I am a sweater hoarder. I’ve aspired to have one of those capsule wardrobes, but sweaters are my downfall.
One style I’d love to add to my extensive collection is the polo sweater. I usually don’t chase trends, but I feel this one will have some staying power. It’s office friendly, too!
Given the look’s popularity, there are several options, but I like The Reset’s Boyfriend Sweater. It comes in nine neutral and flattering colors (I like deep plum), has a relaxed cut that’s perfect for working from home (note, some comments mention it runs large), and a flattering collar to frame your face for all those Zoom meetings.
The sweater is $178 and comes in XS–XL. The Boyfriend Sweater
For a couple of more affordable options, try this Madewell sweater with a contrast collar (marked down to $33) or this & Other Stories sweater with ruffled cuffs ($89).
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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!
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Sales of Note…
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – The Half-Yearly Sale has started! See our thoughts here.
- Ann Taylor – $50 off $150; $100 off $250+; extra 30% off all sale styles
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 25% off purchase
- Eloquii – 60% off all tops
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off “dressed up” styles (lots of cute dresses!); extra 50% off select sale
- J.Crew Factory – Up to 60% off everything; 60% off 100s of summer faves; extra 60% off clearance
- Loft – 40% off tops; 30% off full-price styles
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Talbots – 25-40% off select styles
- Zappos – 28,000+ sale items (for women)! Check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kid shoe brands on sale.
Kid/Family Sales
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off kids’ camp styles; extra 50% off select sale
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off summer pajamas; up to 50% off all baby styles (semi-annual baby event!)
- Carter’s – Summer deals from $5; up to 60% off swim
- Old Navy – 30% off your order; kid/toddler/baby tees $4
- Target – Kids’ swim from $8; summer accessories from $10
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And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- If you’re a working parent of an infant with low sleep needs, how do you function at work when you’re in the throes of baby’s sleep regression?
- Should I cut my childcare down to 12 hours a month if I work from home?
- Will my baby have speech delays if we raise her bilingual?
- Has anyone given birth in a teaching hospital?
- My child eats everything, and my friends’ kids do not – how should I handle? In general, what is the best way to handle when your child has some skill/ability and your friend’s child doesn’t have that skill/ability?
- ADHD moms, give me your tips to help with things like behavior in the classroom, attention to detail, etc?
- I think I suffer from mom rage…
- My husband and kids are gone this weekend – how should I enjoy my free time?
- I’m struggling to be compassionate with a SAHM friend who complains she doesn’t have enough hours of childcare.
- If you exclusively formula fed, what tips do you have for in the hospital and coming home?
- Could I take my 4-yo and 8-yo on a 7-8 day trip to Paris, Lyon, and Madrid?
Anonymous says
My perfectly healthy 26 year old cousin who works from home full time got the vaccine last week, while my 73 year old parents with multiple underlying health conditions have been told not to expect a first dose before May 1, which would mean late June before we could safely see them. I‘m so sad for my parents, who are lonely and desperate to see their grandchild (and also worried about exposure through my dad’s necessary in-person medical appts), and so angry at the unfair and haphazard way the US is doing this. I hope Biden can turn things around, but I’m just not that optimistic. I know this isn’t parenting related, but just had to vent. Thanks for listening. :/
Anonymous says
I hear you, it’s definitely frustrating. My 90-year old grandparents live at home so they were not in the nursing home wave and have still not been vaccinated, but my healthy 40 year old government bureaucrat friend has.
One of my favorite podcasts, Make Me Smart (with Kai Ryssdal and Molly Wood from Marketplace and Mplace Tech), did an episode on the vaccine rollout yesterday. It was a mixed bag in terms of inspiring confidence. Certainly a lot of mistakes were made, especially around communication and planning, but their expert guest seemed to think the 100 million doses in 100 days goal is ambitious but achievable. Here’s hoping!
Anon says
I don’t understand why everyone is so excited about the 100 million in 100 days plan. We’re currently averaging 800k doses administered per day, and things will clearly ramp up as the vaccine makers increase production and the states get better at distributing them, so hoping to increase our vaccination rates by just 20% seems really not very ambitious at all to me. We need to be doing more like 2 million doses per day to have any chance of herd immunity by the early fall, which even Biden’s more cautious team has said is doable.
