. (That’s a highly specific situation but still.)
Io says
It depends entirely on how wiggly your baby is. They’re great on the quiet introverted types and useless on the ones who have plans.
KateNP says
Also hated them. Didn’t stay down on baby, rode up around her waist. Used kimono style shirts for pre-umbilical cord time, then used snap onesies and swaddling instead. After the first 2 months, switched to reverse-zip footies for day-round wear. Also tried pants with onesies and she hated that too.
Boston Legal Eagle says
A somewhat odd question to start your Tuesday: How do all of you keep track of your kids’ stats (height, weight, etc.) as they get older? I know the pediatrician gives measurements, but those appointments are becoming just once a year for my oldest and I like to have more measurements for him throughout the year for clothes and whatnot. I’m actually still inputting the info into the “Babytracker” app from the newborn days, as I like that it still has the charts from the WHO (I think) to show me where they are on percentages for their ages. But it’s letting me know that my oldest is 52 months so it’s a bit outdated… Is there an older kid version of this app?
Cb says
We have a red book that serves as your child’s health record, with the charts, although my son hasn’t been officially weighed since 11 months, oops. I wonder if a low-tech solution would be the best one here, printing out the WHO chart and putting it on the fridge or in a folder with other essential docs.
Anon says
We don’t. We know it’s time to move up a clothing size when clothes start looking short or snug. I will occasionally have her step on the scale to make sure we’re not getting close to car seat weight limits, but I don’t record it.
Lyssa says
Same here. The pediatrician tracks it and gives us a handout (which we stick in the file cabinet), but assuming everything seems normal, I don’t see much reason to track otherwise. We’ve done the occasional weight/height measurement for some reason (like, going to an amusement park), but don’t really track things.
anon says
We also still use our baby app (BabyConnect)…
DLC says
“52 months!” Love that. Remember how we used to calculate age in hours, then days, then weeks?
Not helpful for clothes, necessarily, but every few months we do the “mark on the wall” method.
When I do need to buy clothes, since I mostly buy online these days and the kids grow so fast, I take a tape measure and measure kiddo while shopping.
Neither of these help with tracking along growth charts, but I do like that idea. It would definitely be interesting to see when growth spurts happen.
Anon says
i would love to be able to measure my kids for clothes buying, but one of my 2 year old twins freaks out every time i want to measure her height or feet or anything else. he also doesn’t like trying on new clothes, making the whole thing quite unpleasant/complicated
twinmomanon says
This is where I love having twins who are the exact same size! I just use whoever is being more cooperative at the moment to try on clothes and figure what fits her will also fit her sister.
Anon says
mine are fraternal and aren’t exactly the same. i buy the same size for now to make my life easier, but the larger one is the less cooperative one.
Anonymous says
I use an app—I think it’s Growth+. Can track one kid for free, I think the paid version was a one-time $3? Very happy with it.
Anonymous says
I don’t. I mean, I occasionally will weigh my kids if it’s been a long time and I need to double check their tylenol dosing or something. In that case, I make them hop on the scale.
They get new clothes when their clothes get too small. I do remember their sizes (2T/4T, 6x-ish) and their shoe sizes (7/10/1). If I buy clothes in the wrong size, we just return/exchange.
When it’s time for new shoes, we use the shoe sizer thing.
They are 2/4/7.
Anon says
I’m marking heights on a door frame.
Mary Moo Cow says
We just use a Google drive doc. I input the info from the pediatrician the day of or after the appointment, then throw away the paper copy from the doc. I list height and percentile, weight and percentile, and any pertinent stats (eyesight, BP, vaccines, etc.) I have one for each kid so I can compare them to each other at certain milestone ages and track their own growth. It is a shared doc to DH and I can both access it (trying to share the mental load, y’all!)
It is very useful when ordering clothes online since I’m almost always logged into Google anyway — I pull up the size chart, pull up the Google doc, and make my decision.
Cb says
Ooh that’s really smart. I’ve found Sizecast really accurate in helping identify the right size of clothes for kiddo.
Anonymous says
Ah, I posted above that I don’t do this. But my pedi has Epic MyChart and all my kids stuff is logged in that. So I do technically keep a record.
Anonymous says
I can view my son’s growth chart on my pediatrician’s web portal. But he only goes once a year now, so it isn’t very useful.
52 months reminds me of my favorite Twitter account, Los Feliz Daycare
Anonymous says
We have a growth chart on the wall. It’s a cute decoration and folds up to store as a keepsake.
Anonymous says
My 16-month-old gets up too early and wakes up her sister. Today was 5:07 and I’m tired of it.
We aim to put her down at 7, and she takes one nap at daycare. I can’t imagine she’s getting all of the sleep she needs. She’s an absolute nightmare when we try to hold off her bedtime, and much earlier isn’t really feasible, although I could try.
Ideas?
Clementine says
Have you considered pleading with her that ‘people are sleeping’ and ultimately carrying her into the living room where you attempt to bear hug her into relaxation while listening together to a book on tape until the slightly more reasonable hour of 6AM while begging her to go back to sleep the whole time?
(The book on tape may have been Michelle Obama’s Becoming. And this may have been exactly what I did yesterday when my slightly older kid started screaming at the top of her lungs “DADDY CUDDLE” at 5:12AM. Note that when she tried to cuddle with said Daddy, she started acting like the bed was a mixed martial arts fighting ring.)
Anon says
That sounds terrible, but I am reassured to hear we are not the only ones with a king sized ring for WWE smackdown. My child is generally super uncoordinated, but using her body as a projectile seems to come second nature.
Pogo says
It’s constant. Because I just gave birth my husband is always yelling “be gentle to mommy!!” when he launches himself into me for full-contact snuggles.
So Anon says
Just weighing in with solidarity – My early riser is now 9. He was an early riser as a baby and is still. Despite my many many protests, he must always come in for a kiss and cuddle when he wakes up at 5:30 a.m. He no longer goes violent starfish in the bed, but insists on putting his freezing giant feet on me. He snuggles for thirty minutes then goes to spend his “alone time” by himself with an episode of Garfield and an hour of minecraft until I get up. His younger sister (7) has always been my night owl, and she I and I happily snooze until 7am.
DMVAnon says
That is so sweet :’) (although maybe not as sweet at 5am)
Anon says
have you tried an ok to wake clock? i know you said it would be hard to put down much earlier, but could you aim for 6:30/6:45?
Anne says
Here’s what has worked for us, though it is painful. CIO but getting her at the exact same time (say 6:30) every day including weekends (we set an alarm to go get her). I feel like kids have an internal alarm clock and if you try to get them later when they do sleep in then you they also wake up earlier when they don’t. YMMV. The CIO part sucks with a toddler but it did work for us (so far! fingers crossed!).
