Budget Thursday: Brief Bootie
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Sometimes the simplest shoe is hardest to find. Personally, I have a very specific shoe buying personality: comfortable, unadorned, a toe shape that is somewhere between pointed and round (almond shaped), with one unique element that keeps the shoe from being boring. This shoe from Dr. Scholl’s hits all of those marks for me. Here, the unique element is the perforated heel, which can be seen much better on the “putty” color than the black. I like the 1¾” heel height, which is enough to be something but not enough to make me pitch forward on the balls of my feet. I also like that these can be dressed up for work but would look great with jeans and a sweater too. These booties are only $49.95 and are available at Nordstrom. They come in medium and wide widths in sizes 6–11. Brief Bootie
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Sales of note for 6/30/25
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – 2,700+ new markdowns for women — and the Anniversary Sale preview has started!
- Ann Taylor – 40% off your purchase, including new arrivals + summer steals $39+
- Banana Republic Factory – July Fourth Event, 50-70% off everything + extra 20% off
- Eloquii – $19+ select styles + extra 50% off all sale
- J.Crew – End of season sale, extra 60% off sale styles + up to 40% off select cashmere
- J.Crew Factory – All-Star Sale, 40-70% off entire site and storewide and extra 60% off clearance
- M.M.LaFleur – Sitewide Sale, save 25% with code — 48 hours only! Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Spanx – Free shipping on everything
- Talbots – 40% off entire purchase, includes all markdowns (ends 7/3)
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?
This is I know the pettiest vent – but I hate instant message so much, and we’re required to be on it at all times at work. I find it so annoying and people interrupt all the time with a “quick question” that is actually very involved and should be emailed, or said in person. And worse – I can never immerse myself in work because I am interrupted all the time with this garbage.
I know I’m likely being unreasonable – but appreciate you listening. Is there anyone else unreasonably bothered by instant message?!
Maybe late in the day for this, but — last night a couple of hours after he went to bed my 9mo started screaming/crying (like, the kind where you immediately sprint to their room). I went in and picked him up but kept crying really hard and still seemed asleep — his eyes were closed and he didn’t really register me. Eventually we got him to wake up, and then he stopped crying and was fine, and he went back to sleep easily.
This was really unusual — he hasn’t woken up at all during the night in months, and when he does wake up he usually lets out one or two “settling” whimpers and then goes right back to sleep. Was it just a really bad dream? Nothing like this ever happened with my first. I’m also confused by the fact that he seemed asleep while he was crying. The internet tells me that this describes “night terrors” but I didn’t think those happened until kids were much older.
Legos?
It was a mistake. Acknowledge and move on. No one is perfect. When I was about 5 I left a neighbor’s house without permission and walked home because I got in a disagreement with the neighbor kid. Problem is I didn’t tell the babysitter who I was with; I just left. Babysitter panicked and called my parents. When my parents finally found me (I was sitting out back steps to our house having climbed the fence to see if the back door was unlocked), my dad was so furious he spanked me. I have no actual memory of this. He told me later when I was an older elementary schooler. He said it was so awful he cried for days (not all the time) after the fact because he was so mad at himself that his temper got the better of him. He never spanked me again. It was a mistake one he really regretted. I don’t remember it, and even if I did, I wouldn’t love him any less. Especially now as an adult its easy to see that my parents loved me so much. Your kid will be ok. You’re not a bad parent. Its just a thing that happened.
My son has finally risen to the top of the waitlist for OT! This means that every week for at least a year, I will be driving him to OT after school on Mondays, waiting in the waitroom with my daughter and then heading home. The OT place is 30-45 minutes away, depending on traffic. My current question is any idea for what to do with my daughter in the waitroom every week for an hour? She’s five. I’m thinking we will bring books to read, coloring materials and … I’m not sure what else we can do in a waiting room? Any thoughts?
I’m in Pittsburgh and five days later I’m still stressed about sending my kids out the door. Yesterday, my SD’s school (one mile away from the Tree of Life synagogue) was on lockdown because someone called in a threat. Sunday, I found out a man I rode the bus with to work every day was killed. Saturday, I learned my friend’s FIL is one of the injured survivors. I lived three blocks away from the synagogue for 15 years. We recently moved about a mile away in the adjacent neighborhood. I feel so stunned and scared for my kids. I know we are not technically in more danger than we were before and I try to tell myself that, but the stunt at my daughter’s school yesterday made me so angry and fearful at the same time. I even had a little clutch of fear before we went out trick or treating yesterday. The world just feels so much scarier for my little ones today.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a personalized storybook? I had one from FAO Schwartz when I was a kid and I loved it. They are so ubiquitous now and I suspect there is a dramatic difference in quality of the stories and illustrations. Anyone have one you are pleased with?
