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Labor day sales have already started — over at Corporette I did a mini roundup for Last Call’s excellent sale (look at these cute little kneepads for crawling babies!), and will be doing one later this morning for the Nordstrom clearance sale, which just started this morning. For Washable Wednesday I’m liking this wrap dress from BCBG MaxAzria. This is one of those dresses that has been a hit for the company, and it returns every season in new colors and prints. I think it could work for pumping, or even work as a nursing dress with a nursing camisole beneath it. It was $198, but is now marked to $118 at Nordstrom. BCBGMAXAZRIA ‘Adele’ Print Matte Jersey Wrap Dress
(L-3)
Sales of note for 9.10.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; up to 50% off everything else
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off wear-to-work styles; extra 30% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – 40-60% off everything; extra 60% off clearance
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Extra 40% off sale styles
- Talbots – BOGO 50% everything, includes markdowns
- Zappos – 26,000+ 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 – Birthday sale, 40-50% off & extra 20% off select styles
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off all baby; up to 40% off all Halloween
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Extra 30% off sale styles
- Old Navy – 40% off everything
- Target – BOGO 25% off select haircare, up to 25% off floor care items; up to 30% off indoor furniture up to 20% off TVs
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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?
Secret Job Hunting says
Would love advice on what, specifically, to do to look for a new job/develop a new job without having your employer aware in a smaller town market.
Part of the issue is that I need a shorter commute, have family obligations with two young children, one of whom has medical issues, and legitimately less working hours and am okay with taking a pay cut in order to make that happen in the short term. Part of the issue is that I can see I am basically in a dead-end position within the context of my current firm and there are a lot of administrative issues – there simply does not exist an opportunity to advance in pay or in the direction of law I would like to practice.
There are two local bar associations – one has 40 members, one has 35. There are only two firms with more than five attorneys in this region (which I am tied to). Truly everyone knows everyone. I can do this with a long-term game plan – 6-12 months, but I need some kind of game plan. I know my firm and if word got out that I was at all interested in looking, they’d let me go in a heartbeat. They are well known for not caring at all about associate retention. I have a good reputation, I think, but I don’t know how to move the conversation from “everything is going well” to “I might be interested in buying your law practice” or “I might be interested in joining/partnering with you.” Any thoughts or experience?
NewMomAnon says
I don’t know about a small market, but when I realized I was ready to make a switch in my larger regional market where everyone knows everything, I just started networking like crazy and listening to what others were saying about their professional needs – I made it a point to go out to lunch at least 3 days a week with someone outside of my firm, and attended a lot of bar events and happy hours. I didn’t necessarily mention that I was looking for a new job, although I did with people I trusted, and let them know it was all confidential. For the others, I just said that I was looking to “grow my practice” by developing professional connections.
My other thought would be to hire a recruiter who can do things on a no-names basis, but I know the times that a recruiter has called me about jobs in my area, I can figure out the company even if the recruiter is trying to be secretive about it. So that maybe isn’t helpful, especially if you are in a niche practice area.
Finally, how about in-house? HR folks (while often IMO very gossipy amongst themselves) aren’t going to blab to your current employer.
quiet says
I think most people are fairly understanding about the need for confidentiality if you share that with them. I enlisted a friend to help keep an ear out for opportunities and when I did have the chance to meet with others in my area, I just let them know that I wanted to keep my search quiet for the time being. I had no problems. Good luck!
mascot says
People are generally sensitive to keeping job searches confidential. I had no problem setting up meetings at times and places where I wouldn’t run into people at my firm. If your firm’s reputation precedes it, no one will think this is an odd request.
Are there other people you know that have moved from your firm to another locally? They can be great resources for putting feelers out.
Working till 40 weeks? says
How do people do it?? I’m only 33 weeks, and I am already really struggling to get through the day. I’m in biglaw, so the hours and stress aren’t exactly light, but my schedule has been fairly decent (by biglaw standards) recently, and I’m still struggling. Do most people just push through till 40 (or more…) weeks? Or do a lot of people leave work earlier and just not talk about it? Ideally, I want to save as much of my maternity leave time for after the baby comes, but at what price to my own complete discomfort?
JEB says
I worked full time until I gave birth, but I did a lot of teleworking during the last 4 weeks. Is that an option for you? Skipping my commute really helped my energy level, and I felt so much better at home in my PJ’s. I didn’t do it every day, but it made a big difference. Good luck!
B says
I’m 36 weeks, working a corporate engineering job. My peak season (budget work) ran through about my 33rd week, and it was definitely a push to get through. However, I knew I was entering a quiet period for the rest of my pregnancy, and that really helped. I’ve been able to cut back my hours a little and take a breath. I’ve also stopped traveling for work – which has meant passing up some assignments and opportunities, but I really think it’s the right choice for me & baby right now. Other than that, I plan to work right up til delivery.
Here’s what that feels like at 36 weeks: It’s getting a little harder every day to come to work and sit at my desk; my back hurts and I am exhausted by the time I get home. It’s even physically difficult to get into the office – dealing with parking and walking through the building are becoming a challenge.