Spirograph says
Is there anything in the environment that might be waking her up? One of my kids will not go back to sleep once awake, and while he’s a sound sleeper in the middle of the night, *anything* will wake him up after about 5:30 — the cat, a truck going down the street, sunlight if the curtains aren’t closed, etc etc. All that to say, blackout curtains and a white noise machine/app might help.
Anon says
Check the temperature too. Mine wakes up early when it’s cold.
AwayEmily says
Do they share a room? Our kids started sharing when the youngest was 2. Prior to that we used an OK to wake clock (started at around six months) and were very clear that we would not come get him until the clock turned green. He figured it out (we did the same with my older when she was a baby). However, sometimes he did yell a bit.
It was a bit harder once they started sharing a room…at that point we invested in a Hatch light and made a rule that when it’s purple they can talk to each other but need to stay in their room, when it’s yellow they need to be quiet and sleep, and when it’s green that means time to get up. So usually it’s purple for about 10 minutes before sleep time and about 15 minutes in the morning. It took awhile but they generally get it. We also got them both munchkin owl nightlights and they are allowed to turn those on and read in bed if the Hatch light is yellow. Again, perhaps the 16mo is too young for this but in a few months it might help.
Realist says
I had this problem and tried everything and nothing really worked for us except the cry it out and OK to wake clock set for 6am. Even that was a bit iffy, as there was still lots of fussing for many mornings until the clock turned on. As my child got older, it got a bit easier and my child could understand the purpose of the clock. To cope, we traded off mornings for a long time and moved our own schedule earlier for everything, which was tough but apparently more feasible than changing our child’s internal clock. They are just an early riser and still are. I can’t believe we have to start weekend mornings at 6:30am, but at least that is a much saner hour than 4:30, 5am, 5:30am that used to be the constant wake up time. (Even now, I think they wake up before 6am at least once a week but know to stay in their room until the wake up light comes on.) In addition to all the usual things to try, try some magnesium-rich foods, bring fresh air into the room once a day, and daily nighttime baths can help. The usual things to try are blackout curtains, white noise, a pretty strict bedtime routine, make sure the bedroom temperature is ok, etc.
Anonymous says
My 14 month old has started to really hate diaper changes. It’s basically the only time he’ll throw a fit, cries intensely, and won’t stop kicking. Any suggestions?
Anon says
we went through this phase about a year ago and i posted on this site for advice – fortunately we’ve now grown out of it. followed the janet lansbury method combined with distractions (we had a toy that lived on the changing table and was only used for diaper changes).
Anon says
Give them new toys to play with as you change the diaper to distract and give them somewhere else to put their energy. My child likes to play with our digital thermometer because you can beep it. Sing songs, if they like that.
TheElms says
We started getting this around 10 months and still get this at 16 months. It really really really sucks. Things that work sometimes and I think are worth trying. I give a 2 minute warning for diaper changes and have Alexa set a timer. Kiddo gets to pick a special toy to bring to the diaper changing table. I usually give 2 choices. If that still isn’t enough we jump the wiggles out on the table before we start. Usually after all of that kiddo is mostly ok with the diaper change. If its not going well I give her things to hold to help with the diaper change (even if I don’t need them) like diaper rash cream, a diaper, a wipe, etc. Kiddo is getting more and more into helping so this seems to be a good strategy. Standing changes don’t work for me at all and she tries to run away which I find worse.
Anon says
I leg lock mine. Holding toys alone doesn’t work anymore but the leg + a toy does. Some people do standing diaper changes but mine is rarely still enough for that.
Io says
It’s pretty normal for kids around a year old as they get ready to walk (something about balance?). Switch to standing diaper changes, move changing pad to floor or bed, or distract with toy/songs/phone.
Halloween says
Adding to the dumpster fire that is 2020, the annual Halloween planning in the neighborhood (very small — two streets). It is usually something for adults to drink at while wee children run around in costumes. My kids are at an age where they’d prefer to go to their own party as no kids are their ages in our ‘hood (tweens), so no real skin in the game for me.
— Some families are going to daycare / school, so don’t want to add to their germ load
— Some families have adults go to work daily, so they don’t want to add to their germ load
— We are in a city of transplants, so no one has local older relatives
— Some people have older nannies
— Some people won’t participate but are supportive of something arranged for others
— Some people do not want their children to see anyone outside having fun
We are thinking that a victorian-type promenade, where people can wear costumes and walk distanced down the sidewalk to be admired might work (no actual treats, no shared food), but who knows. The final bucket — I don’t know what to do with.
I know we are all planning to shut off porch lights at sundown and won’t hand out candy to anyone this year (we are hoping the city stops it or actively discourages it). We have a gathering limit of 50, but we have a giant park for our streets and no one is suggesting 50 people in a yard, but a time where people who might be at the park anyway were at the park in costumes. It might be that we do nothing or urge people to be like New Orleans and wear a costume for the heck of it.
Pogo says
This feels like every potential social gathering for the foreseeable future. I don’t think there are any good answers. Some people will always be left out/not happy with the solution.
Anonymous says
In our city, maybe 20% of kids are going to school now (private / Catholic schools) and the 80% of kids at home are not going anywhere and are desperate for some sort of Halloween or anything where they will see, live and in person, a kid their age.
I get the people having one germ activity and not wanting to add, but for kids locked in at home something outside in a park seems to be the least-awful way to do Halloween. I agree with not wanting trick-or-treaters at my door and won’t take my kids trick-or-treating this year.
Complication — one kid has a birthday that week and I do feel that if that kid has a friend over outside, maybe we do it before Halloween and not after so that we are out ahead of any spread.
AnonATL says
We haven’t decided what to do about Halloween this year either. We live in a large suburban neighborhood with lots of small kids. Typically we give out candy pretty consistently for several hours.
I’m thinking this year we might just put a bowl at the end of the driveway with a sign about help yourself and use the honor system for only 2 pieces or whatever. I don’t want the personal contact because we have a baby, but I’m quite certain people will still be trick or treating. An outdoor bowl at least keeps us at low risk, and it seems lower risk for the kids as long as no one spits in the bowl.
We will see what the threads on Nextdoor say over the coming weeks.
anon says
I think we’re doing the opposite. We have a ton of kids in our neighborhood and usually leave a bucket out so both of us parents can walk around with the kids. This year, one of us will probably stand at the end of the driveway, masked up, and hand out treats while the other walks around.
