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So who else’s kids are on a super long spring break starting today? In related news: is it sandal weather yet? On the off chance you have some trips to the playground or other outdoor activities planned, do consider these classic Birkenstock Gizeh sandals if you haven’t tried them before — they’ve kind of been the unofficial mom uniform (around us at least) for a while. I have them in a few colors but am looking to buy a new one this season. I’ve been eyeing the silvery ones because they seem versatile, but something has held me back from pulling the trigger — I love my Birks, but ugly shoes should not be shiny. These more weathered “stardust stone” may be what just what I need. The pictured shoes are $95, but note that Amazon has a few lucky sizes and colors as low as $52. Birkenstock Gizeh
Psst: I’ve been looking for this for years and haven’t found it, and suddenly I see it everywhere: Amazon, for example, has the Birkenstock cork sealer back in stock for $11. (The Birks I wore as a lifeguard at 18 lasted me until recently because of cork sealer, I swear!) You can also buy a more involved Birkenstock care kit.
(L-all)
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
- Target – Car-seat trade-in event through 9/28 — bring in an old car seat to get a 20% discount on other baby/toddler stuff.
- Zappos – 26,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
Kid/Family Sales
- Carter’s – Birthday sale, 40-50% off & extra 20% off select styles
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off all baby; up to 40% off all Halloween
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Extra 30% off sale styles
- Old Navy – 40% off everything
- Target – BOGO 25% off select haircare, up to 25% off floor care items; up to 30% off indoor furniture up to 20% off TVs
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And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
- I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
- I’m thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?
- I’m now a SAHM and my husband needs to step up…
- How can I change my thinking to better recognize some of my husband’s contributions as important, like organizing the shed?
- What are your tips to having a good weekend with kids, especially with little kids? Do you have a set routine or plan?
Nervous Mamma says
My 19-month old was up crying and inconsolable at 4am this morning. I couldn’t get him back down and he also refused snack or milk (although he kept asking for these things). This is after a trying dinner/bedtime last night. He hasn’t been sick since a bout of hand,foot and mouth last week. Yesterday, he was up at 5am, but was in a better mood upon awaking.
Is this part of the dreaded 18-month sleep regression?
Philanthropy Girl says
It is for us. The last three nights my 19 month old has cried upon going to bed – hasn’t done that since the 9 month sleep regression. We get these crying episodes in the middle of the night – like 1 or 2 am. It’s so awful when they’re inconsolable. I suspect nightmares have something to do with it as well, and I don’t think they wake fully up, even if they can ask for something or respond to questions. If he’s up after 4, just about all is lost – it’s about a 25% chance I’ll get him back to sleep. I’m trying to hold to the no-babies-out-of-bed-before-6 line, but it often results in a very unhappy family between 4 and 6.
My go-tos are nursery rhymes – anything I can remember at 2 am, so I don’t have to turn on the lights. We sit and rock and I rattle off nursery rhymes or any storybooks I have memorized until he settles and we can talk about going back to sleep. It can take from 10-30 minutes.
I have this little speech about how the sun isn’t awake yet and it’s still night-night time, and then ask if he wants to go back to bed. Then I do the bedtime tuck-in routine – bear, sippy, blanket, sleep-sheep. I try to be super consistent and it seems to help him at least get back to sleep.
I guess all we can do is be consistent and pray for the end of the sleep regression sooner rather than later. Good luck.
Meg Murry says
That’s a good point – if he asked for milk or a snack but refused it when offered, he may not actually have been awake but rather sleepwalking/sleeptalking. My son does this occasionally – wakes up screaming inconsolably, asks for things like water but then shoves them away when you offer. The only thing I can do is pull him on my lap and wrap my arms around him super tightly, then rock with him. I’ve also tried the same technique used on screaming babies – shush LOUDLY in his ear, louder than then screaming, so it’s a pretty forceful long SHHHHHHHHHHH. I have no idea if it actually helps, because I feel like the only thing that probably does help is time – but it at least gives me something to do to feel like I’m doing something for him.
RDC says
My son has night terrors – similar to sleep walking / talking in that he can’t be woken. I’ve found that singing his favorite songs can help bring him out of it. He seems to be able to “hear” them when otherwise he’s not able to hear us.
Nervous Mamma says
Thank you for the tips — I’ll try to implement them if it happens again. By the time he calmed down, it was nearly 5, and considering that my alarm was set for 5:30, I decided that it wasn’t worth trying to get either one of us back to sleep. He seemed to be in fairly good spirits when I dropped him off at daycare (the increased clinginess aside). He’s had a rough week with the HFM, but I thought we were beyond all of the symptoms.
Just hoping that we get back to STTN soon — I want to get my rest in before baby #2 arrives this summer.
Carrie M says
If he’s refusing food, maybe he’s just feeling a little sick still from the HFM, or queasy or gassy for unrelated reasons? I’d just keep on doing your regular routine and see how he is tonight/tomorrow.
My child’s 18-month regression lasted about 3 weeks, but also coincided with moving and starting a new daycare, so I think that amplified the sleep issues and separation anxiety. Good luck!
AEK says
Within 5 minutes of arrival at daycare, my little angel (15 MO) pulled one friend to the ground by her hair and throttled another from behind. Sigh. He has been on the receiving end of bites and scratches, but I can handle that so much better than when he is the aggressor. And he understands “no” but he clearly still does not understand the concept that what he does causes pain. He seems so confused by being pulled away from loving up his buddies.
MomAnon4This says
It actually sounds completely age-appropriate? But still tough to see as a parent. My thought when my kid that age bit was “what did I do wrong?” answer: nothing.