Anonymous says
The problem, from my understanding, is in the logistics. The initial vaccines were given to populations that are pretty centralized — like hospital staff, nursing homes, etc. When you start trying to catch people that don’t all congregate in one place, you need to put in more effort to achieve the same velocity.
Anon says
I don’t know about that. My state actually ramped way up dramatically when they got out of the hospital and nursing home environment. I’m not sure why but CVS and Walgreens seem to be vaccinating the nursing homes pretty slowly, and my county only has one hospital that was vaccinating healthcare workers from 10 surrounding counties, so it was going pretty slowly. We expanded to the non-nursing home elderly two weeks ago and the pace has picked up extremely rapidly. We now have three clinics in our county vaccinating people six days a week and the county and state have both said the limiting factor at these clinics is the vaccines – they have extra volunteers ready and willing to vaccinate so they could add more appointments if they had more doses.
So Anon says
One aspect of the logistics that has been difficult in my state is that the population that they are trying to vaccinate (sub-urban and rural, over 65 and not in nursing homes – nursing homes are in progress) is less likely to have access to technology. There is a fair amount of paperwork that must be done to receive the vaccine, so people have to show up to the vaccine site and receive assistance to fill out the paperwork before they can receive the vaccine, which decreases the number of people who can be vaccinated in a single day. Conversely, I have multiple computers and a printer that I could use to complete the paperwork, print it and arrive at the vaccine site with my paperwork completed. Our local rotaries are working to develop sites that folks can use to complete the paperwork and then go to the vaccine site, so that the vaccines can be administered more efficiently.
Anonymous says
Out of curiosity, what category of worker is your cousin? Works for one of the biotech firms or a clinician WFH?
Anonymous says
She works in the educational industry but fully remote with no student contact (she writes textbooks for an educational publisher and was remote before the pandemic) and got vaccinated under the “educational sector” essential worker category. Feels pretty shady to me, since that was obviously intended to protect teachers and support staff who have to be around unvaccinated kids every day and to help school districts get kids back to school, and vaccinating a writer who works from home does nothing towards either of those goals.
Anonymous says
I also know two people who work in marketing/communications/PR for hospitals that got the vaccine in the earliest rollout to healthcare workers – in both cases when many doctors/nurses in their states were still unvaccinated! That was just crazy to me. A comms person who works from home is not a “frontline healthcare worker” by any stretch of the imagination.
Anonymous says
Are you in NC? We had this here and the PR people said that they sometimes go into the facilities (but so do I and no shot for me).
mascot says
Not to generalize, but based on what I’m seeing in my state, hospitals (and other healthcare facilities) have been surprised by the high number of their frontline workers who have declined the vaccine. So rather than figure out how to send their vax allocation elsewhere or worse yet, waste it, they’ve moved on trying to vaccinate their other employees. By doing this, they hope to show the resistors that it is safe/free from bad reactions as well as prepare to have people come back into theworkplace sooner since they are vaccinated.
Anonymous says
The hospital PR people I know are in Illinois and Minnesota and they’re both WFH full-time as far as I know. It wasn’t really any skin off my nose, since I figured they would get the shot before the general public. I was just pretty horrified they seemingly got it before a lot of doctors and nurses who see patients. Even if they were working in an office environment they certainly have much less Covid exposure than a doctor who sees 30 patients a day or whatever.
Pogo says
I also know people who are not frontline healthcare workers but who work for hospitals who have gotten it. However, I understand the point is to vaccinate as many people as possible so it doesn’t really bother me. It bothers me that every state and municipality has to figure everything out on their own in general.
anon says
to piggy back on what another commenter wrote below, also anecdotally — my husband is in healthcare administration and he said many people at his hospital declined the vaccine when offered. my OB also told me that multiple of her employees declined the vaccine as well. so although they should of course be prioritized, if they’re declining it when offered, it does make sense to go on down the line to the next person.
Anonymous says
I think the issue is less so that they were moving on down the line and more that they were prioritizing their own employees who weren’t frontline workers over frontline workers in the community. There’s are certainly charitable interpretations like they didn’t know how to reach people outside their org as easily, vaccine might be going to waste so they just wanted to get it in arms ASAP, etc. But I’ve seen a couple expose-style news stories about this issue and there were definitely some hospitals who were very deliberately hoarding vaccine so they could make it available to literally every employee on their payroll before anyone else, even when they had waiting long lists of frontline medical professionals who still needed it. I’m sure, like with everything, there are a mix of good and bad actors and some people have better motivations for what they did than others and the people with bad intentions get more attention from the media.