Anonymous says
There are so many trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood that kids always end up crowding around the candy bowl, whether it’s at the door or left out on the stoop. I wouldn’t want squealing kids bunched up together.
Lyssa says
Large suburban neighborhood here. Most of the neighborhood kids (mine included) seem to be in school, and from talking to neighbors so far, it sounds like the general plan is to do the normal trick or treating. I assume there will be fewer people participating this year to some degree, but our plan as of now is to take advantage of the outdoors and carry on basically as normal.
Anon says
In normal times, my neighborhoods big Halloween event is a parade in the park. I hope that happens and if it does I will take my preschooler. She’s in daycare and I assume daycare will celebrate it in some way. We won’t be trick or treating, that feels too risky to me.
Anonymous says
My neighborhood committee is full steam ahead on Halloween. My neighborhood is known for its Halloween block party, so the idea is that people will be out celebrating in some form or fashion whether we like it or not, and we’d better to get ahead of it and plan events with safety in mind. Aside from trick or treat, there will be capacity-limited events on both Friday and Saturday, so that hopefully there’s something for everyone who wants to participate. Plans include
house decoration contest
outdoor movie
daytime costume parades
extra street closures during trick or treating/block party hours encouraging people to better spread out
trunk or treat-style event in the park
There will be messaging & signage to direct people to different places, communicate mask & social distancing requirements, and suggest safety enhancements (eg, lay candy out on a table to avoid a community bowl, provide hand sanitizer). I’m sympathetic to anyone who is more comfortable sitting this year out, but not the “some people [who] do not want their children to see anyone outside having fun.” Sure, it puts parents in the position of having to explain to their kids why they can’t join in, but that’s life. Always, even without a pandemic. Different families have different needs, rules and expectations, and if you can’t deal with that, pandemic Halloween is just the start of your problems.
If the local gvt orders no events or trick or treating (I give that a 50-50 chance), my family’s backup plan is to have a costumed easter egg-style candy hunt for the kids with the neighbors already in our bubble.
anon says
This actually sounds like a great plan and totally doable under the circumstances.
Anon says
“we’d better to get ahead of it and plan events with safety in mind” –> this x1,000
I feel like we’d be in a much better place if that philosophy was applied to so many aspects of this pandemic re: what people will do anyway
Anonymous says
Yes. There is so much good practice around communication and “nudging” that the US has missed the boat on. It’s pretty simple: Meet people where they are and make it easy for them to do the right thing. “No XYZ” doesn’t work, especially when you’re talking about shutting down a major holiday’s celebrations 6+ months into sacrificing a ton of things that make life normal and fun.
Anon says
It’s so interesting to me, because so many people said if the US had just locked down longer/harder, we’d be fine. But all the European countries that had strict lockdowns and got cases to near zero are now having big resurgences. And then there’s Sweden, which got so much criticism for never having a lockdown, but has had a huge drop in cases since June and hasn’t had any out of control growth since then. Sweden’s philosophy was “this virus is here to stay and we have to figure out a way to have semi-normal life while preventing our hospitals from getting overwhelmed” and they took so much heat for it in Europe, but in hindsight it’s pretty clear they had the right strategy.
no says
Contrary to popular belief, Sweden took many safety measures, but less than elsewhere in Europe, and had a higher infection and death rate and worse effects on the economy than elsewhere in Europe.
Anon says
Their economy suffered, but much less than similar countries: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53664354
It’s true that currently they have higher infection and death rates than many European countries, but their rates are steadily declining while death rates are surging almost everywhere else in the EU. It’s likely that by the end of 2020 many other countries will have surpassed them, especially without a second round of full lockdowns.
I know they took safety measures, but they never locked down or closed K-8 schools. That’s precisely my point – not that we should be living life as pre-pandemic normal with huge gatherings, but that the drastic measures taken by most countries in the spring don’t translate to long-term success at controlling this.
Anon says
*infection rates are surging, I mean. Presumably will translate into surging death rates as well, although maybe not if the cases stay in the younger population.
DMVAnon says
Exactly! Ezra Klein made a point on his podcast how ridiculous it is that people were shamed for going to the beach over the summer by media/social media when going to the beach is like one of the far less riskier things you can do. And that national parks were closed while bars were allowed to operate! I’m pregnant and not even seeing grandparents regularly but we still took a weekend at the beach to get out of the house for our sanity – there’s only so much you can reasonably ask people to do. The mixed messaging and tendency to just put the onus squarely on individual decisions has been such a disaster.
Lyssa says
Wow, your neighborhood sounds awesome.
Anonymous says
Dont plan a big neighborhood Halloween party! Just. Fing. Don’t. What is this nonsense.
Anon says
I think we found the person that doesn’t want to see people having fun…
Anon says
Ha!
Marilla says
K I don’t even celebrate Halloween so I don’t have any stake in this BUT why not provide a low-risk outdoors option instead of shaming people for ever leaving their houses (therefore driving them to higher risk indoor gatherings..)?
Anon says
+1 we know by now that outdoor gatherings are pretty low risk, especially if masks are worn and people aren’t hugging or sharing food. To me, it makes sense to sanction lower risk outdoor events to discourage unofficial, higher-risk indoor gatherings. If you don’t like it, don’t attend.
Anon says
No a city shouldn’t ban trick-or-treating. Turn off the lights if you don’t want to participate and let others put our bowls for no-contact fun. If there’s no trick-or-treating, people with have big parties instead.
Anon says
Bowls of candy on front porches for individual kids to pick up on their own schedule seems safer to me than a large gathering, even outdoors.
Spirograph says
You do you, but re: large outdoor gatherings, Disney World and other amusement parks are open and have been for a couple months, and I haven’t seen any headlines about them being a source of outbreaks. (Admittedly, this could be because they’re really tricky to contact-trace.) I don’t think Halloween is significantly different in terms of a large number of masked people milling around outdoors.
Anon says
I’m not particularly worried about either one, I was responding to OP who said she hopes they cancel trick or treating. But to your point about Disney, they’re operating way under capacity now so it’s not at all clear to me that Disney is a “large gathering” in the same sense that 50 neighbors gathering in a local park is. Lots of people are touching the same surfaces at Disney, but not necessarily breathing the same air. Also Disney has a ton of precautions like mandatory masks and temperature checks.
shortperson says
there’s no functional contact tracing in this country so who knows
Tying shoelaces says
Any advice on how to teach kids to tie their shoelaces, like a helpful video? I’m starting to get close to overdue to teach my twins.
anon says
Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Shoes-Cottage-Door-Press/dp/168052318X (we had a different one)
Anon says
i’m in a local moms facebook group…someone posted seeking a place that does children cooking parties. i refrained from posting that um, we are in the middle of a pandemic, but come on people – this is why the numbers are not going to go down!