So I hear you. I suspect the answer is a little different for everyone, but it’s a huge challenge no matter what you work out.
B says
After thinking about this and reading all the great responses, I’m now thinking I may slow down further between now and delivery by taking occasional vacation days or half-days. Like another poster, I’m afraid taking off entirely will make me a little crazy. But I have a lot of flexibility as to how I combine my vacation days and FMLA after my maternity leave is up, and (by choice) I have a fixed return date. So really the only drawback to sprinkling in some vacation time between now and delivery is I’ll end up with more unpaid FMLA time. It’s a luxury, for sure, but one I can afford. Workload is no problem, as I’m in the aforementioned slow period and also transitioning a lot of stuff to my back-up.
RDC says
I found this really difficult, too. I had a lot of back pain and by the end it made commuting very difficult. I was also so tired and uncomfortable I was very unproductive at work. Telecommuting is great, if you have that option – I was so much more comfortable at home. I also ultimately stopped working at 39 weeks because I just couldn’t anymore, and it was a great decision. I was able to relax, take long walks, and just rest. (I ended up being induced at 41 weeks, so I had two weeks at home.) My pain level decreased significantly without a commute and with the ability to nap. It was totally worth it to me to stop working before the baby actually got here.
Hang in there – it really is rough, and I felt like no one really talks about it. Fwiw, I felt much better (less uncomfortable) pretty much immediately after delivery.
Midwest In-house says
I was in Biglaw when pregnant and stopped working right around 39 weeks (shortly after a client called me on my personal cellphone at 3 in the morning — granted, he was based in Europe and apparently didn’t realize I was not, but I decided I was way too pregnant to deal with it anymore:)). I didn’t have to use my leave – I just took a week of vacation. My leave started in August and knew I wouldn’t be back until after January so I was able to calculate my hours for the year to confirm I could take the week as vacation and still meet my pro-rated target for the year (so I got a pro-rated bonus). I’m not sure I really asked — I think I just told people on maybe a Tuesday that Friday would be my last day really working –but that I would be available until I had the baby if questions came up. By that point, I was 38 weeks so I was pretty close to transitioning all my matters anyhow, so I am not sure it made much of a difference.
In my experience, what I did was a bit rare. Most of my colleagues did work up until their due dates, although I can’t imagine they were doing that much work at the end. I would suggest that you start transitioning work around 36-37 weeks — or at least get someone else staffed on your matters. If you are pretty slow by 38 or 39 weeks and can afford the time off, go for it. The other thing I would say is that towards the end, I did push back on late nights, etc. I have multiple colleagues who went into labor early after pulling late nights — not saying there was causation, but it just wasn’t worth it to me to risk it.
anon says
I stopped a week before my due date due to discomfort and extremely disruptive digestive issues. I could possibly have worked from home, but (a) digestive issues were really unpredictable and made meetings/phone calls hard and (b) it was much easier to have a set date to hand off my cases.
This was possible because we got X months of leave, but I wasn’t going to be using all of it — I was going back to work on the same date (X minus a few weeks) regardless of whether the baby was early or late (because my partner is in academia and got off on that date for the summer). So I had an extra week to spare. I don’t know what I would have done if I got only 12 weeks total that I needed to save for after the birth.
I think in other countries it is very common (and sometimes required) to stop working before the due date, but I hardly knew anyone who did it here — mostly because of the limited amount of leave we get. Depending on how your pregnancy goes, it can be totally fine to work up to the end, or total torture.
same anon says
I ended up having my baby right about on my due date, so was only home for a week. Mentally, that was the perfect amount of time. May have gone crazy if the baby decided to come late.
PhillyAnon says
It is definitely required in a lot of European countries. I had both of my kids in France, where the standard leave is 6 weeks before your due date (which is set at 41 weeks, not 40) and 10 weeks after, and most OBs will give you an additional 2 weeks of sick leave before your pre-natal leave starts, so most women are off work by around 33 weeks. You can get a Dr’s note to save 3 weeks of pre-natal leave for after the baby is born but after that you are required to be off. I found the whole idea of being off for that long with no medical reason very bizarre, but it seems to be a cultural thing. Mandatory leave during the 1st trimester would have been much more my speed.
For my first I did get the medical permission slipped and worked up to 38 weeks, it was pretty miserable but so was everything at that point – I wound up spending 10 days on leave before my son finally appeared at 40+3 weeks, and while the first 2 days or so were fun and it was nice to get the house ready I was so bored and would rather have been at work. My boss was happy I was gone, because with the culturally ingrained idea that you shouldn’t be at work the last 6-8 weeks he was convinced I would deliver at my desk. With my second I also wanted to work as long as allowed the midwife put me on mat leave at 35 weeks and gave me orders to keep my son in daycare until I was full term – I was pretty exhausted at that point (active toddler, stressful job, planning a major move+immigration issues, husband working 7 days a week…) and the break was nice for a couple days but once again it was very, very boring and I would much rather have had my son home with me or been at work.
