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There’s nothing like a sweater dress to give you those warm work-from-home vibes when you’re sitting in a fluorescent-lit office.
This fit-and-flare merino wool sweater dress has a funnel neck and (surprise!) an open back that will take you straight from desk to dinner (consider adding a jacket for the desk part). I wouldn’t style it any differently than the photo — a pair of tall boots and a bold belt. This will be your go-to outfit throughout the winter.
The dress is available at Banana Republic.
Update: Unfortunately, this dress has sold out. Nordstrom has a couple of nice options; this Halogen dress is on sale for $53.40, and this Caslon dress is on sale for $55.30 and goes up to XXL.
Looking for other washable workwear? See all of our recent recommendations for washable clothes for work, or check out our roundup of the best brands for washable workwear.
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
Anonymous says
9th birthday present ideas for a boy turning 9 who wants “sports trading cards, board games & chapter books.”
It’s my 3rd grade/9 year old girl’s classmate. She told me he likes “legos and soccer. Really, really likes soccer.” I thought books would be easy, but my kid is a crazy advanced reader and I have no idea what would be appropriate/interesting to a boy vs what she likes (she just read Wonder, which I do not think is likely to be of interest). Her fave board games are chess, clue, and exploding kittens. This kid is a younger sibling so I’m guessing the family has most of those already.
I have 3 girls and she wants to get him a present, not the gift card I suggested ;). I told her to ask other 9 year old boys, but have a feeling that will not be super helpful. Any ideas from this group?
EP-er says
I love to give the Lego Classic yellow boxes. The come in varying sizes from 150-500 pieces, depending on your price point. Maybe add on a book, too? I might pick something like My Side of the Mountain, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Wild Robot, Spy School, Henry Huggins.
Anon says
I like the Lego classic for a younger kid just starting out with legos, but 9 seems a little old for that. I have a Lego loving 8 year old and we have bins and bins and bins of legos. Legos coming out of his ears. A specific set based on his interests is nice because it will keep him occupied for a bit, but we have more than enough random legos for him to make whatever creative build his heart desires. Unless I’m missing some aspect of the classic.
Anon says
+1 to this except my kid is only 5.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Agree. Is there a soccer-specific lego set? That would be cool. My kid would love that!
Anonymous says
Do you have a 9 year old boy? These seem sort of young- and most boys of this age are chock full of legos and nerf, unless it’s a specific set.
EP-er says
I have a teenager and 10 year old. Lego are still a big hit with my kids, but I guess we are the outliers! I love the classic sets because you can do so much with them — but a specific set would also be good. They have a range of price points, which I appreciate.
GCA says
What about other games from the makers of Exploding Kittens? I have my eye on Hand-to-Hand Wombat for my kids, who will probably find it hilarious. Regular Carcassonne and Bohnanza are also pretty easy for 9 year olds to grasp – they are aging out of the simplified kids’ versions of many games at that point.
Books: what about a couple of graphic novels? The Witch Boy, Wingbearer, Lightfall, Over the Garden Wall.
AwayEmily says
Soccer seems like a great lead. Get him something from the USWNT; everyone loves them.
Anonymous says
…like….? Sorry, OP here and I don’t even know what sort of thing to get. A shirt?
AwayEmily says
T-shirt or hat? I’m getting my nephew (8) a jersey but they are pretty $$.
Anonymous says
Recs from a mom of a 10 year old boy:
Books – A Wolf Called Wander or Whale of the Wild by Roseanne Parry
There is a new Cat Kid Comic Club Book, and a new Diary of A Wimpy Kid book if he likes graphic novels
Games:
Throw Throw Burrito
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
Minecraft: Builders & Biomes (pricey but if you can find a sale, this is a good game for kids and adults to play together)
Other:
Kracie Popin Cookin’ candy making kits are a lot of fun, cheap, and consumable. They have them on Amazon but they are cheaper in Asian grocery stores.
Anon says
As the mom of a third grade boy, Cat Kid Comic Club series, the Last Kids on Earth series, and Wings of Fire series are all favorites.
Lego seems to be going out of style unless they have a specific interest. Pokemon cards and Bakugan are big in his class, but our twin third grade neighbors are in a different school and Akedo warriors and Gigabots are big in their classes. Minecraft and video games are a pretty universal interest of all the boys his age – you can get portable retro video game things (like knockoff game boys) for $20-30 at Walgreens and Walmart and such.
For the soccer interest, you could get him some of those hover soccer balls that work on hard wood or basement floors. Or one of those neoprene soccer ball kick-return trainers.
Anonymous says
Yeah I’m the mom of the 10 year old above, and he sadly suddenly lost interest in Legos right around when he turned 9. He asked for Lego sets for his birthday but he never completed them. He was the same way with wooden trains – overnight he went from obsessed to over it. I can’t adjust!
anon says
My 9 yo really likes the game Dragonwood. It’s obscure enough he probably doesn’t have it yet. It teaches statistics.
Other favorite games are Mastermind, Labyrinth, and Battleship.
anon says
My 9 year old nephew who loves soccer asked for soccer trading cards for Christmas. Target has some sets for $30.
Anonymous says
These?
https://www.target.com/p/2021-22-panini-mosaic-soccer-trading-card-blaster-box/-/A-85194288
anon@10:35 says
Yes, that’s exactly what I bought.
Anon says
Check out the “Ultraball” books, by Jeff Chen. It’s about a team of kids on the moon who play a zero-gravity version of football in special mechanized suits. Super-fun sports adventure.
AwayEmily says
In search of breakfast ideas. Currently our rotation is French toast, biscuits-from-a-can, pancakes-from-the-freezer, Kodiak waffles, oatmeal, and muffins-from-the-freezer. Plus fruit. As you perhaps can tell, my kids prefer carb-y breakfasts…neither likes eggs, sadly. Would especially love ideas for things that are freezable. Additional muffin ideas also welcome; we usually just do whole-wheat banana or superhero.
Aunt Jamesina says
Smitten Kitchen’s Blue Sky bran muffins are easy and delicious. You can also freeze oatmeal if you want to make a big batch and portion it out. Yogurt and granola is almost zero prep.
Anne-on says
Smitten Kitchen’s new book has a PB&J bar recipe that was easy to make, froze well, and my kid loved. I seem to recall she also has a granola raspberry breakfast bar recipe on her site?
Anonymous says
Cereal. Girl your menu reads like you’re running a restaurant! My kids get cereal, toast, or yogurt on weekdays and that is it.
Anonymous says
+1 we do some combo of fruit, yogurt, Kodiak pancakes (frozen), and frozen breakfast sausage. All things that can be ready in 3 minutes.
Anne-on says
Ha, I wonder if this is a situation of preferring novelty vs. preferring routine? I (and my son) would happily eat the same 2-3 carby breakfasts for the rest of our lives. My husband is horrified by this and insists on trying to ID ‘new’ options to try (our kid also won’t do eggs). We also do cereal, frozen pancakes, banana or blueberry muffins (I make a big batch and freeze them), mini bagels with peanut butter, or a PB&J. If I happen to make biscuits from scratch he’ll eat those with jam or bacon in the AM.
If you’re looking to add protein maybe offer turkey bacon, peanut butter, or cream cheese on the side? I’ve also had luck with quesadillas (doesn’t take much longer than eggs to do a simple cheese one), or ‘continental’ breakfast (deli meat roll-ups with cheese, fruit, and a small hard roll).
Anonymous says
+1 – we don’t do variety
Anonymous says
Same. Cereal or frozen waffles during the week. Homemade pancakes and omelettes are strictly for weekends.
Boston Legal Eagle says
My kids also get cereal (even the sugary kind! the horror) and a granola bar everyday. Weekends are a little fancier.
Anonymous says
+1
Our options are cereal, freezer waffles, or toast. My 7 year old get her own breakfast herself, and has since she was 5.5 (she loves it). She sometimes makes toast with peanut butter and bananas if she’s ambitious.
AwayEmily says
Ha, fair point! Breakfast is our nice family meal. The kids get up super early and in a good mood and school doesn’t start til 8:30, so we all sit around and eat breakfast together. Dinner, on the other hand, tends to be a more slapdash and whiny affair.
anon says
For real. Mornings are way too busy to be whipping up actual meals.
Anon says
I think my kid has had a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast every day for the last three years, except when sick or traveling or out to a restaurant. And half the time we go to a restaurant she just orders a bagel lol. Girl knows what she likes.
Anne-on says
This. My husband is vaguely horrified by my bagel consumption but Iit’s something easy I can grab quickly on the way home after drop off/on the way into to the office. I come by it honestly – I know my dad had a coffee cart onion roll with butter and coffee regular for about 15 years straight when he was commuting into an office.
AwayEmily says
Bagels are delicious, she is a smart kid. Bagels used be on rotation but then one of my kids got a stomach bug about three hours after eating a bagel and she has not been able to touch them since. Tragic. Hoping this resolves itself with time.
Anon says
Oh that happened to my husband in college with carrots and he still can’t eat them! Brains are funny!
Vicky Austin says
That happened to me with lasagna as a small child – I came around by teenagerhood!
Anon says
That is a lot of options! We mostly eat oatmeal every day – no freezing necessary with that option. I add cinnamon, honey, slivered almonds, and different fruits. Maybe some cheerios if we want to change it up. Occasionally pancakes on the weekends.