Anonymous says
Remember that she is not taking a vaccine away from someone. It’s an exercise in frustration to think about it that way. If you have the opportunity to get the shot, you should take it. Your cousin is not “shady.”
Anonymous says
She is taking a vaccine away from someone else because they would expand to other priority groups sooner if she didn’t get it. This wasn’t a case of a vaccine dose was going in the trash so they gave it to a non-priority person at the end of the day.
It’s not shady to get the vaccine as soon as you’re allowed to even if other people might think your group doesn’t “deserve” it. For example, I personally think it’s stupid that smokers are prioritized, but of course a chronic smoker isn’t doing anything wrong by getting the vaccine when their state tells them smokers can get it. But my cousin is clearly not an educator by the normal definition of that word, and her state’s definition of educator also makes it pretty clear that this group is intended to be teachers and school staff who are in a school environment or would be in a school environment if there were no pandemic. It’s akin to someone taking a couple puffs of one cig so they can declare themselves a smoker and get the vaccine as soon as smokers become eligible. In both instances maybe they can make an argument that they’ve satisfied the letter of the law for that priority group, but they’re clearly violating the intent of the rule, and I think that’s shady AF.
anon says
If it helps, the biggest issue right now is that the available vaccine isn’t being given out fast enough. We could be more precise in who gets it, but this would massively slow down the process. For the country as a whole, speed is much more important than a perfect distribution.
My elderly in laws just got the vaccine earlier this week. If you haven’t already, make sure your parents are registered with the local health systems and that you understand how the vaccine is being distributed in their location. I got my in laws a sign up link through a tweet from a local official. The haphazard nature of the roll out is frustrating, but it also means that the May 1 date you’ve been given is likely rubbish. No one knows that to be true.
Anonymous says
Their state has announced the priority tiers. It could change, but currently ~1/4th of the state’s population is ahead of them. Their state is one of the ones that is de-prioritizing the 65-74 age group (even those with serious underlying conditions) in favor of many broad categories of essential workers and everyone who lives in congregate living situations, including prisons. Even if we hit Biden’s 100 million doses in 100 days, that’s only enough for 50 million people, which is only slightly more that 1/6th of the adult population, by April 30 so the May 1 date they were given sounds right to me. I mean it’s obviously a rough guesstimate but the “back of the envelope” math checks out just based on what percentage of people are ahead of them and how fast we hope to be vaccinating.
I think the rollout issues are different in different places. My state officials have said (and I trust them) that they are giving the doses as fast as they can receive them, and the limiting factor is the number of doses they have. There are no vaccines on ice in my state unless they arrived in the last week or so and are earmarked for this week’s clinics. I know other states have said the same thing, but I believe that some other states are having more logistical issues actually distributing the vaccines. Fwiw, there was a story on CNN just yesterday the CDC’s numbers for “distributed” doses and states actually have received way less than the CDC is claiming and have administered a way higher percentage of them.
Anonymous says
*the CDC’s numbers for “distributed” doses are just plain wrong
Anonymous says
Things are changing quickly throughout the country.
Anonymous says
It’s not 50 million people, actually. The Biden administration has said that they want to prioritize getting the first dose to as many people as possible rather than reserving doses to ensure people get the 2 does regimen on schedule.
Anon says
The US is not planning to deliberately delaying the second dose like some other countries have done. Scientists here think that’s unwise (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/02/dr-anthony-fauci-says-us-will-not-delay-second-doses-of-covid-vaccine) and I have not heard anything that suggests Biden has overruled Fauci on this point.
Every article I’ve read about Biden’s plan says 100 million doses in 100 days, not 100 million people. A large percentage of those 100 million doses will have to be second doses, unless you’re deliberately delaying the second dose for way longer than what was done in the trials.