Tldr, having been “forced” to take off early, if you can stick it out and there are no medical concerns and you don’t have a physically demanding job (and late nights count as demanding!) I would definitely try to work as long as possible. At least it gives you something to think about to distract you from the misery of the final few weeks and the impatience of waiting for baby to finally arrive.
Pigpen's Mama says
I think I posted an almost identical post a little over a year ago when I was ~ 35 weeks along. General response was some people do it, but if you have the option of not working up to your due date and want to take off early, do it.
I had my official last day ~ 10 days before my due date (one work week), I worked from home for a few hours the first week I was off — had at least one partner and one client tell me to put my phone down and stop working, so I did. I was very glad I took that week — I didn’t do much, because I was the size of a house and it was August in the mid Atlantic, but I went to movies, washed the baby stuff, puttered around Target etc, and was as rested as I could be going into delivery.
Plus, when I got back, no one even remembered that I went out a week ‘early’.
Pigpen's Mama says
Oh, I took that week as vacation or sick leave — can’t remember which. And I delivered a few days past my due date, so I was going a bit stir crazy by then. Now I’d LOVE to have that down time!
Anonymous says
+1. Tell them you’ll be working from home at 38 weeks, and then get to 38 weeks. It’s easy to build this up in your head but seriously, no one is thinking about it and no one will remember. I work in a small office and I was two weeks early, so nothing had been handed off, no one was ready, everyone was surprised. I left work one day expecting to come in the next day, and then I didn’t come back for 14 weeks. And 18 months later, I’m confident no one remembers. They do, however, remember how another attorney had her water break in the office several years prior, so try to avoid that if you can.
MDMom says
I worked until the day before I delivered (2 days past due date). Honestly? I felt pretty good and didn’t have a problem with it. I was actually really grateful to still be working especially when he was a little late, because sitting at home all day waiting for something to happen would have driven me absolutely bonkers. I pared down my court schedule starting at 36 weeks and had nothing scheduled 38 weeks onward, but was available in office
to handle things that came up.
That said, the postpartum period has kicked my @ss physically and otherwise. I’m grateful to not be going back until he is 4 months. I was not ready at 12 weeks.
SC says
I was placed on bed rest at 32 weeks and delivered at 35.5 weeks. I was on medical leave during that time. I know that’s not particularly helpful for your situation, but I wanted to give an example of the other end of the spectrum. Not everyone works all the way to the end – or even close!
Working till 40 weeks? says
Thanks so much for weighing in ladies. It’s nice to hear I’m not the only one struggling with this! I’m only 33 weeks, so I’ll definitely push forward per usual for a few more weeks. But I think I’ll look into cutting down or at least trying to telecommute some in the last 2-3 weeks.
LC says
Piggybacking off the above thread: Has anyone gotten pressured by their supervisor to shorten their leave? If so, how did you deal with it?
I’m 36 weeks pregnant and my boss has made abundantly clear his expectation that I work up until the end. (Example: the person covering for me is starting two business days before my due date, and my boss expressed his delight that the two of us “would have at least a few days of overlap.”) I’m having an uncomplicated pregnancy so far, and have only recently started feeling the tiredness and achiness creep in — but regardless, I feel kind of resentful of the expectation. As if that’s not annoying enough, an even bigger problem is that my boss still expects me to cover an enormous project with an internal deadline a couple of weeks after I return from leave. There is no way I’ll be able to finish the project in a couple of weeks, so I feel like his position is a not-s0-thinly veiled attempt to get me to come back earlier, and/or to come back and work like a dog to get this done. I’m not planning to take a ton of time off — about 15 weeks, mostly unpaid.
I’m really not sure how to handle this. When I first shared the news of my pregnancy, I was told to “take as much time as I need.” But now that the reality of my being out is creeping in, I feel like that’s definitely not the expectation.
B says
Yikes. No, my supervisor has been really supportive and my fill-in showed up at around 34 weeks, so lots of transition time. I’m 36 weeks now.
That being said, I have had a few issues with coworkers. I think generally it’s cluelessness, not malice. But when I stopped traveling for work a few weeks ago (which is a choice I made with my supervisor’s backing) I really had to put my foot down multiple times with co-workers and the plant locations that I support. It was a boundary that I just had to enforce for a while until they got used to it — and it was really hard on me because I felt guilty and like I was doing my job to less than my normal standards. I have similar anxiety about taking 14 weeks of maternity leave — again, even with a supportive boss.
Does that help at all? I know I’m not addressing your situation exactly. I just know that for me, the internal guilt/insecurity over taking time off has been hard, and I wonder if it’s the same for you. If so, maybe recognizing & dealing with it will help you a little bit, even if it’s not your main problem. I’m really interested to hear what the other girls have to say about this one.
MdMom says
I did not have that experience, and I’m sorry your boss is both clueless (that baby could very easily come before 39 + 5) and kind of a jerk. Is it possible for you to coordinate directly with your replacement, maybe by email while home on leave, so that they at least get started on this project for you?