Washable Wednesday: Cap Sleeve Ruffle Bottom Dress
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This Lark & Ro dress has sort of a dropped waist and is not as sleek as some of the very popular Lark & Ro wrap dresses that we’ve featured, but if you’re looking for something a little different and you like a fit-and-flare kind of dress, this one looks lovely. I like the sleeves and the fact that it’s machine washable, and it’s eligible for Prime and free returns. It comes in sizes XS-XL in black and a navy/white stripe. Cap Sleeve Ruffle Bottom Dress Here’s a plus-size option. 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. 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!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?
Yeah, it doesn’t sound to me like the lady saw anything particularly troubling. 3 year olds can play on their own without an adult hovering. Often moms of younger kids have a hard time judging what is safe for older kids to do, because they don’t know their capabilities, while moms of older kids are much more relaxed, and I’ve been on both ends, so I’d chalk it up to someone well-intentioned but a bit ignorant. (And ditto that especially for that age kids the park is a bit of a break, for both kids and caretakers, to not be in each other’s faces for an hour or two, but still being there if they need anything).
Can I have a virtual high five for successful adulting please? Our very meh au pair is leaving tomorrow, and despite REALLY not wanting to ‘celebrate’ her end of year with us I put on my big girl pants and arranged a family dinner, card, and small gift. It obviously meant a lot to her and I felt much better having sent her off on a nice high note (even though my husband and I were literally counting down the days until she left). Sigh. And now we just have to prep for (hopefully) a much better au pair to arrive!
I just saw a posting on our neighborhood listserv from someone who was concerned about what she saw at a local park yesterday. She said she saw a nanny/caregiver with 3-4 yo boys she assumed to be twins since they looked close in age, and said that the nanny was completely ignoring the kids, not engaged, seemed miserable, and had earbuds in the whole time. My au pair was at that park with my fraternal 3 1/2 yo twin boys yesterday, likely at the time the poster was there (she was there about 2-3 hrs before this post went up). I’ve replied asking for more info — e.g., what the kids and caregiver looked like, what they were wearing — to see if I can confirm it was my au pair and my kids.
It seems unlikely that there were two sets of fraternal 3-4 yo boys at what’s a fairly small park at the same time, both with au pairs/nannies. But it seems even more unlikely that my au pair would act like this. My experiences with her are all wonderful. She’s an outgoing, happy, easygoing person, who tells us often how much she enjoys being in America. She just extended with us for a second year and said she couldn’t imagine going to another family. In the past she’s told me when something upsetting happened to her. So it would seem strange for her to appear “miserable.” She’s also incredibly engaged, always sitting on the floor with the boys when I come home, popping into their bedrooms in the morning to say hi even though she doesn’t come “on” for another hour, and has always seemed like the responsible type. She packs elaborate lunches for them and takes them out for picnics at nature centers, plans art projects for them, takes them to play dates with other au pairs and sends me photos and videos that show her and her friends having dance parties with the kids, playing dress up with them, and otherwise doing all the active, engaged things you want an au pair to do. I work from home about once a week and from what I see and hear when I’m home, she seems like a very good au pair. The kids’ preschool teachers love her, my MIL thinks she’s great with the kids, and the housekeeper thinks she’s great, too (the housekeeper comes only once a month, but she tends to tell me when she thinks things are amiss in my house, whether I invited her opinion or not).
If I don’t get more information that confirms it definitely wasn’t her (e.g., the description of the kids or the caregiver clearly doesn’t match my kids or au pair) I’m not sure what to do. It completely rubs me the wrong way to give credence to an internet stranger that is totally counter to my actual experience with my au pair. At the same time, I don’t want to ignore a problem. But even if it was her, it’s hard to see what the “problem” is. Yes, wearing ear buds while watching the kids isn’t a good idea. But being generally disengaged is harder to pinpoint. The poster seemed reasonable and not alarmist, but said she didn’t think the caregiver was doing the bare minimum to keep the kids safe. Without having been there, it’s hard to say what that means. It’s also concerning if it was her and if she really wasn’t doing her job that we might have so badly misjudged her. How can we feel confident in our child care if we completely miss that something is up and only a random post on a listserv lets us know?
I worry I’m getting ahead of myself since we don’t even know it was her, but I’m just not sure what the next steps should be.
UGH you guys. I only like spicy food when I’m pregnant (sample size: one pregnancy), and otherwise, I hate spicy food. I AM LOVING spicy food right now. It’s all in my head, right? I can’t be pregnant, right? (In response to my concern last night, DH said, “just let me know when we need to start talking about names!”)
Clear answer: take a pg test. The problem is, until I’ve missed my period (due in 8 days), a negative test doesn’t mean NO pregnancy. It just means not enough hormones in my body to detect a pregnancy yet. (Until then, I’m eating spicy sushi and trying to keep the nausea and exhaustion at bay.) Somebody talk me down please….
Any reviews for cute but comfortable pjs for a new mom? Need to order them online to be sent directly to her. TIA!