Mary Moo Cow says
My kids love Belvita breakfast cookies. I don’t love that they are starting the day with cookies, but balanced with some fruit…ehh. We also like scones (King Arthur Flour makes delicious mixes that freeze well) and mini pumpkin muffins (search for Libby 3 for 100 mini pumpkin muffins.) How about yogurt? DD likes strawberry stonyfield with choco chimps.
NYCer says
Cereal is the most popular in our house… Generally we have Cheerios, Shredded Wheat (mini sized) and Special K on hand.
Pogo says
We do frozen waffles and yogurt exclusively on weekdays.
Anon says
We are similar. Breakfast is a protein, a carb, and fruit. Protein is eggs with cheese, turkey sausage, yogurt with or without almond butter/peanut butter, or cottage cheese. Carb is oatmeal, pancakes or french toast (made in batches in advance and frozen for individual 40 second microwave thaw), toast with peanut butter or almond butter, or muffins (I’ll throw in a batch in the morning when I let the dog out in the backyard and then they bake while I’m working out). Fruit is whatever fruit we have on hand.
If they don’t like eggs, then the only freezable additions I could add to your list are breakfast breads (we do savory ones with cornmeal, grated carrots and zucchini, chopped spinach) – freeze in single slices for quick thaw.
I made apple muffins with cardamom this morning – whole wheat/oat combo.
DLC says
The ladies who wrote Run Fast, Eat Slow just put out a breakfast cookbook (Rise and Run) and there are a whole bunch of variations on their superhero muffins in there – I’ve done the banana chocolate ones and they are really good, not too sweet.
What about potatoes? Not sure how much time you have in the morning, but those preshredded hash browns or hash brown patties from the freezer section are pretty easy.
Breakfast burritos? You could do potatoes, beans, salsa and cheese and add avocado or guac. \
Bacon. Always bacon.
AwayEmily says
Thanks all! These are some good ideas — I’m definitely going to investigate some of the muffin/bread recipes. Our dinners are often pretty hurried/stressful these days for various reasons, so breakfast is the meal of the day where we all sit down together. The big kids are up early so there is plenty of time. I get that for many people, it’s the opposite!
Anon says
I posted a couple weeks ago about a daycare teacher pulling my husband aside at pickup and telling him our 4 year old had been doing a bad job listening and following rules. We talked to our kid about it, but we were getting the vibe from the teachers that we were supposed to be doing more at home in terms of punishing (?) her. We have parent-teacher conferences pretty soon so we decided to discuss it with the teachers in more depth then. In hindsight, sickness was probably a factor in the behavior I posted about previously – DD was sent home from school the very next day with a fever that turned out to be a really nasty virus – although there were a handful of teacher comments that predated this illness, so it wasn’t just that.
Yesterday was her second day back at school after almost two weeks off for illness and the holiday, and at pickup the same teacher came up to me to talk about how terribly behaved my kid was that day. She said my kid is a bad influence on the other children and she spent most of the day yesterday alone because they couldn’t let her be around the other kids because she was encouraging them to behave badly. Some of the things she was describing definitely sounded bad (like my kid talking back to her), but some of them seemed a little nitpicky to me (like my kid was supposed to walk through the hall silently but she wasn’t being completely silent – is that really a reasonable expectation for a 4 yo?) But mainly I was caught off guard and I feel like it wasn’t the most productive way to have a discussion. It just felt like she was unloading on me about what a bad kid I have instead of engaging in a discussion. She also kept asking what was going on at home that would be causing this behavior, and seemed really unsatisfied when I said nothing out of the ordinary is going on at home and DD’s behavior at home hasn’t been especially bad (which is true).
I am not excusing my daughter’s behavior. Talking back to a teacher is not ok and following the rules is important. But I feel like there’s some kind of personality clash with the teacher that is making this worse? In our conversation, the teacher really wasn’t subtle about the fact that she thinks my kid is a bad apple, and I can’t imagine my kid isn’t also picking up on that. I realize school is different from playdates and extracurriculars but her activity teachers have raved about her behavior to us, and we’ve never had issues when she goes to playdates at other kids houses. I did ask her why she does a better job listening to activity teachers than school teachers and she said “because [activity] is fun and school is no fun.” We talked about how part of life is having to do unfun things and we still need to follow the rules even when something isn’t fun, but it makes me sad because she used to really love school.
I guess the next step is to have the parent teacher conference and go from there? Does anyone have any advice about how to approach the parent-teacher conference or how best to handle this with our daughter?
Anonymous says
The next step is protecting your child! She spent most of the day alone?!? Wildly inappropriate. Demand to change classrooms or find a new school
Day care is not school. This person is not a teacher. It’s a service. It’s not working for your child so you find a different one.
Poor wee sweetie take her out for an ice cream tonight and give her an extra hug.
OP says
It sounded like they were separating her, letting her go back, more bad behavior, separating her again, repeat, so more like on and off all day then all day isolation.
But separation also seemed extreme to me given that she wasn’t being physical or mean to other kids.
anon says
My gut reaction to this is that separation is extreme, and it obviously wasn’t working.
Anonymous says
This was my first thought too. Something is not working between this teacher and your kid. A 4 year old should generally still be having fun at daycare — not every second of every day, but it shouldn’t be “no fun” like regular school!
Anonymous says
I’d switch daycares. That sounds awful.
Pogo says
+1 yeah sorry, I know how much it sucks to switch but man. That is ROUGH. It also feels weird that it seems like they let it build up to this point where your kid is being exiled? What about a note saying, “We had to remind Lucy 3 times today to keep her body calm and safe” so you know what behaviors, how many times, and what words the school is using to describe the behavior so you can reinforce at home? And scheduling follow-ups over the phone at a time that works for everyone? Their handling of this does not seem to be standard procedure given what I’ve seen.
Anonymous says
Everything you are describing sounds like normal 4 year old behavior, and the teacher’s response is unacceptable. You can’t isolate a 4 year old alone all day for doing things like talking back! That MIGHT be appropriate briefly if it was necessary to protect other kids from being physically violent. Honestly, I think you need to talk to the director and try to switch to a different class or switch daycares – something is wrong here, but I don’t think it is your daughter.
Anne-on says
This. It sounds like the daycare teacher is strongly playing favorites, has deemed your kid the ‘bad kid’ and nothing you can do will change that. I’d think about changing daycares and I would 100% ask to change rooms NOW. Changing daycare sounds like a big deal but we did it twice for various reasons (moved, terrible director took over, the place that was great from 1-3 had a meh 3’s and 4’s program). My kid HATES change but still did totally fine with every move and I didn’t realize until after what a relief it was to go from a center where we felt anxious about going to vs. one we really liked.
OP says
This was my gut reaction but I didn’t want to be that mom who thinks her special snowflake can do no wrong. The way they were acting I thought they were going to say my kid punched another kid or something. Talking back isn’t great but seems pretty normal to me for a 4 year old.
Fwiw this is her second school year in the same classroom with the same teachers and there were zero issues last year. It’s her fourth year in the center and while we didn’t connect with this room’s teachers the way we did with the wonderful infant-toddler and 2s room teachers, last year was overall very smooth so I’m very hesitant to do the nuclear option of leaving the center. I’m also not sure what we’d do for childcare. Every center in my city has waiting lists of a year and we really can’t afford a nanny so realistically if we leave I’d probably have to quit my job. It sounds like we need to talk to the director though.
Vicky Austin says
You say she “used to love school” – can you point to when that changed? Was this teacher possibly in a different role last year and interacting with your daughter less?
I don’t have advice for you (my only kid is still in utero, lol) but I’m really sorry this is happening and it doesn’t sound right to me either, for whatever that’s worth!
OP says
Good Q. It’s hard to say. She still likes school in the sense that she usually doesn’t want to leave when we pick her up. She has good friends and enjoys a lot of the activities they do. Drop offs started getting difficult in early summer, seemingly out of the blue, and have been hard on and off since then, very bad lately. And now these comments about school not being fun, but if we asked her in a different context we might have gotten a different answer.
Teacher’s role has not changed to my knowledge.
Anonymous says
It’s weird that there were no issues last year and suddenly there are with all of the same people involved. I guess that does make it harder to just dismiss the teacher’s reaction, but even so, I would not assume your daughter is the core issue. Maybe there is less support staff this year? Maybe the class size is larger? Maybe the teacher is having some kind of personal issue?
I also agree that daycare waitlists can be flexible – be proactive, be the kind of parent they would want to interact with, and see if there is any movement. If you haven’t already, also look at in-home daycares or nanny shares. I don’t think either is ideal for a 4-year-old, but this sounds like a bad situation.
FWIW my husband is a public school teacher, and if anything, this would be even more inappropriate for a regular teacher to do – they HAVE to deal with your kid and your kid’s problems, whatever they are, and find a way to teach them. The fact that the teacher can’t prevent your 4-year-old from influencing their peers to “bad behavior” says a lot.
OP says
The class size is larger (went from 16 to 20) and the average age is younger. Last year my daughter was one of only three kids who was 3 at the start of the school year in August; the rest were 4. This year the class is about half kids who were 3 at the start. Overall the room seems way more chaotic this year, but that doesn’t seem to bother my kid too much.
Anonymous says
Ah, the age dynamic shift and larger class size makes sense – either way, the problem isn’t your child, but I understand better now why the teacher is suddenly over their head. (Similar things happened at my son’s preschool when they had an especially young group his 2nd year).