Anonymous says
“When first asked about his pledge, the Biden team said the president-elect meant 50 million people would get their two-dose regimen. The incoming administration has since updated this plan, saying it will release vaccine doses as soon as they’re available instead of holding back some of that supply for second doses.”
https://khn.org/news/article/bidens-covid-challenge-100-million-vaccinations-in-the-first-100-days-it-wont-be-easy/
Correct, they’re not doing 1 dose only as a matter of policy, but they’re also not planning on keeping the second dose in reserve. In actual practice, who knows what that will mean. I think the one thing that’s clear is that logistics and plans are not fully baked at this point.
anon says
Our county is highly prioritizing vaccinating teachers and school staff, even though our schools haven’t been open since March. Teachers are now advocating that they are unwilling to return to in person teaching until students are vaccinated, lobbying for virtual teaching through at least the end of 2021. Such a waste of early vaccine doses with absolutely no benefit to the community.
Anon says
I’m very sympathetic to teachers and strongly believe we need real safety measures in place to protect them. But many are overplaying their hand with the latest vaccine demands. They should return to school when the teachers are vaccinated. We can’t wait another year for all the students to be vaccinated as well.
Anonymous says
Agree. Especially since the vaccine is not even tested in children yet.
Anon says
Yep. I knew this was exactly what would happen. There are teachers in my county who say they won’t go back until there are literally zero Covid deaths. ZERO! Seasonal flu kills tens of thousands every single year.
Anon Lawyer says
Yeah, but you know they’re not going to win out, right? There are always going to be random people who are ridiculous.
Anonymous says
In my blue city, the people being unreasonable are winning out re schools staying shut, at least in public schools. Private schools and daycares are open and have been.
Seventh Sister says
I feel like that is a real overreach, and one that our local teacher’s union is trying out on the (mostly hapless) superintendent. Here’s hoping it doesn’t work.
Anonymous says
Yes it’s just wild to see. And I think they’re in for a rude awakening at the next rounds of contract negotiations.
Walnut says
Are they though? I feel like the unions are running the show up in the PNW.
Louisa says
So much sympathy on this one. I live in a small city in PNW and well outlying districts have been open on a hybrid schedule for a couple of months, my kid likely won’t go back at all this year because I’m in the large district with the strongest union. Distance learning has been okay for my elementary school kid, but takes vastly less time than real school. Going back in person is going to be rough.
Anon says
Yes, especially since this is a vaccine that might need to be given yearly…by then time they agree to go back to the classroom they’ll need another dose!
Anonymous says
In our city, a lot of kids don’t get their immunizations in a normal year (parental issues, not antivaxxers). So I guess we are never going back, b/c someone could always die.
Meanwhile, a kid got shot in his apartment yesterday from gangs shooting at each other during the day.
K. says
On the other hand, I’m a public school teacher who has been in-person all school year. I live in a state where teachers were taken off the essential worker list and told we just had to wait for our age group. My county has been at level red for the past five weeks. Masking is required, but not enforced well and a lot of students/staff do not wear it properly at all. I live with my immunocompromised in-laws right now.
I am so upset that teachers are not being allowed to get vaccines. I understand prioritizing age, but it’s also a state that regularly denigrates public education, so this is just another example of this.
anon says
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/opinion/covid-vaccine-ethics.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
TLDR: get the vaccine if they tell you to and don’t shame people for getting the vaccinne.
Realist says
Anyone off this morning to watch the inauguration? We’ll be watching the kids presentation hosted by Keke Palmer, starting at 10am eastern. Thinking of all of you in DC, stay safe.
Anonymous says
Well, my 1st grader NEVER goes to school on weds. She’s home learning remotely until 11:30 and then has the rest of the day off. She and I will be watching!!
Realist says
I’m really excited and happy. We have special snacks and are skipping the usual remote learning activities we do in the morning (will complete in the afternoon). I’m guessing the kids news feed will cut out, if needed for problems at the event. I was otherwise nervous to watch it. Feeling so many emotions this morning, mostly relief and happiness and hope.
anon says
It was such a relief to see Trump vacate the White House voluntarily.
Anon says
i really wish i had taken the day off, but instead ill be streaming on my computer as much as possible
Anonymous says
I wish I could! I have a standing appointment at noon on Wednesdays, and a work deadline today. I do have my DVR set, though, and I’m planning on watching it with the kids this evening, if they didn’t watch at school.
Boston Legal Eagle says
I’m planning to stream it next to me while I work! This is giving me so much hope and reminding me to be an optimist (while being aware that we have a lot of problems and there’s a lot of work ahead).
Realist says
For those who didn’t watch, be sure to catch Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem. Far and away the best feature of the inauguration. She rose to the moment.
The oaths and Biden’s speech were good too, but that poem stole the show.