My 9 month old used to be a great sleeper but has had a really rough time with sleep for the last month or so. She really fights bedtime – she will get very drowsy around her normal bedtime, but as soon as we put her in the crib and leave she often starts crying, and we start the bedtime routine all over again. When do get her down on the first try, she often wakes up crying less than 30 minutes after going down. She’s fine as soon as we go in there and pick her up but then the cycle continues for another several hours. When we do eventually get her down she sleeps through the rest of the night, but I know she’s not getting enough sleep (and neither are we!). We chalked it up to teething for a while, but it’s been going on so long and we haven’t seen any new teeth that I don’t think it’s that. She’s gotten noticeably clingier when she’s awake so I wonder if it might be separation anxiety? Any advice? Do we just have to power through this stage? I’m tempted to bring her back into our room (she’s in her nursery now) but of course I know we’ll have to transition her to her nursery at some point.
We’re running into a phase with my 2.5-year-old son that I’m not sure I’m handling right and it’s getting exasperating. FWIW he is in weekly speech therapy and may be on the spectrum, but isn’t diagnosed right now. Suffice to say he is struggling with receptive and expressive language.
He’s recently started throwing/pushing something away and then immediately demanding it back in just the brattiest voice ever. For example, tossing his lovey out of the crib as we put him to bed, then screaming “BUNNY!” and reaching for it, then we give it back and he screams “NO!” and immediately throws it out again, then screams “BUNNY!”, repeat ad infinitem. We have to hold it back/away until he gets legitimately upset and starts crying before he’ll keep it when we give it back. So that’s what we’re doing, though it feels simultaneously mean and like we’re giving in to his toddler idiocy.
Are we handling that right? My husband thinks we should try harder to teach him that “no” has a particular meaning, and by saying it he is saying he doesn’t want the bunny, and so we should take it away for longer or make him say something like “bunny please” to get it back. I think it’s already a good step that he’s pointing and saying the name of the thing, so we should just keep doing the withholding until he “really” wants it, but I admit it doesn’t seem like a great solution.
“Daddy will unbuckle you in and Mommy will unbuckle you when we arrive.” repeat ad nauseum.
Then Daddy buckles her in despite protests. It doesn’t take long before they get over themselves.
Alternate who does the buckling in and who unbuckles.
Seeking advice and tips on how to keep the morning routine on-task? My 2.5-yo is a master of inserting distractions and I’m arriving to work later and later. Yesterday it was because she wanted to give each stuffed animal a hug before we left. This morning she said she had to p**p — 20 minutes of sitting and nothing happened, except we were way behind. Obviously I don’t want to discourage her trying, but also, we have a solid 15 minutes of flex time built into the schedule and are blowing through it every day. I’d rather not get up any earlier unless there are no other solutions.
TLDR; how do you keep your kids on task and make it out the door on time?
Hi ladies, any recommendations for a reproductive endocrinologist in DC or northern Virginia? Just had an ultrasound this morning and looks like I’m going to miscarry again. It’s my third one this year so I think I need to see one now, especially given my age (39) and I have never had children. My OB/gyn, who I like very much, thinks I should wait until the next ultrasound in a couple weeks to confirm the findings but I think I should go asap. Anyone have any experience or advice on this? I don’t want to overreact but I also don’t want to be passive about this either.
I know I’ve seen this asked before, but looking for advice where one kid is strongly preferring one parent (mom). We have a 3.5 year old, 2 year old, and baby on the way (which is part of my concern). Oldest (DD) strongly prefers me and has me do way too much for her. Maybe it’s also a question of forcing her to be more independent but she’s independent except that she loves being taken care of by mom. And when she’s upset, she only wants me – which at 3.5 with tantrums is more frequent than it should be. I’m worried because I’m in my second trimester and pretty sure it’s going to start to be difficult to carry her as I get closer to my due date, I’m tired of always being her person, and it’s really hard on DH emotionally. DH is a solid equal parent and understanding to a point, but it’s frustrating.
Our 2 year old (DS) is an absolute delight. It’s definitely not an issue of him getting more attention.
Has anyone else dealt with this? I have a feeling it’ll naturally work itself out when the baby comes – although it will be hard for her – but I’m not sure how we’re going to get through the rest of the pregnancy with me being her Person.
Great pick! Just bought them in the putty color. I love the pair of Dr Scholls slip on sneakers I bought after seeing then recommended on Cap Hill Style last year.
We had loads of trick or treaters last night and baby Cb thought it was great fun to answer the door and say hello to the other children. I thought he might be scared but he thought the costumes were hilarious.