Anonymous says
You need to actually call every other daycare that might work today and ask them their availability. That’s the only way you know what your options are.
And if this daycare has another room, your child should be moved tomorrow.
Anon says
Not to gaslight what you are saying about the waiting lists, but if you called around you might be surprised. (Or you might not be). I feel like wait lists at these places are kind of loosey goosey, and the length to get into one as a regularly scheduled infant and a random mid year older child might be different. My area is also known for having year long wait lists, but my old preschool unexpectedly shut down a little bit ago and I was shocked how many parents found good alternatives almost immediately. Good luck.
OP says
That’s good to know and I didn’t take it as gaslighting. Thanks.
Boston Legal Eagle says
We’ve also had to switch daycares sometimes with as little as a month’s notice and it’s been fine, especially for older kids. There should be some other preschool programs available that don’t have a waitlist.
Anonymous says
Seconding this. The waitlists tend to be for infants, not 4yo kids.
EDAnon says
We had a similar issue with our son at his religious education where the dynamics changed and it was a struggle. I think you need to talk to the director before the parent teacher conference.
I would guess your kiddo is bored. Being bored is not a license to act out! But it is incumbent upon the teachers to ensure your kid gets some customized attention. If she was already through all this last year, I am sure she gets it and doesn’t want to do it again. We have kids with late summer birthdays so they are in preschool for a long time. The teachers have always enforced some rules but also have them custom experiences like extra time to do math at nap (this is fun for my kid!) or extra responsibility in the classroom. The director can help facilitate that (or help you find other options).
anon says
I wouldn’t wait for conferences. I’d pull in the the director ASAP. A 4 year old shouldn’t be treated as such a “bad kid” that they are separated from others for most of a day because they’re influencing other kids to be annoying (rather than a safety issue like hitting).
It sounds like this teacher really needs support from her employer/a consultant on child behavior. However, it’s possible the child also needs outside support, in which case, the school should offer guidance on whom to engage. Either way, the teacher isolating your child and venting to you does nothing to help anyone.
OP says
Thanks, yeah this is how I feel. My child is very spirited and intense and I think it’s possible her behavior is out of the normal range even without getting physical. But the teacher venting to me isn’t solving anything.
GCA says
Do not have the parent teacher conference. Go straight to the director now. The way this person is treating a child in their care is inappropriate and heartbreaking. I feel awful for your daughter.
Hmmm says
This. This is a problem with the teacher and her behavior toward your child. You need to call the director right away and raise this issue. And if you don’t get a good response, it’s time to move classrooms or daycares (IME year-long waiting lists are usually for infants only; unexpected spots for older kids are often not that easy for daycares to fill).
Please don’t wait on this as being taught that she is a “bad kid” can be really harmful for your child.
I feel so bad for you and your kiddo both. I still remember the first grade teacher that strongly disliked me and how awfully she treated me. I would hide in the hallway to avoid going into her classroom. My mom had no idea how bad it was. So if you’re getting vibes that this teacher is being unkind to your daughter, please assume it’s worse than what you’re seeing/hearing.
I’m sorry you’re dealing with this.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Agree with everyone else that this is not a good environment for your kid. The teacher has unrealistic expectations (is this Montessori again?) Switch rooms or even daycares.
OP says
Not Montessori. A play-based daycare that is very highly regarded. We’ve been here for four years (and with the same teachers for the last 15 months) and no issues until now.
Anonymous says
I’m a Montessori mom (three kids deep) and nothing like this has ever happened at Montessori and I would not tolerate it. Please call the director today and tell her what happened (both instances) and then ask for your daughter to move classes if possible. Then I would call other day cares. At the very least your child should not interact with this teacher anymore. I read your original post and thought “the teacher seems like a bad fit…possibly a bad career choice but maybe their personalities just clash” so I’m commenting now. It’s time to take action.
Agreed says
Agreed, we love our Montessori! They get a lot of hate on this board, but I think, like any daycare, it’s very center by center. Ours has so far been better (and the teachers are more kind and patient) than the “traditional” daycare my kids were at before. I think it really just depends on the center and teachers.
Boston Legal Eagle says
What does the other teacher say? Preschool rooms should have at least 2 main teachers who interact with the kids. Is it just the one who’s saying all of these things? If the other one isn’t, that would be another data point to discuss with the director.
Anonymous says
I agree with the above posters. Your kid’s behavior sounds normal and a pre-school teacher should know how to deal with it and also how to engage kids so school isn’t so “boring”.
Anonymous says
I’d ask for a separate conference NOW with the director and the teacher and not wait until the parent teacher conference. This is a big issue and I don’t think there will be adequate time to address it in the parent teacher conference (at our school they’re like 20 minute conferences and most of that is going over an evaluation form).
Anonymous says
Right. Your child was isolated for a day. You demand a call with the director today.
anon says
+1 to a conference with the director. And I know that you don’t want to sound like your kid is a special snowflake and never does anything wrong, but the expectations don’t sound appropriate. Yes, we need to teach our kids to be respectful to adults, but at 4 years old, they may not have the language skills to say what they need (other than “No!”) or may not have the impulse control to comply immediately. And sure, it’s probably better to ask kids to walk in a line quietly, but I’d expect to remind them frequently and gently. The fact that this teacher is acting like these things are huge issues, rather than a normal part of a child’s learning process, is really strange.
anon says
This is almost certainly a teacher issue. My kid sounds very similar yet did great in Montessori preK because her teacher recognized that she couldn’t just be treated the same as the neurotypical kids and worked to gain her respect and give her tasks that kept her from being bored and acting out. She’s now in public K and her current teacher has no interest in working with us to figure out solutions, so we just keep getting notes home about “She broke the rules again. Remind her to follow them.”
non says
We had a similar experience with our 2.5 year old but not nearly as severe. We were pulled aside and told kid was being obstinate and saying no, etc. totally normal toddler behavior.
They do “quiet time” when he’s misbehaving but it involves sitting in the reading nook and just having a few minutes away from the class activity.
I would definitely be upset if it happened all day, but we have access to the cameras that I check periodically and I’ve only ever seen it happen once.
Her behavior sounds totally normal and their response is unreasonable.
Anon says
Omg that conversation sounds utterly depressing. So much judgment thrown at you with the teacher assuming something must be wrong at home! Plus, wouldn’t you expect a child to have a slightly off day after being home for two weeks? Kids are not robots. Adjustment periods are needed.
OP says
It was so weird. And I was kind of stunned and not saying much so it was just the teacher ranting on and on. It was like the conversation form of someone texting you a huge wall of text.
Pogo says
I’m so sorry. This sounds super stressful.
Aunt Jamesina says
I’m so sorry you and your kid are going through this. You sound like a great parent!
OP says
Thank you <3
Anonymous says
I am late to this but the “is anything going on at home?” question really bothers me. I get why teachers ask this, but I got that question so.freaking.much one year (during pandemic! maybe it wasn’t home? maybe it was the state of the whole world?!) when my daughter was having a tough time with an unfortunate social dynamic in her class and I felt like the teachers did not believe me when I repeatedly answered that no, nothing had changed. “are you sure?”. oh yes, now that you’ve asked twice, I suddenly remember the dog died, we’re getting divorced and the neighbor is bullying her. ffs
anyway, I just wanted to agree with everyone to trust your instincts and talk to the director. and don’t let judgey questions get you down.
Anonymous says
This is so not ok! Well trained teachers would never treat your daughter like this, nor talk negatively this way to you about your child. And, I have two boys with ADHD who drove everyone crazy, so I know from frustrated teachers. Adults have to manage themselves!
You might need to find a new school asap.
Anon says
Do any of you or your kids have “formal” or lesser-known classic names? My friend just named her newborn Alphonse and I never knew I liked it! I’ve always liked classic names (think Louisa, Catherine), but most of them are thoroughly “modern” by now and some are also getting very popular again. There’s nothing wrong with popularity, but I’d prefer to avoid having my kid be one of 4 of the same name in the same grade. I’m interested in finding a classic, lesser-used name that doesn’t fully cross the line into stuffy, especially since our last name is foreign and a bit grand sounding (not my actual last name, but think something like van der Woodsen – couldn’t think of a non-Gossip Girl example!!)). Please help me brainstorm!
Pogo says
For a girl? I’m thinking Edith, Agatha, Martha, Adeline, Sylvie.
Clementine says
Love Sylvie/Sylvia. Similar vein – Sybill.
Anne-on says
Annaliese, Sylvie/a, Phoebe, Mirabelle, Dorothy (Dot/Dottie), Tabitha, and Cecilia/Cecily are all ones we liked for a girl.
Seafinch says
Versions of three of these names are used among my three (one more coming and sex unknown) girls and Tabitha was top of my list for this next one. We have similar taste!
Pogo says
Love a Dorothy – with Dot as nickname.
Anon says
I have an Edith! We call her Edie and get compliments on it all the time. I really love it.
Anon says
I have an Adeline and we get a lot of compliments on it! But it sounds kind of fussy to me with a last name like van der Woodsen. We have a short, English surname.
Anon says
I loveee Adeline!
Anotheranon says
Ugh I loved Adeline so much and my husband vetoed. Which turned out okay since two friends had girls born within a month of my daughter and named them Adeline!
Names! says
Boy or girl?
How many syllables is your last name and what letter does it start with?
