Maternity Monday: Belly Belt Combo Kit
This post may contain affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
I haven’t seen these Belly Belts before — I don’t think they were around when I was pregnant in 2011 and 2014. I used to just take a rubber band and wrap it around my pants button and through the buttonhole — and voilà, more room! But that did have an unfortunate tendency for your pants to gape at the top. (We also had the BellaBand, which we’ve featured, and it’s still around.) It’s nice to see that this Belly Belt extender at Target has you covered (literally) — I can see it as being a handy thing for getting a lot of wear out of your non-maternity pants, particularly if you’re comfortable with a black, white, or navy liner there. These are machine washable and are getting really positive reviews. A set of three is $20 at Target. Fertile Mind Belly Belt Combo Kit
This post contains affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support!
Building a maternity wardrobe for work? Check out our page with more suggestions along both classic and trendy/seasonal lines.
Sales of note for 12.10
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Beauty deals on skincare (ends 12/14) including La Mer, Kate Somerville, Dior, Sunday Riley, Dyson, and gift sets — the deals include reader favorite lip balms Dior Addict, NARS Afterglow, and Clinique’s Black Honey, as well as Too Faced mascara and Sunday Riley’s Good Genes.
- Ann Taylor – 40% off your purchase, up to 50% off outerwear
- Banana Republic Factory – 50-70% off everything + extra 20% off
- Eloquii – Extra 50% off all sale + extra 25% off 2+ items
- J.Crew – Up to 60% off everything, with 40% off their newest styles
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off everything + extra 25% off when you buy 3+ styles
- Macy’s – 15% off beauty, including Tarte, Clinique, Dior and gift sets
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off, plus free shipping on everything (and 20% off your first order)
- Talbots – 50% off everything + extra 25% off when you buy 3+ styles
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?
Plae shoes are great. My kid got her first pair around 2. They’re expensive but they last-they were pretty much her only shoes for a year!
They are machine washable, which we utilized since she started potty training at 2. If / when you wash make sure to take the liners out first.
My kids right now are rocking Plaes (again- she’s 5 now and this is our 3rd pair…) and bright red pumas (my current 2 y/o whose feet are hilariously narrow).
You might also like keen or see kai run sneakers, though both of those seemed too tight across the top for my high arched kid. Super cute though.
Looking for everyday daycare shoe recommendations for a two year old. Daycare has an outdoor area, so ideally something with a bit of a sole. My daughter has spent all summer in Keens, but the weather is turning colder…
Saying this here because I can’t say it in real life….I’m 10 weeks pregnant and d-y-i-n-g. Time is moving at a glacial pace today. I’m not nauseous really, but I’m exhausted beyond all reason. I’m pretty sure they turned the AC off in the building, or at least way down. It’s a freak 90 degree day in my northeast city, and this office feels the same. Too hot to go for a walk and try to wake myself up. Lordy, give me strength.
Rant (with more than a touch of panic): I am in house at a medium-sized company. My boss’s last day is this week. Thus far, there is no word on a new GC, or an interim plan. We know they interviewed folks a month or so ago, but there has been absolute silence and a lack of communication from the leadership. My boss has been kept out of the process, and she is equally frustrated. And no, this was not a surprise retirement. My boss announced her retirement in April. Our department would be overwhelmed with work on a “normal” month, but down an attorney and with no leader, ugh. I am panicked about the workload, new boss and lack of communication. Any thoughts on how to handle myself through this uncertainty?
Wooo I got an offer! More $, better aligned with my skills, dipping toe into global world after many years of domestic, and boss I know well from previous job. Woo!
Ok, advice requested: a recruiter just sent me a position listing that sounds really neat. It would be a bit of a stretch, but not much, and the listing is specific enough that I know the substance would be fun (obviously would require more research into the coworkers, atmosphere, hours expectations, salary/benefits, etc).
Here’s the catch; it’s a position at one of my firm’s biggest clients. There is no way I could apply without someone at my firm knowing. And I could get some good intel from folks at my firm about the role if I inquired. But the people who work with that client aren’t people who generally work with me, so it would be weird for me to reach out to them.