Anonymous says
She was amazing! Just preordered her book!
Anonymous says
She was fantastic.
Maternity Pillow says
Hi All:
Anyone have a recc for a maternity pillow? I am starting to get to the point where I am getting uncomfortable sleeping and spend a lot of time tossing and turning and trying to find a restful position. I am hoping a maternity pillow will help, but there are so many options and sizes. Is a full body size the best way to go? I would like to invest in one that I can use for the duration of my pregnancy and I know you wise women will have valuable insight. Thanks!
TheElms says
I think maternity pillows are a pretty individualized thing. So for context I’m 5’3″ and was a stomach sleeper. I ended up becoming a back sleeper (my doctor was ok with that) using a GERD wedge pillow and then right at the end a side sleeper using the GERD wedge pillow and a Boppy wedge that I put under my belly when I was on my side. Occasionally I would put an old down (so thin) pillow between my knees when I was sleeping on my side. Will post links separately to avoid moderation. I had a full body pillow as well but never got comfy using it.
TheElms says
GERD wedge pillow: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KKPKOFK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Boppy wedge:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N06ZFIX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Anon says
The Snoogle. I actually just bought my second one (not pregnant) because I still like sleeping with it so much (and it helps keep kiddo from falling out of the bed when she sleeps with us), but after 4 years the first one was starting to tear in places (from when it got tugged on when one of us was laying on part of it).
Pogo says
I liked the giant U shaped one but agree w/ others that it’s very individual, depending on how you sleep.
Katala says
I got a giant U shaped one and I can’t get comfortable with it. I realized I can’t do one that goes around under my head because I need to use my own pillow or I have neck issues. I flipped the giant U upside down but I can’t get it set up right to support between my knees and ankles. Totally agree it’s very individual.
Amama says
I liked the Boppy wedge pillow…I could never get used to the full body one. Check out Expecting & Empowered on Instagram, they have some good pillow tips for positioning.
Anonymous says
Our school district has been remote since last March. We never went back in the fall (only some severely disabled students who cannot learn remotely; now they are remote due to rising post-xmas numbers, which are actually doing down and our R is <1.0). There seems to be no will to go back. I was expecting to be home for third quarter, but to be at least hybrid by 4th quarter of the school year.
NOW teachers and staff are murmuring that returning in August is not a done deal and it seems that no one in leadership or our elected school board (only 1 is a current parent, most are retirees) has the will to figure this out or at least try what all of our surrounding counties have been doing since August. I am so over it. I don't want to move an hour away from my job (which I haven't been going to, but I can't get a lot of work done while trouble-shooting homeschooling and I'm just exhausted and one kid is failing most of her subjects.
Anonymous says
Do you attend the Board meetings?
anon says
Not op, but ours are all virtual. You can stream them on FB, but that doesn’t have any real impact.
Anonymous says
Is there not a time for public comment? I’m a school board lawyer. Angry droves of parents speaking in public comment demanding a plan for in person education have been very effective in my experience.
anon says
For logistical reasons, our SB meetings have 8 public speaking slots and there is a lottery to get a slot. There are several organized groups that put in large numbers of requests and who tend to get all of the slots. One group is Trumpian and doesn’t believe in COVID. The other is a pro-teacher group who doesn’t support reopening until there are “14 days with no new cases in the region.” I’ve sent in written comments several times, but that seems to be the only practical option.
Anonymous says
Yes, agree. Spoken as a parent that never attends school board stuff but since they moved to Zoom I have been to almost every one of them and made sure to get my comment in on the record.
If you can’t make the meeting, send an email. In my town it goes to the superintendent and I copy the (elected) school board.
We’ve been hybrid since Sept and I keep pushing them to make a plan to bring K (or K-2) back to full time (once certain metrics are met, of course–but they won’t even define metrics). High school parents are pushing hard for more in person learning too since the HS hybrid is half day 2x/week
Anonymous says
Our school board is very restrictive about public comment. They pick and choose which e-mails to read.
Anonymous says
They are all virtual, stretch into several hours, and involve lots of ranting and insane polarizing facebook postings (they stream on FB live). So I “attend” as much as one can. We have had about 5000 board meetings since COVID started and I just feel like it’s lip service for the already-decided-upon punting.