Anon says
It’s four syllables total, two words – V and then T. I wish I could be more specific, but it’s not very common here!
anon says
Haha I think Alphonse is super stuffy. I have a Caroline and haven’t met another baby Caroline.
Anonymous says
Really?! It’s super common near me. Like basic standard.
Grace/ overplayed
Temperance/ up and coming
anon says
Yup! But I don’t mind being “basic standard” or super common so that wouldn’t bother me. Lots of people in your area must have excellent taste in names :)
AwayEmily says
I love Caroline. My daughter’s good friend is named that and everyone calls her Caroline-Bearaline. So cute.
Anon says
Question – how often do you deal with people thinking it’s appropriate to bust into a rendition of “Sweet Caroline” every time they hear the name? I had a good friend named Caroline in Boston (where the song is sung at Red Sox games) and it was damn annoying for her. I love the name Caroline, but would hate if that trend continued…
anon says
Fairly often but she’s only 18 months so she loves when people sing. I’ll report back in 20 years!
Pogo says
ha, I love that song (am from Boston) and I would use any excuse to bust it out, including singing to a child. We had the DJ play it at our wedding and it’s a karaoke go-to for my work team.
Anon says
This was a concern for us. I have a name that’s part of a very famous movie quote and I haaaaaaate when people say it to me. So we didn’t want a name that was part of any well known quote or song.
Mary Moo Cow says
Yes, both my girls! Women over 50-ish frequently say something positive about my kids’ names. I think it reminds them of childhood friends or even older relatives. They also are the only kids in our circle with those names and at 7 and 5, they are proud of their names and like that no one else has them. Some suggestions: Helen, Ellen, Margaret, Lydia, Agnes, Agatha, Mildred, Winifred. Another suggestion is to pair two names so it is a bit more distinct: Margaret Mildred, instead of Margaret, for example. There might be another Margaret in the class, but not another Margret Mildred.
Anonymous says
Do you actually think anyone uses middle names? Like unless you’re in Alabama no one is actually calling a child Margaret Mildred.
Anon says
Yeah, I feel like that would cause life long confusion. Honestly as an adult if I met them I would internally be like “is it Margaret? Or Margaret Mildred?”, feel awkward, and keep our exchanges generic. This is all probably more on me, but I’m just being honest.
Mary Moo Cow says
I always introduce her by her full name and as she gets older, she’s more confident politely speaking up to introduce herself or say, gently, and softly because she is only 7, “I go by full name” or “full name, thanks for asking” when grown ups ask.
I also have gotten more comfortable asking someone to correct my pronunciation of their name if I mangle it. Names are really important to me and I want to make sure I’m getting it right. My dad, for example, always shortens “David” to “Dave,” and it’s like, that’s not his name. He’s introduced himself as David, so call him David.
Mary Moo Cow says
My child does. I also know two double named adults, and four other double named kids. I’m not in Alabama, but I am in the South. On other end of the spectrum is my MIL who wasn’t even given a middle name (and never got over it.)
Anonymous says
My partner is a double named adult and goes by the full name and the second part always gets cut off by everyone. I find it annoying, but my partner doesn’t care.
anon says
Mary Moo Cow is a good example of a double name! It’s much classier than just Mary Cow. :)
Anon says
Ha, you named two of my daughters.
I’ll add to this list: Eileen, Marjorie, Patricia, Camille, Mae, Celia, Deborah, Beatrice
Bette says
I think I read recently that more formal, old-fashioned names are making a big comeback. My kid has a name pulled from astronomy/Greek mythology (so I guess you might consider that extremely classic?) but it’s even more unusual than Apollo, Athena, etc. I’ve never even heard of anyone else with this name. When it originally popped up on our baby name list my reaction was “no way that’s so weird” but then it really grew on me during pregnancy and we ended up going with it when I realized my first choice name (that felt so unique) was actually on the top 10 list for that year. Now it just feels like the perfect name.
To help with your brainstorming though… some of the things I considered was how the first name would sound with the last name. Like you, we have a big last name so wanted to balance it out with something shorter. I also thought about nicknames; my kid’s name lends itself to an adorable nickname that I love. Also considered the meaning behind the name; we liked that the name represented an astronomy/mythology combo as a reflection of my husband’s love of science and my love of the classics. I guess my biggest advice is don’t rule anything out based on initial reactions – let the names marinate and then like your friend’s Alphonse, you might actually end up loving something.
My currently pregnant friend was telling me about an app called Kinder – like a swipe-based dating app but it’s all baby names. Might be a fun thing to try out!
Anon says
Great tips, thank you!!
Pogo says
My friend her husband picked their daughter’s name on that app! It was definitely not something that they would have initially picked but they both swiped right on it and then they came to love it. It’s also of the rarer, 40s50s vibe – like a Peggy or a Betty.
Cb says
I’ve met two Aphra’s recently and thought it was a gorgeous name!
We got a list of my son’s year group and it was fun to peruse the names. Lots of very Scottish names, and then some wildcards.
Vicky Austin says
Aphra is so cute! I had a professor in college who encouraged us all to read Aphra Behn and I have fond memories of doing so.
Anonymous says
Omg pls share them
Clementine says
Question – how do you feel about a nickname as a name? For example, I have a friend who has a Henry (one of like 4 in his class) but he’s always been Hank. Likewise, I know a Genevieve who is GiGi, Margaret becomes Maggie, etc.
A handful of my favorites: Margaret, Caroline, Dorothy (Dottie for short), Irene, Vera, Everett, Archibald (Archie), Wesley (Wes), Forrest.
Would suggest looking at the top 100 names from 1920 –
https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/names1920s.html
Anon says
Shoutout from a mom of an Everett!
I regularly get told oh that was my great grandads name or little old ladies compliment us on it.
We actually did scroll the top names of the census too.
Everett's Mom says
Another Everett mom! People sometimes tell me “that’s unique” which surprises me?
Anon says
OP here and I love the name Jack as a stand-alone name, but otherwise, my general preference is to use the given name (I could be convinced otherwise, though). There’s a blogger I read who gave her kids a formal first and middle name and then switched to using a permanent nickname derived from the middle, not from the first. I love all three of the specific names she’s using, but that kind of construction is a bit convoluted for my taste.
Anon says
+1 to perusing the older Census lists. I feel like F and R names are coming back into style (opposed to the L and vowel names that are currently popular) so maybe things like Frederick, Franklin, Rudy or Florence, Rosemary, Fern. I also think Ws and Vs are a little off the mainstream but still cute, like Wesley, Wilhelmina (Willa), Vincent, and Victoria.
anon says
Gah, I LOVE the name Willa.
Anonymous says
Two people in my department at work have kids named Willa!
Pogo says
Oh Florence is great! I love Frances too.
Vicky Austin says
We’re considering Frances!
Anonymous says
Maggie, Molly, Meg for Margaret
Coco for Coraline
GiGi for Gabriella
Ginny for Virginia
Anon says
We have a Louisa and we’ve only met one other girl with that name (who’s much older than her). I think it works well as both classic and modern.
Name Anon says
Look at the Social Security baby names lists for names that were popular from the turn of the century through the 50s or so! I have a Sonia. We liked that it was familiar but not common.
Anon says
“Familiar but not common” is my jam, too. Our daughter has a name that is in the 300-400s of popularity – everyone has heard of it, knows how to pronounce it, but it isn’t popular. We’re picking a similar style name for our son.
Anon says
OP here and familiar but not common sounds perfect! I’d love something that you can pronounce/read easily, but that is unusual.
Pogo says
I’d also check out top name lists from other countries, particularly Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, then use the anglicized version of the name if needed. That’s how I picked my son’s “familiar but not common name” as well!
Just looking at Sweden’s top girl names, I see Alma and Vera which fit the bill – people can pronounce them, but they have that early 1900s vibe.
AwayEmily says
Sonia is wonderful! My sister’s name is Sonja.
Adult Sonia says
Yay for a baby Sonia! (A spectacular and sadly underused name)
Name Anon says
I (obviously) love it. Such a strong name!
Seafinch says
Yes! I love Alphonse. Quite formal and old fashioned names for our kids. We have a quite grand two word German surname (my husband calls it the evil Bond villain name) that is actually four words in Germany (the extra two words form part of the middle in Canada). I wanted names that were culturally consistent with the history of the surname which is well known in Prussian history, outside the top 1000, but recognizable. We have used names that are maybe a bit stuffy/too much for most people, but what I would call pan-European, work in various languages, have mostly Greek or Latin origins (so not monocultural), are very prolific in the family trees, and for our three girls, they all have masculinized versions of family male names. Just one example, Theodosius is the family name, with the same meaning as my husband’s grandfather’s name. My third, arriving after two late miscarriages, is Theodosia (gift from God).
I would spend an hour reading the Daily Telegraph birth announcements. You will find some names too much but they are pretty much all well known but rarely used in North America. You might find them, like Alphonse, to sound fresh but not too weird. Also start clicking links and do the quiz for your naming style on Nameberry.
Anon says
OP here and your style sounds right up my alley – my husband is European and I’ve love something that fits both of our cultures and that isn’t often used. Thanks for the tip on the Daily Telegraph!