Holiday Ideas for 10 mo old says
So, I’m an older first time mom who has all of the hand-me-downs (almost too many!). We are selling/donating clothes because we have too many (just this weekend we were given two tubs and two garbage bags of clothes from three people who all had girls and all are done having kids, plus two bags of toys as well).
I know that, very soon, family will be looking for holiday ideas for our baby girl, who will be 10 months old at Christmas. Her first birthday will follow shortly. Getting family to just put money into her 529 rather than get us “things” is a no-go. Any ideas for practical gifts for this age? On our list are convertible car seats for each car (right now we have an infant seat with two bases), the bed rails to turn her crib into a bed (a little ahead of time, but still practical), and shoes (I’m not keen on used shoes, fine with used everything else). Any other ideas?
Anon says
Books. I’m also an older first-time mom who received ALL THE HAND-ME-DOWNS (and we didn’t register for gifts), so whenever anyone asks if we’re registered or what we need, I specify that gifts aren’t required by that, if they’re so inclined, I’d love one of their favorite children’s books.
Anonymous says
+1 books! My toddler destroys board books so new ones would be nice.
Anon says
+1 books. Some relatives like buying us clothes too. The upside is that it can replace something you’d have to purchase anyway, thereby basically putting cash in your pocket. The downside is that they might have terrrrrrrrible taste in clothes. Ask me how I know ;)
anon says
My family is the same way, so I feel you. I would also caution that you may have a hard time redirecting them to practical items (or expect to get weird reactions).
A few ideas:
– A pair of Robeez, which feel special and may be nice to have during the winter months.
– Toddler-sized hooded bath towel
– Toddler plates/cups/bowls/utensils – maybe more splurge items than what you’d find at Target and the like
– Sippy cups
– Bath stuff, which can add up!
– Books
Anonymous says
Personalized items. I have 3 girls so there are lots of hand-me-downs. My kids *all* like stuff with their names on it. Pottery Barn Anywhere chair is a good big ticket gift item. Personalized lunch box for daycare (if applicable)?
Outdoor climbing structure? New snow boots?
Adorable splurge outfits? Yes, you have hand me downs, but my 2nd and 3rd kids will often get one really nice outfit that isn’t something someone else wore. Or a new winter coat (use hand me downs for backup).
New room decor? Luggage?
Holiday Ideas for 10 mo old says
I love the luggage and personalized chair ideas! Our daycare is a unicorn daycare that has an on-site nutritionist and provides breakfast, lunch, and two snacks (and formula for babies, if not using br*stmilk!), so we are lucky enough not to have to send in food.
Anon says
My then 2.5YO got some rainbow mickey mouse print luggage from her aunties as an early birthday present (via Costco I believe), and it has been nice for her to have “her” suitcase for road trips to visit grandparents. She gets very excited to pack it and roll it around.
In House Lobbyist says
Yes my then 4 year old for a full set of purple luggage from Kohl’s from Grandmother one year for Christmas and when she opened it she squealed “now I can go on a business trip like Mama.” I wasn’t sure if I should be proud or not but she loves her own suitcase.
Holiday Ideas for 10 mo old says
I’ll add that the “big ticket” items we already own (all hand-me-downs) include: plastic slide, water table, sandbox, inflatable bounce house, activity center, bouncer, play tent, play table, train table, big wheel/tricycle, battery powered car, and baby pool.
Also, in normal times, we may ask for an annual zoo pass or a pass to the local kiddie amusement park, but we’re not sure where we will be next year… so I don’t want that to be wasted. Plus, that is like pulling teeth in the same way that just money for college is – our family is big on seeing kids open things.
anon says
You do have a lot already! For a big gift, maybe a play kitchen?
Anon says
yea there was a discussion yesterday about gifts for a 19 month old and i chimed in that our twins got a play kitchen for their first bday (by the time we put it together it was more like 14/15 months) and they have played with it every single day since. you could also get a little grocery cart to go with it for her to push once she starts walking. If you don’t already have some puzzles and mega blocks, those are also good first bday gifts, and a baby doll with stroller (she won’t grow into this for a bit, but by the time christmas rolls around again she will be ready). the SpinAgain by Fat Brain Toys has been a hit in our house (was received as a first bday gift). if she doesn’t already have a puzzle name stool (we got them when my kids were born) by damhorst toys. another thing we’ve used a lot this summer is the personalized kids beach towels from lands end
Boston Legal Eagle says
If you don’t already have it, a practical but pricey gift would be the Stokke Tripp Trapp chair that gets recommended here a lot. We don’t have one (yet!) but I think it can be used for infants, toddlers and beyond.
Anon says
yes, this is one thing i wished i’d splurged on
anon says
+1 love out tripp trapp
Walnut says
I pink puffy heart love our Tripp Trapp chairs.
Mrs. Jones says
This is the best thing ever.
TheElms says
Stuff that we’ve used a lot since kiddo’s first birthday includes: kitchen learning tower, play kitchen, board books, a high chair (or a better high chair if you don’t like the one you have), toddler eating supplies (plates, spoons, forks, straw cups, snack containers), baby proofing supplies (if you need to do more than what you might have done already), art supplies (chunky crayons, roll of paper, chalk, washable non-toxic paint, water wow books, sticker books).
Anon says
yes, a learning tower – i commented above, but kind of wish we’d gotten one
Anon says
+1 I wish we’d accepted my BFF’s offer to get us a learning tower for my daughter’s first birthday. She’s 2.5 and I feel like it would still be useful, although I can’t justify purchasing one now since she does ok just standing on a stool.
anon says
Plates, cups/waterbottles and utensils?
Do your hand-me-downs include winter gear (if needed)?
Kid-sized chair like pottery barn for her room or living room
If all else fails – diapers and books!
DLC says
What about feeding/ drinking items? We were gifted a child plate and cup set at that age, which is still heavily in use. (I think they were from MOMA or the Tate- they feel really fun and special)
The Thermos Funtainers or good water bottles have been in heavy use at our house too.
Or, for a bigger ticket item, a child sized chair or a Pikler Triangle- something for indoor play since it might be a long winter. Or a sled.
Walnut says
How about sidewalk chalk and bubbles for next spring/summer? Adorable rain boots and an umbrella for walks in the rain?
shortperson says
grimms blocks and people (expensive! adorable!), art table and chairs (ikea sundvik, or oeuf if they want to spend $$)
anon says
Can anyone comment on how Hanna Andersson sizing runs? My daughter is *just* moving into size 6 clothes. HA groups sizes 6-7 together, which like a big range. Especially since she needs the size 6 for height, not weight. If sizes run generous, I’d probably order a 5 and hope for the best. If they’re TTS, I may need to hold off on purchasing. Primary runs the same way … arg, I wish I could see this stuff in person!