Never thought I’d embrace homeschooling, but it beats the waitlist lottery at private and charter schools. We are doing the private school testing that they require and the testers tell us they are flooded with requests, so I’m not optimistic.
Anonymous says
OP here — they have been only virtual for a long time, so I “attend” as much as a person can. I have resisted candid snarky FB live postings, but my will to be civil is wearing thin.
Anonymous says
I’m so sorry. If it’s feasible within your budget, now is the time to look at private school that are managing to teach in person. Registration and financial aid applications are due this month and Feb for most of the ones in our area. I remain incredibly annoyed that I chose to live in a good public school district and now am paying for private school on top of that, but I have no regrets about shelling out for in-person school this year. We’re planning on staying in the private school next year, too, because of exactly what you describe. I just don’t have confidence the public schools are going to have this worked out by August, and I’m not willing to take the risk.
Pogo says
Some of our public schools have already announced cancellation of things like public Pre-K, since the registration for the fall starts now. They are still enrolling for public K in my town but remains to be seen if that will be in person.
Anon says
Crazy! We are enrolling our public preK here in NY (not the city) next week. However, if it’s going to be remote again or have crazy restrictions on sharing toys and playing with classmates I will not send my son…socialization is 90% the point of preK.
Anonymous says
Wow, here in MA our PK has been the only grade to be fully back in person! I think it’s because the ratios (14-16 kids/class) are low enough that they could bring the class back and remain reasonably socially distant vs elem which is more like 20 kids/room.
FVNC says
Late to comment, but I’m in the same situation as Anonymous @10:29 above. Purchased a home last summer in our desired school district, but sent our 2nd grader to private school when public schools didn’t open this year. Or potentially next. I’ve been so, so soured on public schools in our district after this debacle.
anon says
Complete commiseration. We’re in the same place. Teachers will be vaccinated this month, but they don’t want to return in 2021. School administrators also still have no solutions for a return. They haven’t sorted how they are going to implement a hybrid model and seem to be completely baffled by any logistical planning. The school board is busy debating of SRO’s are discriminatory and changing school names that come from confederate generals. It’s a disaster.
Anonymous says
Our district has been hybrid since September and I think being hybrid is the worst for teachers. They pushed back and wanted full remote in the beginning, but now that there is talk of vaccination I think (hope) teachers are going to be more on board with full remote. Hybrid leaves them tapped out on both ends. They are hoping to use a PD day in March for a mass teacher vax day in our district in MA.
Anonymous says
I’m sorry, that’s so frustrating. I agree with looking into private school if it’s an option. Maybe this is naive, but I do think once we reach a point that any adult who wants a vaccine can get a vaccine (assuming the high vaccine efficacy holds up and people who get it are essentially 100% protected from severe Covid), deaths are way down, hospitals aren’t overwhelmed, etc., that societal attitudes will shift a lot and people will have no use for making huge sacrifices like virtual schooling.
AnonyMich says
So sorry. Gently — don’t stress, but start thinking about how to work through this.
I’d consider looking at private schools near you, if only to secure a spot – I’d spend the $200 in tuition deposit now for peace of mind and know my child has a spot at an in-person school near me. If your child can go back to public school in the fall, pull them. Near me (Midwest suburbs) the Catholic and Lutheran schools are much less than the independent schools, so maybe start there and see if there’s something you’d like? I know so many people who switched to parochial schools this year and they’ve been happy – most are staying for next year, too, when we anticipate our district will reopen for full-time learning.
Realist says
I do not begrudge anyone for making their choices as best for their families (all we can do right?), but simultaneously I am deeply saddened with a flash of anger at all the children that will be abandoned if families flock to private schools on a permanent basis because of the current crisis. It just feels like that would be another terrible win for the forces that were at work on the Capitol on January 6. All children deserve good schools, not just the ones that have parents with the income level to buy their way into a decent education.
Anonymous says
Taking Cara Babies big time 45 supporter
Anon says
Yeah I just saw that on Twitter!
LadyNFS says
What?! How do I find this?
Pogo says
I just saw that too! Now I don’t feel bad that I never paid for her stuff and just read the recaps on reddit.
AnonATL says
There’s something that always irked me about her and her methods. I know we all try to make our babies sleep by whatever means necessary when we are tired, but I’ve never loved the premise of her business. Nothing against sleep training. More how she monetizes it.