Seafinch says
Exactly! it needed to fit both sides for us, too, but the surname is so obviously grand and German, it took some creativity to come up with those names to also reflect my very bog standard, east coast Canadian background (Celtic mash and in Canada for 250 years). One thing we did was name my son after both grandfathers. The German GF is the gazillionth with the name in a line since the year 1100, it’s also my husband’s name and is displayed on a prominent statue in the middle of Berlin. That is my son’s first name, but his two middles are my Dad’s two names, just slightly Germanified. So my dad is Robert, my son is “First Name after GF1/ Rupert (after GF2 Robert)/ Third given name after GF2” and he goes by Rupert. everyone can say it, everyone has heard it. It feels vaguely familiar but no one knows one. The namberry quiz really nails my style.
Anon says
Now I’m curious about your surname so I can look for it in Berlin, my all-time favorite city for walking around and finding random statues! :) Some of my favorite names for girls are Germanic in origin as well – a few have been used in my family over the years, but not as part of any particularly well-established lineage.
Anonymous says
Are you the one whose husband is minor nobility?
An.On. says
From the depths of my list of older acquaintances: Ila June (eye-la), which I always thought was pretty. Or Inez (eye-nez), Lillian (maybe getting popular again?), Gloria, Irene, Bonnie, Betty, Daisy, Bertha, Josephine, and for boys: Eugene, Franklin, Ernest/Ernie, Glen, Clifford, Lawrence, Leon, Harlan, Victor, Perry, Bernard.
Anonymous says
Sigh, I so wanted to use Leon but my spouse ovverruled. We do know two 8 year old Lillians, and one 6 year old Betty.
Anon says
This might cross the line into stuffy but we know a child Chester and it is super cute.
Anon says
honestly, i find that name cringeworthy and feel badly for the poor kid. i personally have no idea how to pronounce it. i myself have an off the beaten path name, but that one is too far for me personally.
Anonymous says
Huh how unfortunate that you have such a limited education and world view. Terribly provincial to not know how to pronounce Alphonse.
Aunt Jamesina says
Provincial, omg. New baby name?
Vicky Austin says
Puritan trendsetters are quaking.
Anon says
I can understand not liking it, but I don’t understand not being able to pronounce it. Unless you’re thinking “Al-fons-ay,” there really aren’t too many interpretations here…
Anon says
Blair isn’t super rare but I think it’s a beautiful name.
Other names – Luella, Delphine, Phillipa, Minnie, Priscilla, Valancy, Marilla. Maybe all of the names from Lucy Maud Montgomery books, actually. :)
Pogo says
my friend just had a baby Blair!
DLC says
I love the blog BritishBabyNames.com for more old school names – they also pull names from British birth announcements. Today there was a Montague Edward, and a Percival William and a Seraphina Alma. Not sure where those fall in the stuffy scale, but I think they’re charming.
So Anon says
I’m sure I could find something on pinterest/google, but I don’t have the energy to search. Our beloved family dog passed away earlier this week. She was 10 and lived a good life. My kids don’t remember a time without her, and she was my steady companion through the divorce and working from home the last 2.5 years. We are all heartbroken. I feel like I’m trudging through mud just trying to get through the basics this week. I would like to do something with my kids to commemorate our giant fluffy dog (she was a Newfie). My kids are 9 and 11. Any recommendations?
anonM says
If you celebrate Christmas, an ornament. Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland personalizes and mails.
Bette says
I’m so, so sorry. I lost my dog companion of 10+ years this summer and it was heartbreaking. There are a lot of nice sentiments out there about dogs crossing the rainbow bridge and I’ve seen some really lovely blown glass rainbow bridges on Etsy (even some intended to be kept outside in a garden or the dog’s favorite spot), maybe you could get one to serve as a bit of a memorial?
Also if you can, try to take a little time off this week for yourself to mourn, when you can just sit with your feelings and not have to try to trudge through the basics or help the rest of your family process their grief.
Bette says
Ooh I just remembered, someone gave us a windchime like this (Hear the wind and think of me, in your heart I’ll always be) and it really does feel like a special moment of connection and memory every time we hear the chimes.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1084980283/personalized-pet-memorial-wind-chime?gpla=1&gao=1&
Mary Moo Cow says
Oh, I’m so sorry for your loss. We lost our 15 year old big dog this summer and I thought I was moving on, but pulling out the dog Christmas ornaments and his stocking brought me to tears. Be gentle on yourself this season.
The book the 10th Good Thing About Barney might be a bit young for your older kid, but it is touching. It can also give you some ideas: a burial, everyone thinking of good things about the pet, etc. I ordered a pet memorial stone (really a flat, fake rock) from Etsy and laid it in the garden in front of the window our dog loved to look out from. If she had a favorite tree or spot in the yard, maybe a nice commemoration stone? Displaying her collar or making her tags into the spare key chain? (DH keeps our dog’s collar displayed on a bookshelf in his office.) Making commemorative art or buying a custom pet portrait? (For DH’s Christmas gift, the kids are making Kehinde Wiley-like canvases and I’m superimposing photos of our dog. I’m going to be a wreck when he opens them; that will make for great photos.)
anon says
Sending love. Could you print and hang some photos of her with the family around the house? My friends sent our 4 year old a book about when pets pass away, your might be too old for it but I’ll try to link below.
You could make a donation to an animal shelter/rescue in her name. Kids might be interested in picking out food/toys etc and dropping them off.
Love the ornament idea above too.
anon says
https://a.co/d/hQF8saF
Anonymous says
I don’t have any suggestions but I’m very sorry for your loss.
Vicky Austin says
Christmas ornament. Print a bunch of pictures of her (with you and the kids) and hang them on the fridge. Etsy is full of artists who will do a lovely portrait of a dog based on a photo if you’d be into that. I love the suggestions for putting a little stone in her favorite spot in the yard or something like that. If there was a window she liked to look out of, maybe you could find a little glass likeness and hang it there to catch the sun.
I’m sorry for your loss. I’ve known multiple dogs who see their people through a decade or more of difficult life adjustments and then pass away shortly after one last hardship or change, and I like to think dogs know when easier times are ahead and they can lay down their burden, as it were. But it doesn’t make them any less missed. Thinking of you.
Bette says
” I’ve known multiple dogs who see their people through a decade or more of difficult life adjustments and then pass away shortly after one last hardship or change, and I like to think dogs know when easier times are ahead and they can lay down their burden, as it were.”
Well this is beautiful and just made me sob…
Anonymous says
Nooooo! I’m so sorry. I’m a dog lover, a former Newf owner, and man, it sucks.
Anonymous says
My 3 year old got to play his grandparents’ piano over Thanksgiving and was super interested. He did a good job pressing one key at a time and being gentle, and he seemed fascinated by playing notes, and even more so when his uncle played him some songs. We should get him a piano, right? Should we go digital or regular (upright)? Any recommendations?
Cb says
I dunno, my son was obsessed with his ukelele for a few weeks and then ignored it thereafter.
Anon says
most folks will tell you kids just don’t have the fine motor dexterity to really learn piano until around age 6. That’s when I started mine in lessons. If you want to encourage his interest I’d go with a toy piano or keyboard at this age (unless you area already planning to get a piano anyway in which case go for it)
Anonymous says
I started y daughter at 6, but this year that she’s 7 she’s doing better and having an easier time with it because her fine motor skills have improved.
OP, I would borrow a keyboard from someone if you can, to see how it goes. Maybe he’s a musical genius! But waiting until he’s older also works.
Spirograph says
A piano is a big piece of furniture and a commitment, since they’re a PITA to move. If you want one in your house, and don’t mind the upkeep required (tuning, regulation, possibly a humidifier) get an upright. If you just want to encourage your kid’s interest and see where it goes, I would start with a smaller (cheaper) keyboard. For a 3 year old, you don’t need a great digital piano with 88 weighted keys.
People are always trying to give away pianos! I see “Free if you move it” listings frequently on message boards. There also may be a used piano dealer near you. I’d check out both of those options first rather than buying new. If you or your partner already plays and would enjoy having a piano for you own sake, or if your son ends up loving piano and taking lessons, you should upgrade because playing on a good instrument is *much* more enjoyable, but I wouldn’t jump in with both feet, yet.
Anon says
We just bought a house and it came with a piano, lol. I’m pretty excited as I’ve been thinking of learning piano as an adult hobby!
Spirograph says
You should definitely do it!! For inspo: A fellow student of my teacher started as an adult beginner a few years ago and he is legit pretty good, now! I have loved listening to him at recitals through the years and seeing the progression, and he’s having a blast with it. Also his teenage daughters sometimes come to the recitals and it melts my heart that they are so proud of their dad.
Anon says
I would find a group class first and see if his interest stays. Pianos are $$. I think a digital full size keyboard is fine to start, but it’s still $$ for a good one.
Bette says
This – a keyboard or piano is a big expense and real estate hog (and if you go for an actual piano, you need to pay a piano tuner to come out once or twice a year). I would try a group class or cheap keyboard but 3 does feel young for any sort of actual music learning, it might just be a novelty at this age.
EDAnon says
Our kids love our cheap keyboard and it plays (terrible) music they can dance to so it’s a win all around.
NYCer says
I would probably start with a keyboard, unless you otherwise would like to purchase a piano for your home (i.e. even if your kid weren’t interested). My 3.5 year old also loves to “play” the piano at my parents house FWIW.
Anonymous says
You should definitely buy a grand piano.
J/K. I’d get a toy piano and see how things go. Re-evaluate in 2-3 years.
That said, I bought a (used) baby grand because I love pianos and we needed filler furniture, so maybe the answer really is to buy a grand ;).