Anonymous says
We just order dresses and leggings. Eventually the dress may become a tunic, which is fine.
anne-on says
I find HA sizing a bit big as it is in CM not ‘years’ – my kid is JUST now in size 8’s, and his HA size 8’s are absolutely a bit big on him. I’d say if she’s a 6-7 in Boden for example she’s likely a 6-7 in HA, but if she’s a 5-6 there, go with the 5 in HA. If it’s for PJ’s, the cuffs are generally tight enough to keep pants/sleeves from falling down so I usually size up so I can get more wear.
Anonymous says
Omg the tight cuffs!!! My poor 25 month old can’t get his hands through the size 90 cuffs, which are otherwise too big by far.
EP-er says
Look at the size charts — I find them really accurate based on height. I love Hanna’s for my string bean. As above, the dresses become tunics. The blousy sleeves become straighter. We get a lot of wear out of their clothes and are always able to hand them down!
Anon says
My kid is in 6-7 and she’s 3, 45 pounds and 40 inches tall. They fit her in the shoulder, belly and chest really well (she’s kind of like a barrel), but are long on her disproportionately short limbs. We tried primary which is cut way too narrowly. I will also say though that she has two 5 dresses she is still wearing (the 5 PJs are long gone as too snug), and she also wears some size 8 dresses for spring and summer as tea length gowns right now (“so pretty mama!”) just fine, so I think the clothes are designed to grow with kids a bit.
anonamommy says
Nightgown help – where can I find long-sleeved cotton knit (like a t-shirt) nightgowns that don’t have licensed characters on them? My 5yo daughter loves nightgowns but as it turns cooler I’m not ready to put her in flannel yet, and I can’t seem to find any non-flannel options with long sleeves at my usual places. Suggestions? Thanks!
EP-er says
I think that this will be hard thing to find, due to fire safety. Children’s nightwear needs to be flame resistant. You can get 100% cotton if they are close fitting, but not usually in nightgowns. Have you checked Primary? I haven’t tried them personally for sleepwear, but see that they have nightgowns available. (I like their other offerings.)
Anon says
Have you tried Mini Boden? I’ve gotten non-character, cotton long sleeved nightgowns there before. They have a few now. I stalk sales because they are expensive, but they last forever and wear like iron.
anon in brooklyn says
Boden has some pretty ones, but expensive. Old Navy has them up to a 6T.
anonamama says
expensive, but petite plume makes lovely nightgowns in cotton as well as flannel. i’ve seen them on poshmark secondhand!
Anonanonanon says
I have some from mudpie. Etsy. Petite Plum is my go-to for gift pajamas for the kids (like for Christmas Eve every year) but is expensive for all the time.
anne-on says
Anyone else mildly terrified of when their spouse has to go back into the office? While both parents working at home isn’t great, I am petrified of what is going to happen to my work when my husband gets called back into his small satellite office. We had a very equitable split at home during shut down but that goes out the window if he’s back in person due to his commute. We have an afternoon sitter who is a big help with pick up but morning drop off and the AM routine will all fall on me (we couldn’t find someone willing to do an AM/PM split shift, and quite frankly 40-50 hours a week plus all the benefits full time nannies are asking is too going to be a financial stretch.
Yet another vent but after grinding out the daycare years I honestly don’t know how we’re going to come out of this with sanity and careers intact.
Anon says
how did things work precovid when you presumably both went to offices?
Pigpen's Mama says
+1
And what’s the timing for drop off and the hours the sitter works?
I’m actually pushing back more on always being default than I was pre-pandemic, since even with default, I had about 2 more hours of child care a day in the before times. So my husband does the morning routine (for the most part) and drop off and then goes to work, while I’m working from home and do pick up earlier than before.
Anne-on says
Pre-Covid we had a live in au pair as my husband is in finance and has always needed to be in prior to market opening (plus he has a commute). New au pairs aren’t allowed in the country so our matched au pair couldn’t arrive as planned this summer. We scrambled and found a sitter but she can only do PM hours. I appreciate that I get afternoon coverage and can makeup work in the evening but I am getting really tired of having 7-8 or 7-9 be my working hours instead of exercising, relaxing, etc. Plus we’re basically paying 40% more for fewer hours compared to the au pair.
Anon says
uch i am so so sorry. i remember you posting earlier during covid. i don’t blame you for being exhausted and frustrated. idk what the school situation is for you guys, but is your DH allowed to continue to WFH 1-2 days a week? could you add a few more hours to the nanny’s schedule? have DH cover some weekend time so that you can get a few hours to yourself?
Anonymous says
Can he WFH for the first part of the mornings so he can do drop off?
Boston Legal Eagle says
I think we’re going to try to work out a schedule where one of us WFH to cover the whole week (i.e. I’d be WFH Monday, Wednesday, Friday, he would do Tuesday, Thursday). We’re lucky in that our workplaces aren’t mandating a return to the office full time and I don’t see much argument from them now that we’ve all been WFH for this long, fairly successfully. Even if there’s a vaccine by fall 2021, I hope we can maintain the above schedules to cover our oldest going to kindergarten.
Anonymous says
Why can’t he do morning drop off? What would your plan have been if you both had to work in person?
Anonymous says
It’s a master class in logistics this year for all of us! My husband has to work full time in person as of September (clearly a non-parent decided to make that coincide with the start of the school year!!), and is one of only two people in his office who have kids and a spouse with a “real” career. That is to say, his management is not at all accommodating or understanding. My job is full wfh for the foreseeable future, and my schedule is flexible as long as I show up for key meetings and am generally available during work hours. I work with people across several time zones, so it’s OK to keep odd hours.
3 kids: one in preschool (7-6 available), one in school (8:30-3:30, after care only available til 4:30 but this isn’t very useful so we’re not using it), one in virtual school.
Our system at the moment: DH aims to get to work by 7. I do all morning routine, drop offs, and get home by 8:45ish to handle virtual schooling (admittedly a little laissez-faire) while working from home. DH does pick ups, and sometimes keeps all the kids out of the house for an hour or two so I can actually focus in the afternoon, otherwise I catch up after the kids go to bed. It kind of sucks, but there are a couple lights at the end of the tunnel in the next 1-3 weeks, so I’m white-knuckling through.