So…what would you do? If you would reach out to someone at the firm, how would you do it? I would much rather apply with my firm’s backing and good will, and not sneak out of here. I’m also not really looking for a new job, but I always have my eyes open for cool positions.
Ding ding ding. At a certain point, asking very young children questions like these is setting yourself up for spiraling anxiety and insanity. Source: my daughter’s daycare was shut down this summer due to allegations of sexual assault. My daughter’s 3 and very verbal, but that doesn’t mean she’s a good reporter. Does she occasionally say things that make me exceedingly nervous (e.g. starts crying while walking to the pediatrician because “the doctor is a guy and I don’t want a guy, I only want a girl”, uy, cringe)? Yep. Is there anything I can do about it? Not really (according to the psychologist the city brought in to speak with parents, who told us specifically that it’s not a good idea to try and “get to the truth” by asking very young kids these questions; we have to reconcile ourselves to the fact that we may not ever find out if or what happened, or it may surface in time).
I really need advice, please help. My daughter goes to a preschool that is combined with an elementary school. Last week, she was going to the potty while I prepared bath and I turned around and noticed she was trying to get a good look at her privates and that she was using her fingers to manipulate herself. I told her that she should really have clean hands if she wanted to touch herself, to be gentle, and that she should be in private. Anyway, she gets in the bath and then wants out and says it hurts down there. She usually loves baths. I thought it was odd, but thought maybe she had irritated herself (she had been really going to town), and I reminded her that she was the boss of her body and that no one should touch her down there. (We have a book on this and have talked on and off about her private areas being hers and that no one should touch them except Mom or Dad might help her take a bath, or the Doctor may look at her if Mom or Dad is in the room, or her teachers may help her on the potty.) She told me someone had touched her down there, but she was really evasive with me. First she said that it was one of her teachers, then the other teacher, then a kid, then another kid, and she could not tell me where it happened (kept changing the location). I should note that I 100% trust her teachers, but of course I don’t know all the teachers in the school very well (there aren’t many, but I have no reason to interact with the teachers of the older kids). My husband spoke to our daughter and got the same run around that I did, both of us seemed to conclude that maybe the kids were playing doctor or something, and I planned to ask her teachers about it.
Fast forward, I don’t get a chance to ask her teachers at a chaotic drop-off, but during pickup my daughter tells me that she hurts and points to her crotch and says E (another kid) hurt her there. I immediately bring her to her teachers and tell them about it and she also explains where she hurts. One of the teachers explains to me that E had been on a swing that day and my daughter walked up too close and got kicked in her crotch. She told me that she couldn’t really look at the injury given where it was, but that my daughter calmed down quickly and seemed OK. Then, yesterday my daughter was scratching herself down there and when we talked about being the boss of our body at bath time, still claims that someone touched her down there (but keeps changing who it was or where it happened). I asked her if it was a “yucky” touch and she said yes. At one point she told me that I had touched her and that her father had touched her. Another note: I 100% trust my husband and for many reasons that are too detailed to go into here, I am fully confident that he would not hurt her. I’m sure that sounds like a cliche and that many mothers have been wrong about who they can trust in these situations, but it is where I confidently am at this point and I wanted to put that out here. Obviously I know that I have never touched her inappropriately, so I don’t know why she was naming me as someone who touched her.
Since this started, my daughter has not been in the care of anyone but me, her father or her preschool, so no other relatives or babysitters involved unless this is something that has been repressed for awhile.
I really don’t know what to do here. Do I take her to her doctor? Is there some type of therapist that could help uncover what is going on here? Do I call a meeting at the school? I really feel the need to escalate this to make sure my daughter is safe (and possibly another kid, because if a kid is doing this I know the odds are that they are in an abusive situation). But I’m sensitive to the fact that if my daughter falsely names her father or me or a teacher, that this could lead to a very bad situation. I’m 100% OK with dealing with any situation if the truth comes out and I need to protect my daughter, but at this point I don’t know why I keep getting different stories from my daughter. The thoughts swirling in my head range from the best case (such as, my daughter was just playing with herself and my response freaked her out somehow so she felt the need to make up a story, or maybe there was just an isolated incident of the preschool kids playing doctor at school and the teachers need to keep a better eye on the kids, who range from age 2.5 to 4) to worst case (i.e., that someone in my child’s life is hurting her and she feels like she can’t be wholly truthful with me about it).