Don’t beat yourself up over this! If your mom asks about it again, you can either go with your husband’s strategy, or if you’ll feel better being completely honest, shrug it off like Anon @ 12:37 pm suggests – “We thought about it and decided that it wouldn’t be a big deal for kids to have multiple Grandmas.” I don’t have a blended family situation personally, but we refer to my parents as Grandma and Grandpa, and to my husband’s grandparents as Grandma and Grandpa too, and everyone survives. Yes, sometimes we need to clarify that we mean Grandma Lastname, but really not a big deal!
We had an adjacent issue where my husbands parents each preferred non-coordinating names (think like Nonna and Opa). Husband’s mom freaked out, and we told her she got to choose her name and her husband could choose his and the fact that they didn’t match didn’t matter. And that works out just fine too! People can be so funny about this stuff.
Due to divorces/remarriages of their generation, I had eight grandparents growing up and well into college. For what it’s worth, there was Grandma Firstname, Grandma Last Initial, Nana, First Name….then Grandpa Firstname, Grandpa Last Initial, Special moniker, and First Name.
The grandparents Nana/Special moniker were my favorite, so my mom and dad have chosen Nana/other special moniker for my daughter to call them.
My husband’s family is different, with the preferred grandparents getting the former title of grandma/grandpa and the married in grandparents getting the special monikers.
To each their own!
I know a lot of you have blended families and estranged family members, so I am hoping you can help me with mine. I have chosen to be estranged from my mother, who has been diagnosed by a therapist as having NPD. We see each other once or twice a year and communicate by sporadic text. I have texted her more recently due to her having had major surgery. I was texting her about my upcoming vacation; she knows that my father and his wife (who is totally lovely, and who has a great relationship with me and my kids) are flying in from out of town to watch the kids. She asked me what the kids call my husband’s stepmother, my husband’s stepfather, and my father’s wife. I answer her honestly: Random Name, Random Name, and Grandma. My mother chose her own random name for the kids to call her. My mother responded that kids calling my dad’s wife “Grandma” hurts and asks me to ask her to choose something else.
Out of not wanting to pick a fight with my bedridden mother who was released from the hospital the day before, and out of my own exhaustion at 9pm on a Sunday when I am about to get in the shower after a busy weekend with my kids (3.5 and 2), I say “OK.” She says thank you for understanding. I tell my husband about this and he says that honestly, my mom and dad’s wife will never be in the same room, and that it would be horrible to tell dad’s wife that she can’t be “Grandma” anymore. These things are objectively true. My husband concludes that I should just let my mom think I got “Grandma” to change her name, and just not actually ask “Grandma” to do so. He says my mom has no right to interfere in my children’s relationship with their other grandmother.
I hate to carry around a lie – although I got really good at it during my young adult life before I started putting up boundaries – but I also really do not want to engage my mom further on this, as I have really enjoyed not fighting with her after putting up those boundaries. Without judging my moment of weakness – what are your thoughts?
I’m traveling with my infant next week on Jetblue. Right now, we are in Row 1 with an open seat in between myself and DH. The ticketing agent told me that because I have a lap infant, the middle seat will pretty much be the last one they fill.
I’m fine holding the baby if need be. If I were desperate for a seat, I’d shell out the $600 for a third seat. But my question is, at what point do I ask if that seat will be open? If it’s open, I’ll bring the carseat on board. If it’s filled, I’ll check it. Do I bring it to the gate and see what they say around the time of boarding and gate-check if that seat is filled?
Hi All – I am doing a family photo shoot on the beach in 2 weeks. I have a 16 month old son and I’m going to be 24 weeks pregnant then (although I feel like I look much further along!). I am searching for an appropriate dress to wear and I’m having trouble finding anything – any suggestions for me? I looked at seraphine, loft, pea in a pod so far…… HELP! (I acknowledge this is a 1st world problem…. and I’m being slightly overdramatic).
I like this dress. What do you wear with it to work for warmth? Do cardigans look ok with this type of dress? I have several of the J Crew factory Clare cardigans. Also, can anyone speak to fit? After the birth of my child (2.5 years ago) I continue to teeter in between sizes so I’m wondering if I should size up or down.
Sorry if this is TMI. I’m pregnant and have noticed I have to go no 2 more than usual. Has anyone else experienced this? I’m trying to figure out if this is “normal” pregnancy thing or if I should be looking at my diet more closely.
I agree with everyone else. The need for huge pads is exaggerated. I was using an overnight pad before I left the hospital and then switched to “super” after a week or so. You also don’t need up to your belly button underwear, full bikinis are fine (I bought fruit of the loom). I wore yoga pants, sweatpants, tank tops (with a nursing bra), and cardigans. If I had no guests then I wore a nightgown that buttoned down the chest or a robe. I did find that showering, doing my makeup, and wearing clothes made me feel like a real human.
What do you wear in the first few weeks post-partum if you are planning to breastfeed? I am having a hard time picturing wearing any kind of pants with the humungous pads that I am warned I will need. My parents and in-laws will be around so I want to have some kind of clothes on. Nightgowns that button up? Stretchy skirts and nursing tanks? Any specific recommendations are appreciated.