Spirograph says
hahaha I also have a used grand piano, but according to my husband we need the space in the living room much more than we need a grand piano. :) (too bad for him)
Christmas ornament toddler crafts says
Anyone have a great, easy but pretty, toddler Christmas ornament craft idea?
Toddler just turned 2. Last year we did 2×3 framed christmas tree “paintings” (I drew the outline of a green christmas tree and then she used her pointer finger and finger paint to make ornament dots).
Clementine says
draw a string of lights on a clear plastic ornament. Same concept – kid paints the lights in different colors with a pointer finger.
anonM says
I bought 8×10 canvasses and yearly do red and green handprints. It’s simple but I love seeing their little hand prints. Easy to display and coordinate from year to year. I also love laminating the crafts they get like this from school, so I can pull those out every year too. Lamination machine is my one of my fav purchases.
Anon says
Popsicle stick sled ornament. Have the kid paint or color on the sticks, then assemble into a sled shape and add yarn to hang.
Christmas ornament toddler crafts says
To clarify – this is for 10ish ornaments that we’ll be making and sending to family members. Not just one for us.
anonM says
Ohhhh I didn’t get that. I plan to make the one Feedling Littles posted – measure the LO’s height with red yard, tie on to top of ornament. Cute, and easy enough to do 10 of, unlike a lot of crafts.
Anon says
Salt dough ornaments that Toddler can paint? We did them last year when kids was 2.5 – she helped make the ornaments, but if that wouldn’t work you can just make them yourself.
Anonymous says
+1 – we made a huge batch when my son was that age. Making the dough, rolling it out and cutting ornaments (we just used cookie cutters and some playdough moulds), and then painting them were all activities. Except I think I used cornstarch clay, which has a finer consistency and is bright white – https://ridgelightranch.com/cornstarch-clay/
Cinnamon/applesauce dough is also good for ornaments, but you can’t really paint it. https://artfulparent.com/how-to-make-homemade-cinnamon-ornaments/
AwayEmily says
There’s a BusyToddler post that links to a bunch of easy ornament crafts — maybe one of those?
An.On. says
No ideas for you, but thank you for giving me one!
Anon says
We did silver ornament balls with brown finger paint, drawn reindeer antlers with brown sharpie and noses with a red sharpie. I don’t know if I’d say it was pretty, but they are cute.
Kids Shopping & Teacher Gifts says
My son is a kindergartener – they have a holiday shopping event for the kiddos and they can bring money in to buy items. Was thinking of sending in $20 but not sure if that’s not enough. Family is Mom & Dad and toddler Sister plus grandparents, etc.
Also want to get gifts for the teacher and para professional in his class. Was thinking Target gift certificate for $25 each?
Thanks for any guidance.
EDAnon says
I think $20 is fine.
Our school only allows nominal gifts for teachers (no gift cards), so you might want to check the school rules.
Anon says
Any book recs for a toddler who is scared of the dark, unexpected sounds, having the door closed at night?
Pregnancy / WFH Question says
Lots of pregnancy questions lately but here is another one! How much paternity leave would you want your spouse to take it he was WFH?
(Also, how am I going to get through maternity leave with my husband working from home??) I’m starting to see the appeal of a bigger house.
Anonymous says
The maximum he is entitled to with pay. Always.
EDAnon says
If you can afford it, the maximum amount he is entitled to regardless of pay status.
OP says
One clarification: he isn’t entitled to any specific amount of paternity leave, so this is something he’d be requesting separately. (If he was entitled to a set amount I’d tell him to take all of it on principle.)
Anon says
First baby? I’d say just a week or two at first and then save the rest for after you go back to work. That’s what we did and it worked great, although we had my mom here for two weeks.
OP says
This is our third, but he had a different job (not wfh) for the first two.
Pogo says
+1 Our second was born in the pandemic when we were both wfh, and we did the same thing as for our first – he took the first 2w off to help while I was still very much physically recovering, and then took another 4 weeks after I went back to work at the end of my maternity leave before we put baby in daycare.
We have two dedicated offices that are not near each other though. My office is close to the nursery but I kinda just ignored them when I was “back to work”. Sometimes I’d nurse rather than pumping if it lined up with my schedule – would text husband to coordinate.
Boston Legal Eagle says
I encourage all dads to take a few weeks in the beginning, and then the full leave when mom goes back to work (or non-birthing spouse and birthing spouse, to be inclusive). That’s what my husband did with our kids and it helped set us up for an equal parenting dynamic. That’s also what my report is doing.
Colette says
This is what my wife and I did. She took 6 weeks off with me at the beginning and then another 6 weeks solo when i went back to work. Half paid, half unpaid.
Spirograph says
I agree with this. I think my husband took two weeks off when our first baby was born, then a month+ when I went back to work. Subsequent babies he only took a week (maybe less?) immediately after the baby was born because I was nursing, the older kid(s) stayed in daycare, and I just didn’t really need the help during the day. He preferred to save his parental leave for when he could actually do the primary caregiving.
Anonymous says
My spouse took 2 weeks after our fall 2020 baby was born, and then went back to WFH. His job doesn’t offer paternity leave, so this was saved up sick time. I have to say, it was miserable to care for a colicky baby while he was constantly on the phone with his boss (doing things tangentially related to pandemic response, so he didn’t get many breaks). Thankfully, the weather was still warm, so I took a LOT of long walks with the stroller to get out of the house and let the baby give her grievances some air. :) Crossing my fingers that you have a calmer baby – if mine had been one, I think mat leave with a WFH spouse would’ve been completely doable in our small 50s ranch. Otherwise, one of you is going to have to find a way to get out of the house as much as possible.
Anon says
DH couldn’t split up his paternity leave, so he took a week vacation after the kid was born, then took 4 weeks during the time I was going back to work. He was wfh so I still had him around for emergencies. Then when I went back to work, it was all him. I think it really helped establish that he is just as capable and involved of a parent as I am, and didn’t allow us to fall into the “mom primary, dad assistant” roles that seem so common.
My biggest piece of advice to new parents is to start off as you intend to continue – he needs to be hands on and involved and capable from the start. Register for his own diaper bag so he can take the kid outside by himself. Put him fully in charge of some of the baby care, even when he’s not on leave. If you’re b-feeding, have him do all the bottle cleaning. Whatever you both can do to ensure he’s an active parent, now is the time to set those expectations and establish those habits. For us it looked like:
Since he was home and his job is fairly flexible, we established that I was responsible for baby input, he was responsible for baby output. And he was also responsible for feeding the adults. So he did all the grocery shopping and meal prep (even lunch during the workday) and bottle washing, and he also changed most of the diapers unless he was on a call.
He was also Chief Bather – he’d put on swim trunks and hold the baby in the tub while washing up after dinner. Great way to get skin to skin time, and also gave me a small break to breathe and brush my teeth. It also guaranteed he had dedicated face time with the kid every single day where he wasn’t distracted with work or focused on a diaper or meal.
Now the kids are in elementary school and we both work full time. But he leaves early for soccer practice just as often as I do. He knows the teacher names and buys the teacher appreciation gifts before I even remember. He knows their crushes and best friends and favorite food of the day. I think part of it is just who he is, but it’s also because we’ve both been involved from Day One. He didn’t get an “out” just because he went to work right after they were born, just like I didn’t get an “out” because I went back to work 10 weeks later.
TheElms says
Its hard to say without knowing what industry/type of job and whether you will have other help. I think 2 weeks is the minimum I would want especially if you end up having a c-section. Around 6 weeks both my kids started to sleep slightly longer stretches at night (like 4ish hours) so I was much less of a zombie. So 6 weeks would be great from a sleep perspective.
Anonymous says
My husband was allowed 6 weeks, and he took 4 right after the birth and 2 when I went back to work, which worked out really well for us. I especially appreciated having him available for the first 4 weeks rather than just 1 or 2.
Anon says
My husband took two weeks after our kids were born and with the last one he had 12 weeks fully paid he took later. It was awesome.
anon says
Absolutely no less than what he’s entitled to under the relevant law and employer policies (I’m in California, so that’s 6 weeks partially paid plus 6 weeks unpaid, for a total of 12 weeks).
Ideally, matching what I take (18 weeks post-birth, which is what California protects for someone with a very quick recovery and no complications) because it’s really important for men to have time to bond with their babies and for employers to see men as just as much a liability in terms of parental leave as women.
Anon says
i have 4 year old twins in separate classes at the same school and so are often invited to separate bday parties (which is totally fine!). Twin A is invited to a bday party the weekend after DH is having a medical procedure and so I don’t know if he will be in good enough shape to take Twin A to the party or to stay home with Twin B. Is it inappropriate for me to ask the mom (who i don’t know particularly well) if I can bring the other twin (I would of course offer to pay)? it is at a gymnastics place where i know they can host very very large parties, so the numbers shouldn’t be an issue, but it is not the kind of place where I can just pay for my kid on my own because it is only open for parties. my kids are not at all ready for drop off playdates or parties, though i know others at the age are. thoughts?
Anon says
Not inappropriate at all. Definitely ask. I think even the most anti-siblings at parties people would understand in this circumstance. If it were my party I would be happy to have Twin B come.
NYCer says
Definitely ask. I would be shocked if the bday mom said no.
anon says
Ask for sure but I’d expect an easy yes. In our circle people have started to put “siblings welcome” on the evite and even when they don’t I’m always (happily) surprised by the number of siblings.