I know this is not the place to get legal or medical advice, but the stakes seem very high here and I am having trouble getting a clear head on how I proceed. What would you do? Call the school? Call a therapist? Go straight to the doctor? We have a wonderful pediatrician. I don’t know any therapists. Her school has been really great, but this situation is totally new territory so I don’t know what to expect if I go into a meeting talking about this subject. Am I stupid or way too paranoid to be concerned that if she names her father who touched her, that CPS will just take her that day and it could be a long, messy legal battle to get her back? Does anyone know if there is an advocacy or victim’s rights organization that would help me talk through a situation like this?
Thanks in advance. Sorry for the weighty situation, but you are my people here and I don’t know where else to turn.
Y’all, I need some help. Our normally a great sleeper (we totally jinxed ourselves) one year old has been waking up ~ every other night at about 12:30 – and he won’t go back to sleep. We put him to sleep at 8-8:30, after a full dinner and bottle. Some nights he sleeps through until 7-8 a.m. but about every other night, he wakes up around 12:30 and wants to play. Milk and/or rocking him don’t help – he just doesn’t want to sleep – or if he does, it’s only in our bed. And it’s DRIVING US CRAZY. We tried to let him CIO last night but DH gave up after 40 minutes of wailing. Is there something we can do besides just let him cry? Put him to bed later? I’m really trying to avoid him sleeping in our bed because we have another one on the way, and also, I like my alone time with DH.
Best brands for maternity tights and/or stockings? I’m 5’7 and a size 8, but even at 8 weeks I can tell that I won’t be able to wear my current stockings much longer (they roll down below the belly). I’m hoping to get through the next month (before I announce) with wrap and a-line dresses, but in my office that means I need leg coverings – probably another week or two of stockings before it’s cold enough to justify tights + boots. Or should I be getting light leggings and wearing those instead? (And I saw the older tip to cut up a regular pair, which I’m willing to try on tights, but can’t imagine that will work for long.) Thanks!
I’m being asked by the grandparents for Christmas ideas for my kids. Both of our parents are divorced, so there are 4 sets of grandparents. They all want to do something “big” every year so our house is overrun with toys and games and scooters already, and the kids are only 4 and 2.
I tried last year to ask each set to get some dress up clothes. But we ended up with easily 30 outfits, which I culled down to 15, and the kids are still too overwhelmed to play with any of it. The year before, I asked for play food. We got two play kitchens and enough food/pots/sets to fill our real pantry. We already have a membership to the museum near to us, and they all live hours away so other experience gifts are not practical. We do have a 529, but they don’t think that counts as a regular gift so won’t give to it.
What can I ask for? Or how can I redirect this? Any bright ideas? DH and I have tried both outright and subtle statements, which are either ignored or met with tears. One set will cut back slightly, but then get upset when they see they were the “least generous” grandparents and go overboard for birthdays. We will donate so much stuff, but it just doesn’t seem to phase them – they pout, but then go overboard the next time just the same. And I never seem to donate enough, because our house STILL feels overflowing.
Help?
Fun halloween costume ideas for 2.5 year old girl and 1 year old brother? She loves coordinating or matching but so far her ideas have maybe not sounded so great for the boy…
Looking for your best interview advice/tips. I have an interview tomorrow for a job I feel would be a great next step for me. I’ve interviewed there before so I have an idea of what questions they’re doing to ask (govt position with set interview q’s) I also have a list of questions to ask about the position. I guess I’m just worried I’m going to blow it somehow. They specifically asked me to apply again but of course there’s no guarantee. Uggg… too much anxiety right now.
Life is too short for this. Go straight to maternity pants.
TW: Weight discussion/body image
Ugh. Got on the scale this morning and I’m 10 pounds over my ‘normal’ pre-baby weight (from which I was always trying to lose 10 pounds). We’ve finally weaned and I’m on a diet plan that has worked for me in the past, but lately I’m just feeling not like myself.
I realized I’ve been hiding my body in pictures (behind a kid or stroller usually) which isn’t great for my kid to see growing up. For me, it’s diet much more than exercise and I know what I need to do, but it’s never ‘fun’.