AwayEmily says
I totally agree. I did not use her but I found her “there is only one perfect way to get your kid to sleep, and here it is, oh and also you have to pay for it every step of the way” approach super irritating. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the smart people on this site it is that that there is NOT one perfect way. kids are different, parents are different, and what works for one family won’t for another.
Anonymous says
What did she post? Looks like her twitter account is gone.
Anonymous says
She didn’t. Someone posted the FEC receipts.
Anon says
18 donations in 2020 alone, I read. Her invocation of MLK in an insta post on Monday to sell her brand seems slightly hypocritical.
Anon says
I kind of assumed she was pretty right-leaning, but the FEC receipts from Taking Cara Babies, LLC bother me. Does anyone have a less politically problematic alternative that I can give my business to instead? (And by business, I’m also willing to buy a book, etc.)
AwayEmily says
I love the book The Good Sleeper by Janet Kennedy. It’s short and gives you all the basic principles, plus a big range of different options to try if things aren’t going well.
Pogo says
Honestly good ol Weissbluth. He proposes keeping up to 2 night feeds until 9 mos I believe, whereas Cara has this plan to get to no night feeds by 5mo which always seemed a little crazy to me (with EBF at least). She also says to cap naps at 2 hr, while Weissbluth is all about “sleep begets sleep”. Yes, he is known as the hardcore CIO guy, but if you really follow his plan that’s not strictly what he says – he says you can do whatever method works for you from CIO to Ferber to ‘fading’ etc. He just believes that extinction CIO is actually the least disruptive/least crying overall and least difficult for parents to follow.
Pogo says
oh and he’s not anti-cosleeping. He basically says, if that works for you, go for it (assuming you follow safe sleep as much as possible, he has a big SIDS disclaimer).
Anonymous says
I went to Weissbluth’s son’s pediatrician practice and had some personal sessions on sleep training my twins – he suggested it for them when they turned six months old, based on their weight, amount they were eating, etc. It wasn’t as hardcore as the reputation, to echo Pogo’s comment. it took less than a week before we had sleep from 7-7 and my brain functioned again.
Nooo says
Ugh, boo! Why Cara, why?!?!
Boo says
Ugh now I am sad I spent like $100+ on her classes (although I did find the newborn class very helpful)
Anon says
sort of a follow up to the previous post – can you look up to see where anyone made political donations? and this is now something I am grappling with – is this something I want to check for every person I support/hire? Like I’m about to engage a realtor to help us buy a home and I would prefer not to be putting money into trump’s pockets or the pockets of anyone related to Q Anon, etc. thoughts?
Anonymous says
Look for someone that is expressly/openly support causes you care about. They often post about their donations on social media. Also, ask friends – word of mouth is huge
Pogo says
I believe you can look it up on fec dot gov. But I agree you should try to support local businesses whose practices/values align with yours rather than trying to get dirt on people. We do have a local landscaper who very vocally supported 45, so it was easy to avoid him.
Anon says
You can look it up here: https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/
Recs for online Spanish classes? says
Hey, so my monolingual (English) 5 year old has expressed an interest in learning Spanish. Due to COVID in-person local classes aren’t an option at the moment. Does anyone have personal recommendations for online classes, either live or prerecorded, or another way to introduce the language? Unfortunately we (parents) don’t speak Spanish.
Anon says
this isn’t for a class, but my family once visited Israel and the bus driver’s daughter who was around 5 spoke so much English, and when I asked her how she learned it, she said from watching Full House, as they had not yet started learning English in school. Maybe try tv?
Anonymous says
My sister was an exchange student in HS, and I remember her watching a ton of Chinese kid shows in the months before she left. She picked up quite a bit that way, and I’m sure a younger kid with better neuroplasticity would do even better!
Anonymous says
Muzzy? It won’t actually teach him to speak the language, but it’s a fun little introduction.
Anonymous says
My 5 year old daughter did one session of intro Spanish with a live teacher and 3 other remote kids via zoom back in the Spring/Summer. The teacher did a good job, and DD would participate and be happy participating once she got into it, but it turned into a battle to get her to join the class at the scheduled time. This may have been because the weather was gorgeous and the class time was when siblings and neighbors were outside playing, so FOMO was real… but just to say, I’d look for something asynchronous at first, or at least carefully consider what time of day you choose for the lessons to make sure that there won’t be something competing for his attention.
We used Language Academy of the Carolinas.