NewMomAnon says
My kiddo has little friends who come up to her for a hug when she gets to school, and her immediate reaction is to scratch them in the face while simultaneously kicking them in the stomach. Every, single, morning. *sigh*
And yet, these same kids are her “best friends” later in the day. I think (a) transitions are rough and (b) toddler teachers are miracle workers who don’t tell us the half of what occurs during the day. And for (b), I am grateful.
CHJ says
I posted a few days ago about daycare teacher turnover, and now I wanted to get some second opinions on weird stuff my son is saying. He’s 2.5 and pretty chatty. On the way to daycare yesterday, he kept saying “I don’t want to go to school. Something is wrong at school. There’s something wrong at school.” I couldn’t get him to explain what he meant or what was wrong. Then today, on the way there, he says “I don’t want to go to school. I’m scared of school. I don’t want to go. I’m scared.” Again, I couldn’t get him to tell me what was scary or why he was scared.
So naturally, I’m freaking out a bit. Other than the teacher turnover (which has been very high), I haven’t seen any other signs that anything is seriously wrong. What would you do? Is he trying to tell me something? Just trying to get out of going to daycare? Feeding off my weird vibes about the school because of the high turnover?
mascot says
Have you asked his teachers/daycare director if anything has upset him lately or if some routine in the classroom has changed? Is it scary because there are new faces and he doesn’t know their names yet. You could also talk to him and walk through his day and see if you can pinpoint what’s troubling him. Their imaginations are just taking off, their language skills aren’t the best, and you never know what is going to freak them out (auto-flush toilets, I’m looking at you). Chances are that is something relatively minor to an adult, but everything is major to a kid.
Meg Murry says
I wonder if he’s parroting something he overheard a teacher say, or something from a book. For instance, if he overheard two teachers talking at naptime about being scared of something, or saying “there’s something wrong with this school”. Maybe the turnover isn’t voluntary but firings and the staff is talking about it?
Or on the book thing, if they read a book where a kid was scared of school (or scared of something) he may not have understood the “but everything was ok in the end” resolution. That happened sometimes with my kids around that age – they only catch onto the “problem” part in a story or a movie, and not the resolution. For instance, they see Curious George made a mess and think “hey, that looks like George had fun” and completely miss the point that then George got in trouble because he wasn’t supposed to do that.
Anonymous says
Ugh, Curious George! This is the formula for every CG book we have: Man tells George not to do x. George is curious so he does x. He makes a mess! Man scolds George, but then, for some insane reason, George gets a reward. Whhyyyyyyyyy.
Betty says
+1. I don’t blame the monkey, but I have serious questions about the adult supervision that he receives.
anne-on says
Ugh, my son was TERRIFIED of a monster book they read at daycare (go away green monster or something along those lines?). He started talking about scary monsters for a few days and I asked his teachers about it. Turns out they read the book to his class, he fuh-reaked out, and they promptly calmed him down and no longer read the book when he was in class. Every other kid loved it though…and totally knew/understood not to read it with my son because it was scary to him.
Dee says
Can you surprise visit the class or school at a different, unusual time? Or ask a friend or co-parent to drop by?
Talk with other parents — do y’all have a Facebook group or something? Ask around.
What does “wrong” mean to your little one? Is this a term you use at home? (It wouldn’t’ve been for us. That would’ve been a heads up.) Could be anything.
That said, follow your gut.
Carrie M says
I would be having the same reaction that you’re having, but agree with Meg and mascot that it may be something not-actually-scary or just parroting. But I totally support your instinct to investigate more. I’d ask him open-ended, non-suggestive questions re his day. (Did you have morning snack? What did you eat? Then what did you do? What did you after story time? did you sleep during nap? Were other kids sleeping? etc.) And I’d mention it to the teachers or directors, in case it’s something they know about (like a book they were reading or something). I’d also keep watching his play at home and what he talks about at home – they say that kids this age do a lot of play/talking to themselves to try to make sense of their days and process everything.
hoola hoopa says
Does he SAY that he doesn’t want to go to school or does he ACTUALLY not want to go to school?
If he doesn’t seem scared or anxious, then he’s just parroting. Kids that age love to mimic what they hear and often we never know where it comes from.
But if he is seeming disturbed by something, I’d be simultaneously asking him and school broad questions (like Carrie M suggests) and checking out other childcare options. Honestly, you aren’t wild about this place already, so if *he’s* also not comfortable I’d move even if you can never identify anything wrong.
Jaws says
Thanks again to everyone who commented/gave advice about my little biter yesterday.
I spoke to one of her teachers — the incidents sounded unprovoked and happened when they were sitting around waiting for their next task.
I also spoke to the directors – they were great. They assured me that it was just something some kids do, usually due to frustration/inability to express themselves, and that she wasn’t in danger of getting booted. They are going to be working with the teachers to keep the kids active/occupied, and continue to work in small groups — basically avoiding putting her or any other kid in a situation with several kids and nothing to do.
I also spoke with my H about our fighting in front of our daughter. He agrees that some of it is just out of line (we had had a little spat that morning, so it was really on my mind, he got into a huff over something I said that was not meant to be confrontational). I agree that it probably is good for her to see us disagree and come to a resolution/make up, but these exchanges weren’t ‘productive’ in that way. I don’t think the biting is a direct result of seeing that, but I think the weird tension that is between H and I after one of those spats isn’t good for her. That’s something we need to work on, as uncomfortable as it may be to admit there’s a problem.
Anyway — at least that’s a less stressful start to the weekend! Thanks again!
Anonymous says
This is an April fools right?