DH took a leave of absence and did all the childcare and virtual school in the spring, so while this is tougher on me in the short term, it evens out over the year. We’re trying really hard to follow the “each of us does as much as we can, when we can” model. I’m not sure sanity is staying intact, but we’re making it work. As long as you are looking for ways to help each other, you’ll figure it out.
anne-on says
OMG I feel you SO hard on being one of the only 2-working families situation – in his immediate small group I’m literally the only full-time working wife, much less one who has long hours/travel requirements. My only saving grace right now is that my travel is effectively at zero till spring 2021.
I finally emailed and texted my school ‘village’ (which should have occurred to me sooner!) and some of the other moms in his class are up to trade carpooling (I’ll do PM if you do AM). The teachers are desperate for after school help but totally fine to do an earlier AM pickup. I see a LOT of google calendars in my future but people seem to be very willing to pitch in and help each other out this year especially as so many normal after school activities/sports are on hold.
Anonymous says
Same, the only other person in his office with a full-time working spouse is a woman. I don’t know whether they’re cutting her any more slack because at least the old white men expect that she has child-related responsibilities, being a woman and all. My husband got the “why can’t your wife do it?” question when he applied for family leave earlier this year, so … yeah.
Yes, recruit your village! I just chatted with my neighbor this morning about trading off babysitting (our kids are bff, so really the only change is that one set of parents won’t be home when kids are consolidated in one house). I agree with you that there’s an uptick in general neighborliness during the pandemic, so that’s a silver lining to all this, I guess.
anon says
All of this virtual schooling means that I need a watch to wear around the house. Any recommendations for a simple digital (non-smart) watch? Bonus points for a minimalist face.
Kirkland Baby Formula says
Is the new Costco/Kirkland baby formula more similar to Similac or Enfamil? Kiddo did well on Similac samples for several weeks. We switched to Enfamil samples a few days ago, and he’s been a farting constipated mess. I’m looking for a cheaper Similac dupe and wanted to try Costco for the cost and convenience, but the most recent reviews are all over the place. Any thoughts on it or other recs? I’m in the SEUS
We combo feed about 50/50 b-milk and formula.
Anonymous says
We used it as a dupe for Similac pro-advance, it worked fine for us but my kid was not very sensitive so YMMV.
octagon says
Given Costco’s return policy, I’d give it a try and take it back if it doesn’t work.
twinmomanon says
My kids are 3 now, but when they were babies Kirkland was a Similac dupe. We used Target brand for an Enfamil dupe, but I think they also make a Similac one.
Anon says
The Kirkland formula changed last year to popular outcry, so I don’t think it’s the same anymore. They also changed their diapers – they’re no longer Huggies and are rumored to be Hello Bello.
OP says
This was why I was concerned. Most of the reviews from the past 6-12 months are poor. I like the suggestion of just buying and returning if it doesn’t work out. I’ll get some actual similac as well So we don’t end up with hangry baby.
I’m actually a big fan of the diapers, though I only have experience within the past couple of months. We were having constant blowouts in target brand and these Costco ones hold it all in. They fit him better for whatever reason.
Walnut says
It is not a Similac Pro-Advance. My easy going baby on Similac Pro-Advance was a hot mess on the Costco dupe.
Anonymous says
Our baby does okay on Kirkland and great on Similac, so we do 1/2 Similac, 1/2 Kirkland in his bottles. It cuts down on cost.
Anon says
Anyone have recommendations for books on how to help your kids with social skills? (or advice themselves?) My 4YO is normally a pretty outgoing friendly kid but I think pandemic isolation has created a little rust on the social skills development. I don’t think there’s an actual like delay going on, but still would love advice on what I can do to help.
AwayEmily says
I think your instinct is good…for us, books that feature human characters in social/emotional situations work well, especially if we actively talk about them during and after (“why do you think she did that?”). Ones that have worked well for us:
– The Iris and Walter series (I really love these books)
– The Ladybug Girl series
– Maple & Willow books
Anne says
If your politics are liberal Joelito’s Big Decision has been great for that because it has moments where the characters have to learn empathy and then decide to act on their empathy.
Anon says
It probably depends how long you think she’ll be isolated from other kids, but my preschooler didn’t see other kids for 5 months and definitely got socially weird during lockdown, but things snapped back to normal pretty much as soon as she started daycare again. I think young kids are kind of like sponges and they pick up these skills quickly when they go back to being around peers. But definitely not a bad idea to read some relevant books.
Speech evaluation? says
Does anyone have experience with getting their child an evaluation with a speech pathologist at age 15 months? My 15 month old is not talking and I’m growing worried. Pediatrician is very laid back and I think has more of a “wait and see” approach generally, but I have a strong sense something is off. Is 15 months too early for this type of evaluation or intervention?
Anon says
Yeah I think it’s too early. Not speaking is still fairly normal at that age so there’s not much for them to evaluate. My ped said the earliest they refer to speech therapists is 18 months and she recommends waiting until 2, because language can take off very suddenly.
I don’t know if anecdotes help but my daughter had only one word at 15 months, her language took off at 18 months and now she is a chatterbox 2.5 year old who speaks in complete senses with correct grammar most of the time. She walked late too (18 months) defying the saying that kids are either early walkers or early talkers. But she did both just fine in her own time.
Speech evaluation? says
Thank you! I like hearing these positive anecdotes and reminders that every kid is different.
Anon says
We waited until 2.5 to get evaluated, because she was making some progress and we kept waiting for the speech “explosion” that was supposed to come, but once evaluated we did 6 months of early intervention speech therapy and are now getting speech therapy through the public school system’s preschool division. Often to qualify for services, you have to be behind a certain amount (for us it was a 25% delay). At 15 months, not talking is still completely in the range of normal, so unless there are other concerns, you’re not going to qualify. I would guess 2 is really the right age for there to be enough of a delay, but we waited until 2.5 because kiddo seemed like she was making (slow) progress. My then 30 month old was testing at the level of an average 16 month old for expressive speech (meaning she used approximately 10 identifiable words sporadically), so that was sufficient to get us services.
Anon says
i posted on the main site about my twins. one said zero words until 16.5 words and did not say more than 3 words until 18.5 months. other said first words at 14 months. i was also anxious about this and my pediatrician said wait and see, and pediatrician was right. literally at our 18 month appointment i remember being so worried and twin A started talking more 2 weeks later. i was still worried at the 2 year appointment that twin B was talking so much more than twin A, and again, like a month later a language explosion. Twin A is still much harder to understand than Twin B, but I think that is still normal. trust your gut…but there is also a wide range of normal
Anonymous says
My 23mo has only just started using words more consistently, and to be honest I’m not too worried. He had a handful of words (plus some very compelling vehicle sounds) at his 18 month check-up, and our pediatrician said she’d give us a referral to a speech therapist if we were interested. But she also suggested a few practical things that we could try, and because any therapy would be over Zoom at the moment, we’ve just focused on those tips. They were: switching to a cup with a straw whenever possible, to develop those facial muscles; buying books that involve rhymes/ singing (plus generally singing and using nursery rhymes); and eliminating his pacifier. Not sure if those ideas would be helpful to you, but it’s a place to start. At 15 months I really wouldn’t be concerned, especially if your child is generally comfortable vocalizing in some shape or form.