Anon says
Totally OK to ask with an offer to pay!
anonM says
I’d totally ask and don’t think it’d be a problem. But I would mention DH being unavailable because I have heard of people (ok, one friend) being weird about this sort of sibling thing. I disagreed with said friend, but yeah, just think about what you’ll do if the answer is no. If it means you can’t go at all, just tell them that.
Anonymous says
Agreed. I had someone show up with an extra kid to my kid’s last birthday party (planning to pay — it was at an amusement park) and we had a last minute cancelation so could include the extra kid without any added cost and did so.
Anonymous says
Does anyone have a younger child who, despite getting 12 hours of sleep, still pulls the blanket over their head and says “I’m still tired! I don’t want to get up!” like a teenager would?
My 3.5 year old does this and I’m wondering at what point it’s time to talk with a doctor about it. This happens 3-4 mornings a week. Sleeps from 7:15-7:15 i a totally dark, cool room with a white noise machine. He wakes up at night maybe twice a month. Has a nap time at school but seems to not be sleeping very much during it. On weekends we either get no nap or a 3 hour nap. We don’t have much room on either end of the nighttime sleep to put him down earlier or wake him up later.
Anon says
A 3 year old needs 10-13 hours of sleep per day. It’s very possible your kid is at the high end of that. If he’s not napping at school you really need to find a way to get more nighttime sleep.
No harm in asking a doctor if you want, but that’s what they’ll you. This isn’t a medical issue, except that your kid needs more sleep than he’s getting.
Anonymous says
+1 My 3 year old is very variable in how much he’ll sleep. We always put him down between 7:30-8 and on some days he wants to keep sleeping past 8 AM, and on others he’s up and at ’em at 7 AM. He is also either team no-nap or 3-hour nap.
Anonymous says
Yes. I had a high sleep needs 3 year old who is now, shocker, a high sleep needs 7 year old. Plus some kids (and adults) are not morning people even if they do get enough sleep. I would focus on getting as much sleep as possible, even 15 min if you can (shorten dinner, don’t bathe every day if you are doing that now, etc). although by that age there was a time before which my kid just couldn’t fall asleep. Mine was also mildly moron deficient at one point so could be worth checking.
Anonymous says
Omg IRON deficient!!! Autocorrect!
Spirograph says
lol this is an amazing autocorrect. thank you!
Anonymous says
OP here… I really didn’t know what you were trying to say but this is an amazing auto correct!! I think we all kind of hope our kids are deficient in being a moron.
Anonymous says
This me ROFL!!
Aunt Jamesina says
Is it possible that he’s someone who is slow to wake up? I wake up feeling super groggy even when I’m well rested and I need a good 10-15 minutes to slowly wake up. Opening the curtains but keeping things quiet before trying to jump into action really helps me start my day.
Anon says
+1 This is me and my 7 year old. No matter how much we sleep, it’s a struggle to fully wake up. Sun lamps help a ton, as does sipping some water from the nightstand. But even then, it’s a good 5-10 minutes of laying around before we can bring ourselves to actually get out of bed. The rest of the family (DH and other kids) are the type who jump out of bed singing and ready to tackle the day.
We just adjust our morning routines to accommodate. Our alarms go off 10 minutes earlier than everyone else, so theirs alert us to actually get out of bed. We’re rigid about getting our clothes and school/ work items packed up the night before. The early risers do most of the morning chores, and we take on the after school ones. We call it “playing to our strengths.”
anon says
Is Mom Imposter Syndrome a thing? My maternity leave just ended and my childcare situation fell through at the last minute, so I have been WFH full time and taking care of baby full time. It’s working in the short term due to the flexible nature of my WFH job and the fact that she currently sleeps most of the day, but I know it’s not sustainable as she grows. I have a lot of help from family and its not as hard as it sounds but its not easy either. Regardless, I’m having trouble recognizing that I am doing a very hard thing and cutting myself some slack. It’s like I don’t think I’m a “Real” working mom, so I shouldn’t be struggling to keep my head above water this much. I keep telling myself that even under the best of circumstances being a new mom is hard for everyone, but my mind doesn’t really accept that as true.
Anon says
well if it isn’t a thing it should be because i have that too. i frequently read this board and think that i’m also not a ‘real’ working mom compared to people on this board. we have twins, but i only work part-time and don’t earn very much, we have a nanny and can afford to outsource stuff bc DH has a big job with pay that matches. Sometimes I feel like because I am not working full-time earning mid six figures in a ‘prestigious’ job I don’t count as a working mom and yet i still often feel stressed/overwhelmed, which means there must be something wrong with me because there are all these other people doing so much more than i do, so how could I possibly be struggling. and i’ve posted on here before mentioning that and all the kind readers have convinced me that i’m a working mom too, everyone struggles from time to time, we never know what is going on for someone on the inside, etc. someone will probably always have it easier, someone will always have it harder. some people on this board post that they are considering having 4 kids, and i’m like i can barely handle my 2. being a mom is hard – full stop – no matter the circumstances. it is not a contest and everyone is different.
Anon says
Hi right there with you. Combination of only having one kid and having a very easy 9-5 wfh job (and rarely working anything close to 40 hours if I’m being honest) means my life is so much easier than many here, but I’m still struggling to stay afloat half the time. I don’t even read most of the discussions about work life balance because it would just make me feel bad to hear about people juggling three kids and insanely demanding jobs. We need an underachievers moms board.
Anon says
This is me! Except I only have one. Well, another one on the way. Full time daycare for both, outsource many things too, I work part time, and still drowning drowning drowning.
But OP, you’re really in an impossible situation! WFH with a child is impossible! I also hope you can find childcare soon.
Aunt Jamesina says
You’re working two full-time jobs simultaneously! Of course it’s hard. I’m sorry, I hope you’re able to get childcare set up soon.
Anonymous says
You are doing something that’s basically impossible right now — holding down two full time jobs at the same time! A lot of us did this at the beginning of the pandemic and it was incredibly hard, so we get it. I felt like I was failing at both my job and being a mom for about the first 9 months. You’re doing amazing!
EDAnon says
This
Pogo says
yes you’re in the thick of it right now for sure!! You just had a baby. It’s all hard. You’ll look back and it’ll all be a blur and you’ll be like, how did I do that?
Anon says
Yes, this circumstance is very hard!
Anonymous says
I’m a room parent this year and need gift ideas for my kid’s teacher. I need gift ideas for a woman in her early/mid 30s with a young toddler [with food allergies]. We have a pretty big budget for gifts, probably about $400-500, but only $100 can be spent on the teacher herself- the rest goes to classroom type stuff per the district rules.
So ladies in your early 30s with a toddler- hit me with what you’d like for the holidays. Obviously no booze and I can’t gift her childcare- though I would in a heartbeat because her kiddo has been sick all year long and she and her husband can’t catch a break. I’m thinking maybe a barefoot dreams blanket? I don’t know about a gift card to a nail salon or spa- that’s a maybe.
AwayEmily says
Can you give her $100 cash?
Anonymous says
Eh, not really. That’s not how it’s done at our school. Teachers get gifts, and they like it (I’ve asked, I’m personal friends with one though not this teacher specifically). Most of them are upper/upper middle class, and prefer thoughtful gifts vs cash. It’s also sort of the spirit-of-the-collection type thing.
We do have the ability to dump money into the classroom. I checked with her and got her wish list for classroom items/gift cards so we will find that separately.
FWIW we gave all our daycare teachers cash-so I’m totally on team cash when appropriate.
anon says
Are gift cards allowed? I think it’s hard to come up with a group gift that isn’t along those lines.
anonymous says
My mom is a teacher and has gotten a lot of trinkets over the years that she gives away. A gift card to Target or your local grocery store would be good. Starbucks too if she is a coffee drinker. I wouldn’t do the nail salon or spa unless you have an idea that she is into those things. And she would have to schedule an appointment for those things.
Boston Legal Eagle says
+1 to gift card to Target or similar, if you really can’t give cash. Last year, our class gave the K teacher a generic gift card. A personalized gift seems difficult to pick if you don’t know her.
Anonymous says
Cash.
Anonymous says
I am a woman in my 30s with a toddler. I would want a gift card to a spa
anonM says
Barnes and Noble gift card has been one of my fav. Kids and I all got to pick a book for ourselves!
Anon says
I gave my daughter’s teacher a pretty/fancy desk calendar last year and she emailed me beginning of this year to ask where I’d bought it so she could purchase a new one for this year. Link to follow!
Anonymous says
I’d prefer a nail salon gift card, Starbucks gift card, or a Target gift card. Failing that, I’d like to have handmade cards/notes from my students or a nice coffee mug. I could also go for a fancy candle. I don’t know…it’s hard to say without knowing her.
Calendar suggestion says
https://shopinslee.com/collections/2023-calendar
Anonymous says
My spouse is a teacher (but male) – never ever wants physical items, even a cozy blanket, because they just pile up. Trader Joe’s gift card has been the favorite!
Anonymous says
Ugh so OP here again. Our district limit is $100 for the teacher. I sent an email to parents with a suggested amount and am already up to $350 with more than half yet to reply. People are so generous but everything over $100 has to go to kids/classroom supplies.
I’ve already asked directly where she’d like funds, but any additional ideas? We will probably end up with like $500-600.
She teaches 3rd-5th, this year it’s 3rd.
Anonymous says
Donate it to a school that needs funds or refund it to parents. “Hey everyone we have dramatically exceeded what is customary and what is necessary which is lovely! Shall we start a new tradition of donating to another school in need or would you like refunds?”