Speech evaluation? says
Thanks, these are good suggestions! Interesting about the cup with straw, I had actually been pushing those 360 sippy cups instead of our straw cups because I thought they were better for oral development (more like a real cup) but your point about the straw working those muscles makes sense.
FVNC says
What’s making you think something is off? If it’s just the lack of speech, I’d agree with the other posters that this is not something to be worried about at this time. If there are other milestones that your child is not hitting or is on the low range of normal on, I’d continue to monitor and start pushing for intervention analyses at your 18 month visit. If your ped is not supporting you, find someone who will.
From personal experience, my daughter had not only speech delay, but also missed other milestones, especially those around social/emotional (not smiling, e.g.). We started the intervention process around 18 months and she had services in place by the time she turned 2. If developmental pediatrician evaluations are needed, those appointments can easily schedule 3-6 months out. Our pediatrician was instrumental in helping facilitate the help we needed and I’m so grateful for that partnership. So — don’t worry, but don’t ignore your gut.
Speech evaluation? says
Thank you! In terms of being off, I’m referring only to her speech, in the sense that she does very little babbling or attempting to imitate adult speech. She is very social with lots of eye contact, smiling, waving, and seems to have a strong desire to communicate, but she does so via shrieking, grunting, pointing, waving her arms, instead of making word-like noises. Lots of vowel sounds but very few consonants except for a few all-purpose consonants. Her older sibling, even as a much younger baby, would string together consonants to make word-sounding babble, and try to imitate new sounds/words, so the lack of those behaviors is what I mean by something being off.
Anon says
This sounds completely normal to me and a lot like my daughter at the same age (she has no speech delay). At this age they just want to see attempts to communicate and pointing, squeals, grunts, etc. absolutely count. Kids are different so just because your older was doing things faster doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong.
Speech evaluation? says
Thank you! I probably need to keep that perspective. My kids could not be more different in every way so this is probably just another example of that.
Anon says
i’m the above poster with fraternal twins. my twin who was the later talker was exactly like that, except honestly not so much grunting or vowel sounds, so even less than your daughter. Twin B on the other hand, was my cooer, babbling baby who made sooo many noises. it is so hard when you have an older sibling to compare to – trust me even harder with twins. i’m frequently reminding myself what the pediatrician told us, which is that there is a very very wide range of normal. my kids had been very close with meeting milestones, like crawling and sitting, with only a couple of days or maybe a week or two with sitting and crawling, but a much bigger difference with talking and walking. the one who talked first, walked second, much later than twin A. obviously this is the internet and you should talk to your doc, but try not to just compare to older sibling, though trust me, i know it is easier said than done
Speech evaluation? says
Thank you, truly! This is really helpful — I am sure having twins makes these differences all the more apparent and easier to compare.
FVNC says
Oh, that sounds totally normal! That she’s engaging socially is a really positive sign. My second kid was also a little behind average on speech development but in every other way was typical and I had no worries about him, compared to my daughter at the same age. Sounds like you’re doing everything right!
Anon says
Late, but I didn’t talk until I was nearly two.
Speech Speech says
Don’t know if this is too late – call your local school district! Where I live, local school district does FREE evaluations starting at age 3. Before age 3, we were referred to our country for a FREE evaluation. Had nothing to do with pediatrician. If you have any worries, I see no reason not to get an evaluation. If they suggest proceeding with therapy, great, if they say let’s wait, also great. Be your child’s own advocate by taking advantage of free early intervention services. Anecdotal internet advice is nice, but no one has observed your child more than you, so if your worried for any reason, why not?
I should note that I have had both my 18 month old and his older sibling evaluated for speech delays. One was offered services and one wasn’t. Glad I did it, kept my mind at ease and also jump started when there was an actual issue. Again, evaluation and services are FREE and with some issues, early intervention is there for a reason. Good luck!
Anon. says
Not sure if you’re still checking here, but posting with a slightly different direction. My 1st had basically no words at the 15 month appointment. I wasn’t particularly worried, but the pediatrician took a slightly more proactive position. Her take: order the speech pathology referral now because it will probably take a couple months to get an appointment scheduled. By the time you actually get in either he’ll have lots more words and you can cancel (or go and confirm professionally that he’s normal) or he won’t and by then it’ll be a good time to start early intervention. She also ordered a hearing screen because he’d had some ear infections. It took two months to schedule, by which point he had more words but not a ton and the speech specialist confirmed he was totally within the range of normal. If nothing else, it made my first time mom anxiety feel better. (And now at three he NEVER STOPS TALKING.)
Redux says
High holiday etiquette question: how late in the day can I schedule a (virtual) meeting on Rosh Hoshana? I scheduled a 4:30 thinking it would be early enough (sun goes down here at 7:30ish) but apparently that is not appropriate). I’m so sorry!
Anon says
Assuming this is a short meeting, you’re fine. Anyone who needs to leave before 5 pm can use PTO. If you’re asking people to be on a call past 5, it would be nice to exempt your Jewish colleagues since services often start by 6 pm. I’m Jewish, fwiw.
Anonymous says
Don’t schedule any evening meeting on rosh hoshana at all
Redux says
Right, but what is “evening” is my question. I thought 4-4:30 was not the evening, but I was wrong, apparently.
Anon says
It’s common and understandable for Jewish people to want to sign off before 5 on big holidays to do prep, but then they should block their calendars or request the meeting be rescheduled. You didn’t do anything wrong scheduling a meeting in the late afternoon. Just tell your colleague you understand and you’ll reschedule if his/her presence at this meeting is important.
Anon says
i’m jewish and i think it is fine as long as you are understanding if the person can’t come and assuming it will be over by 5pm. in pre-covid times, i probably would’ve left the office by 3:30 to get home, dressed, kids dressed, and to eat before services. my office you don’t take PTO in hours increments, and so i could’ve easily blocked my calendar starting at 3:30/4
Anon says
I’m not Jewish or Christian, but I would never book a meeting at 4:30 on Christmas Eve, so I wouldn’t do it for Rosh Hashana either.
Anoner says
Just wanted to say thank you for being cognizant of this! Even in an area with higher Jewish populations I feel like not all managers/companies take the time to learn when the holidays are each year. I am personally taking PTO to get ready and cook but I think 4:30 is fine as long as it doesn’t go past 5.
octagon says
My boss had to leave by 2 pm in years past to get everything ready with her family.
Marilla says
I’m taking time off to prep and cook, but if I were not I would estimate 2:00-2:30 as the absolute latest I could manage a virtual meeting. I personally block off the time in my calendar so people don’t have to guess. If the person is crucial to the meeting, reschedule. If not, let them know you totally understand and will update them following the meeting/next week.
Redux says
These are helpful examples, thank you!
Anon says
But why are you scheduling a meeting at 4:30 on a Friday for anyone??
Redux says
I don’t know what kind of job you have, but the nature of my work is that my colleagues and I are booked all day every day, including Fridays up until 5pm.
Anon says
My workplace is pretty laidback but no one side-eyes Friday afternoon meetings unless they end after 5 pm.
Anonymous says
For people to whom it matters, I would assume they would have taken pto or blocked their calendars. I blocked mine starting 3:30 and if I needed more time I’d have taken the day off. Also… what part of the country are you in that there are enough Jewish people you are even aware of this?
Anon says
Sounds like it was just one employee who had an issue with the meeting time and let OP know? I didn’t read it as there being a huge number of people affected. But NYC definitely has enough Jewish people for the religious holiday absences to be noticeable. I used to be in a west coast law firm but regularly worked out of our NYC offices and the office was empty on Yom Kippur and other major Jewish holidays.
shortperson says
think of the day that rosh hashana, yom kippur and passover start as like christmas eve for jews. although i agree they should be blocking it off, 4PM is prime getting ready time for family events. perhaps the employee is not blockign it off because he (she?) is counting on a spouse to do the prep work or is not observing. still, it’s thoughtful to not do that.
Anonymous says
Does anyone have a preferred Etsy seller for kids hairbows? My kid can only wear ones that match her uniform colors so I’m trying to buy some single color ones (we have piles of rainbow colors and very few of the correct ones), but the number of sellers is overwhelming.
Realist says
Not exactly a recommendation, but when I’m narrowing down Etsy sellers for stuff like this, I restrict the sellers to my local area, then I choose an obviously woman-owned shop that has an established history/good ratings. My local search makes the options less overwhelming and I feel good about supporting a small local seller.
octagon says
Is there a store near you that does outfitting for private school uniforms? The shop by us that sells all the plaid jumpers for the privates has the largest wall of hair bows I have ever seen.
Bows says
Not on Etsy, but one stop bow shop is a great source for bows https://onestopbowshop.com/
Anon says
Not on Etsy any longer but I love Willow Crowns. Great quality.
Anonymous says
Now that my kids are getting older (oldest nearly 8), I’m trying to think of a solution for displaying a calendar in the house so they can keep track of what is going on, but I’m not keen on transcribing my digital calendar. I saw an ad on instagram for the Skylight Calendar, which is basically a tablet that displays your Outlook or Google or Cozi calendar that you can set up in a central location in your home. I’m worried this may become another piece of junk that seemed like a good idea at the time. Anyone have this? Other recommendations?
anon says
Can you print out your digital calendar? It won’t be Pinterest-pretty, but it may save you some work. I definitely would not buy a tablet for the purpose of showing a calendar.
Anonymous says
I’d just do a regular calendar with their favorite characters and let them write on the days, add stickers, drawings, etc. for various things. The could each have their own, hung up in their rooms. Or just one in a central location.
We have a one week chart/calendar for my four year old that is taped up in our kitchen that has her schedule for the week in pictures. So, for example, yesterday she had school, then home, then soccer. Today, she has school, then bus to after-care. (Those are the only two options – I pick her up when school is over at 2:15 two days per week and she comes straight home. The other three days she takes the bus to after care at our local Y.) She has her schedule memorized because of it.
anon says
What about one of those big whiteboard calendars? You could make this your kids job at the beginning of the month to write down everything for the month. You could use color coded markers for different people, activities, etc.
anne-on says
We have both a big family paper calendar and a magnetic whiteboard for the fridge (with magnetic whiteboard markers). It isn’t pinterest-y pretty, but it works well. The whiteboard is handy as I can also write out school app passwords/streaming service passwords for sitters on there as well.
My husband and I also send each other outlook appointments to our work calendars for personal/family stuff. I find that’s also best for blocking the time off on both of our work calendars so I’m not trying to take a work call on the way to a dentist appointment or something, unless that’s intentional.
Anonymous says
We do weekly magnetic fridge calendar. Every weekend I look at Google, paper, and work calendars and make sure anything relevant is on the fridge. We also do meal planning there, and keep a running grocery list.
I don’t have a great system for consolidating everything farther out than a week, but that’s as far ahead as we all need immediate visibility. I also have a paper wall calendar in the kitchen and carry a paper planner in my purse. It’s horribly inefficient, but works well for me…I really prefer physically writing this down.
Anon Lawyer says
If anyone wants to feel old, google the new American Girl doll – she’s from 1986. She has a Lisa Frank trapper keeper, a Caboodle, and a tiny Molly doll.
Anon says
STOP. IT. Omg. Now I’m starting to believe there actually will be a 2020 doll with a mask and a laptop and wine like the meme said…
Anon says
I can’t get over that they call her a “historical” doll. I know it just means not contemporary, but omg I feel SO OLD.
avocado says
I have been waiting for the day when my childhood became an AG doll.
avocado says
This is amazing. She has a Pac-Man game, a lunch box with a Thermos, a Care Bear nightshirt, and jeans with a front yoke. It looks like her “thing” is coding. If she codes in BASIC, then they got it right.
GCA says
If AG microfiction exists, here’s my contribution: Born shortly after the oil crisis, Courtney graduates into the halcyon days of the early dotcom boom, and is a self-taught bulletin board and IRC user. Armed with these skills and insights into niche internet communities, Future Courtney bounces around at companies like IDEO and Monitor (RIP), but decides to switch into academia, and becomes one of the first researchers to study the tech economy through a gender lens. She has her first child as the Great Recession hits, and her partner takes several years to learn to bear his share of the mental load. 2020 Courtney has a tenuously-funded position at a Stanford institute studying technology, gender and society, while juggling remote schooling for a middle-schooler and elementary-schooler, and her partner only dimly understands why she is always furious.
Anon says
Please repost this on today’s thread so more people can appreciate this!!! It’s amazing!