Anonymous says
Do you have multiple sets of sheets for every bed in your house?
Also, what’s your favorite kid shampoo/body wash? I need something a step up from Johnson’s baby, but still tear free.
Pogo says
sheets: yes, for our bed we have 2 flannel and 2 regular; for son’s bed, 3 regular sets. I think we have like 5 different crib sheets? We have two extra full-sized beds for guests and about 6 sets between them. this is a good thing to ask for christmas if you want more sets! That’s how we accumulated.
tear free: We use Tubby Todd. It’s a bit bougie, but I love it.
Anon says
yes, we have two sets of sheets for each bed in the house.
Anon says
Yes. We have an absurd number of sheets for our king bed because DH and I have different opinions about sheets and he bought them before we got married. For my daughter’s queen and the guest bed queen, we have two sets of sheets for each. Initially I had three sets for the two beds, but when we hit night-time training, I added a fourth set. Typically I wouldn’t put DD’s sheets (polka dots) on the spare bed (white) but in a pinch, clean sheets that fit are clean sheets that fit.
We use the johnson and johnson all in one as body wash with a loofah. For shampoo and condition, johnson and johnson has a kids line I like. We use the curly one (orange) with the ultrahydrating conditioner (white) and are pretty happy. When she had less hair and lighter curls, we used the green no more tangles formulation.
Spirograph says
Yes, we have 2 sets of sheets for every bed in our house. DH and I have 2 cotton and 1 flannel for our bed. Kids each have 1 cotton, 1 flannel (both of which are rotated year-round). We don’t have a proper guest bedroom, but we have 1 flannel and 1 cotton set of sheets that fit on the sofabed, too.
We have l’oreal kids hair and body wash at the moment. Sometimes we have Suave Kids. I’m not super picky about it … one of my kids routinely decides to dump half of it in the bath instead of asking for actual bubblebath, so my main criteria is that it’s inexpensive and I don’t care if it gets wasted.
Anonymous says
We have a king, a queen, and two full sized beds. I have 2 sets of king and queen and 5 sets of full sheets. I also have 2 sets of twins.
Anon says
We have three sets of sheets for each bed, but it took time to get to that point. At least one of the sets, esp for the kids, is a cheapo Target set.
Favorite shampoo/conditioner/body wash brand for younger kids is L’oreal Kids. My daughter has super thick wavy hair so around second grade we switched her over to Monday which seems to work better than kids but still feels relatively mild (and is free of SLS, sulfates, and parabens).
An.On. says
We have three for our bed (linen, cotton, flannel) specially bought when we changed our bed size, otherwise we’d just have miscellaneous sets accumulated over time, but always 2-3 sets per bed. I don’t like not having sheets while they wash. We were gifted all our crib sheets, I don’t think we’ve bought any, but we have 6 or so. I did buy 2x mattress protectors for under the sheets.
Mary Moo Cow says
We have two cotton or linen sheet sets and one set of flannel for each bed.
Kid shampoo: Suave Purely Fun (worked for my kids’ sensitive skin and until their hair was about shoulder length, and then I had to switch to separate shampoo and conditioner because of tangles.)
Anon says
Apparently an outlier, but no. We have one set for the master, one set for the guest bed, and then multiple waterproof mattress pads and crib sheets for the cribs. We have tiny closets and a small house, so only the people who routinely pee through their beds get extra sheets :)
Anonymous says
My cousin and her DH have 8 month old twins and seem to be drowning. They are low income, small house, and their parents are out of state and have no one else to help with childcare. I’ve tried to help as much as I can with helping her plan her baby registry, advice for newborn care, giving them our old baby clothes and gear, a few frozen meals before she delivered, and being there for her when she needs to vent. She has to ask their parents for money for formula, special swaddles, high chairs, etc. I want to do more but I live 90 miles away and have my own toddler, so can’t offer to babysit. I would give her or her sons a gift but she would feel the need to reciprocate. We are only three months apart and have always been close, but she has had some trauma and abuse as a child and our family has been awful to her, which is why I am being so extra. I am going to plan some play dates with her next year. Is there anything else I can do to help?
Mary Moo Cow says
Can you send her some GrubHub/DoorDash gift cards or Home Chef delivery or the like? If you send a gift anonymously, like a giant box of diapers shipped store to her home, is she likely to know it came from you?
Anonymous says
I’m sure they are drowning. Mine are 22 months and it’s still super hard. And my mom is local and helps when she can (she cares for my disabled dad and works full time). Keep sending food: don’t ask just do it. Ship her diapers (about a million should do it). Offer to keep her kids for a weekend or multiple days if you can. Send her a at-home spa package: bubble bath and epsom salt and tea and a candle or something. Text her and ask how she’s doing. Don’t try to problem solve for her: just let her know you’re thinking about her and you see that it’s hard. My family and in-laws are a mess but my SIL has seen that we’re struggling and really stepped up. She lives four hours away but she’s coming to my house and keeping my kids one week of Christmas break. I’m probably going to a hotel by myself and I canNOT wait.
Anon says
yes, this. send diapers or if you think she will feel badly with that, next time you see her, give her a couple of boxes of diapers in her kids’ next size and tell her that you missed the return window for your own kid. also- i don’t know how low-income they are, but there should be programs to help with formula, etc. is she staying at home with the kids? does she work? do they go to daycare? could you and DH and your toddler go over for a day to hang out/help out and let her and her DH leave the house? I realize that is a lot for oen day and you will probably be exhausted afterwards
Anon says
Can you up the “plausible deniability hand-me-downs”? Not sure how far apart your kids are but if you can do something like “ugh DH’s parents are so clueless and bought us X thing we can’t use, can we pass it on to you” for a couple of critical items that could help a lot. Even diapers in a size below where your kid is.
Anonymous says
And/or just send her money or a gift card anonymously if you think it would be used.
Our town has some kind people that do this around the holidays- it’s totally random, not need based. Starbucks GCs just appear in random mailboxes from Santa.
On redshirting says
Just saw the list of birthdays in my daughter’s Girl Scout troop. Made me giggle given the convo about redshirting yesterday. These kids are all happy, well adjusted 1st graders despite some being a full year apart.
8/18/2015
3/20/2016
5/23/2015
8/4/2016
10/13/2015
7/20/2016
7/30/2016
11/30/2015
8/26/2015
Boston Legal Eagle says
“5/23/2015” is the only one I question – my kid is an April 2016 baby and he’s in first grade. This seems like extreme redshirting! Unless I’m not aware of the full circumstances. The August ones I can see.
Anon says
Yep my daughter’s best friend friend in pre-K is a boy who will turn 6 a month after she turns 5 this spring. I think sometimes adults make too big a deal about the age difference. I doubt I would have red-shirted that boy if he were my son, but I don’t think it’s tragic that his parents did.
Anonymous says
My daughter turned 5 2 months before K started was in there with a kid who was practically shaving. Fine for you, but I gave his mom the side-eye for not shutting up about how he was 2 years ahead and going to go to the gifted program. Lady: YOUR KID IS 2 YEARS OLDER (was 7 in August).
Anon says
Wow, 3 of them are older than my second grader. The cutoff is Sep 1 in our district and he’ll always be the youngest in his grade, I know, but sobering to see that he’d even be middle of the pack in your first grade list!
(Academically and socially he’s on par with his classmates. Maturity wise he’s in line with his age, but that means he’s a little behind his full-year-plus-older classmates. I’m happy with his grade level but I do hate how much redshirting makes it hard to gauge what’s “average” for his grade.)
Boston Legal Eagle says
I’ve found that my spring kid (as mentioned above) does better with friend groups of kids also born in spring and summer. He seems to be drifting away from the fall ones. But this is anecdotal of n=1 and I’m sure things can change!
Anonymous says
Am I the only person on this board who doesn’t care about this? I have no idea how old my kindergartener’s classmates are. I do think it’s funny that he thinks you automatically move up a grade on your birthday. This morning he asked if he could stay in kindergarten when he turns 6. I told him yes.
Anonymous says
May I guess that your kiddo wasn’t born in a “grey zone” for K? I had an October baby and a July one; it was a world of difference. They both started per the cutoff so my October one is one of the oldest and my July one is the youngest. Of interest, my siblings were July kids but our district had a 12/31 cutoff so they weren’t the youngest at all.
Spirograph says
Yeah, I had zero cares about this for my two kids whose birthdays are nowhere near the cutoff, but the one whose birthday is a week before… I definitely gave it some thought. He is currently the youngest 1st grader in his class and doing great.
Anon says
I don’t really care. I guess I’m vaguely glad that my kid was born in February in a district with an August cutoff so she won’t be the oldest or the youngest and we avoided the red-shirting decision. But I really don’t care what other people do.
Anonymous says
It’s easy to not care when it doesn’t impact your kid
Anon says
Yep. I have a September kid in a district with an end of September cutoff. She started K as a 4 yo and has numerous classmates more than a year older. She’s the youngest in her grade and is often 3+ months younger than the next youngest in her class (per the birthday board). Her age and maturity (or lack thereof) shows up at random times and has been an ongoing issue.
It’s a luxury to have a kid in the middle of the pack.
Anonymous says
Right, I didn’t think about it at all with my March born oldest. Second is a week before the cut off and kindergarten registration is in like a month for next fall so yes, it’s top of mind atm!