Organizing Thursday: Customized Gift Wrap Center
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Now that the holidays are in the rearview mirror, perhaps my resolution should be to wrangle my wrapping paper collection.
This gift wrap center from the Container Store is exactly what I need. This long under-bed box fits rolls of wrapping paper and includes several smaller boxes for ribbons, bows, tags, tape, etc. The boxes are clear so you can see what’s inside, and the locking lid keeps everything secure.
I’ll be ready for the next holiday season, as well as any celebrations in between.
This Customized Gift Wrap Center is $39.45 at The Container Store.
Sales of note for 2/7:
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Winter Sale, up to 60% off! 7850 new markdowns for women
- Ann Taylor – Extra 25% off your $175+ purchase — and $30 of full-price pants and denim
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 15% off
- Boden – 15% off new season styles
- Eloquii – 60% off 100s of styles
- J.Crew – Extra 50% off all sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – 40% off everything including new arrivals + extra 20% off $125+
- Rothy’s – Final Few: Up to 40% off last-chance styles
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – 40% off one item + free shipping on $150+
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?
WWYD Covid Edition – One millionth time: Would you go to an in-person meeting in a city 2 hours away (I’d drive myself) 34 weeks pregnant now or in the next couple weeks? No way to find out anything about whether the folks coming to the meeting are vaccinated / will be wearing masks? Saying no has career ramifications, but hard to tell how severe. Would your answer change if the meeting was in the same city you lived in and the meeting participants traveled to you (probably by train, but possibly by car)? I know what my personal preference is but I’m just trying to see what others think.
Yet another covid what-would-you-do question. We made it a whole 2 days after winter break before a covid exposure sent both my kids home, and we’re trying to figure out how far we’re willing to go to avoid household spread if one has symptoms/tests positive.
Details: Kids are 22 months and almost 5, so not eligible to be vaxxed. DH and I are triple-vaxxed and no one in the household is high risk. Exposure was in the little one’s class, but daycare is very cautious and considers our whole household exposed, and both kids are home for 10 days, best case scenario. DH and I both work full time from home for relatively understanding employers, so we can switch off with the kids and survive, and even be relatively productive. We have a big house and could theoretically isolate the kids from each other if one of them tests positive, by each taking a kid. But that means it would be much harder to get any real work done, and make the quarantine that much more limiting and miserable. Plus, it might be too late to prevent transmission by the time of a positive test anyway (or even if we started isolating now, which just cannot handle, since everyone is asymptomatic). I am inclined to take a misery-reduction approach and weather this thing together, even if someone gets sick. But I also worry that we should be trying harder, since we have the ability? Would you bite the bullet and isolate?
I am so over this. Older kid was in tears at having to leave school and said she wished she could go back in time to her life before covid. We are making a “covid sucks” cake when quiet time is over.
Recs for a soft crib mattress for older kids? Does this exist? My almost 4 year old is still in her crib and generally fine with it but she’s started complaining about how hard the mattress is. I *think* it’s mostly an excuse for why she doesn’t want to go to bed or stay in bed (we’re in a very anti-sleep phase at the moment) but I figure it can’t hurt to upgrade her mattress and see if it helps.
Today’s dispatch from the Department of Depressing News: at-home tests may fail to detect Omicron infections early on, when people are most contagious and when they are eligible for treatments. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/health/covid-rapid-test-omicron-detection.html
These findings line up perfectly with my extended family’s experience with breakthrough Omicron infections. Several vaxxed, boosted adults and a handful of kids <5 caught Covid from family visits over the holidays. All of the adults tested negative on home tests until day 3 – 5 of symptoms. One adult even tested negative on a PCR test on day 1 of symptoms, 3 days post-exposure. She got a positive PCR test on day 3 of symptoms. This has huge implications for anyone hoping to receive Paxlovid, which must be administered within 5 days of the onset of symptoms and requires a positive test.
I just feel like I need to scream into the void today. I’ve been pandemic parenting almost as long as I pre-pandemic parented (my oldest had just turned two when this started) and I’m exhausted. I’m so tired. I’m so angry. We just finished a 10-day quarantine and I’ve decided to keep her out of her part-time preschool for a few weeks to avoid another one so we can still have our nanny come (and this is after we kept her out of school for the entire year last year). I’m angry that my kids are missing so out on so much. My youngest will be 2 soon and has never been in a grocery store, for crying out loud. I’m so tired of the uncertainty and waiting for another quarantine. I don’t want to be a stay at home mom but honestly, it seems so much easier right now. I’m frustrated there aren’t vaccines for under 5s yet. In a few hours I’ll pull myself together and keep moving forward but I needed to scream this into the universe for a second before I can do that again.
Happy 2022, I tested positive yesterday for Covid. Breakthrough case. :( I feel so dumb about this, but can I be around my vaccinated kids at all, as long as I’m masked? I stayed far away last night, but I know that they’ve been exposed to me before I knew I was positive. IDK, it seems super impractical to live in the same house and stay completely isolated for 10 days. I am using a separate bathroom and will not eat with them, FWIW.
does anyone have a thermometer recommendation? i think we need a new one
Daycare question – does your school have a set temperature where they don’t let kids go outside? Ours is 30 degrees windchill even for preschool ages. So, in the midwest that is a lot of the winter. My son is getting in trouble a lot and now I’m realizing he’s getting no outdoor/unstructured time most days. But finding a new daycare in our area is hard right now, and he is very change-resistant. I’m so frustrated.
I missed the SAHM discussion yesterday. I thought I would offer another option to those of you who can afford it: temporary leave of absence.
I was severely burnt out after the 2020 craziness. I did everything I could during 2021 to recover while working, feeling like I was just trying to hold on to career until the pandemic was “over.” But during the last several months I have had at least one kid at home every single week because of ordinary coughs and sniffles, and “over” isn’t happening anytime soon. So I gave notice to my firm and I’m taking an unpaid leave of absence, without a specific end date.
We are still paying for daycare, but reduced the hours, because the short term focus is my recovery from burnout.
Of course, daycare closed today because of a positive COVID case, but I am glad I am not scrambling to work during naptime. Instead, I’m going to nap during naptime. Or read a novel. Or watch a movie.
Financially this is not an option for most families, but if you are a burnt out with a lot of savings, it may be time to use those savings. Just my two cents.
OP here! Yes! Duh! This is where I get all her athletic gear. No idea why I didn’t think of it. All the suits are exactly her style.
I have an 8 year old who will turn 9 in September (current 2nd grader). We are (fingers crossed) going to a tropical vacation over April break. She needs new swimsuits. Where would you go to shop for a suit for a super athletic, medium-tall, 8-turning-9 year old? She likes one pieces or tankini-style two pieces (vs more of a bikini cut).
We’ve done Lands End in the past and while they hold up well, I’m not loving the styles/patterns this year. Hanna seems too young. Gap and Old Navy don’t have anything I like. Boden seems to have more fashion over function.
Would love any ideas!
Any tips on if my newly 3 and newly 5 year old could share a room on a trip if they don’t normally share a room at home? My 3 year old is still in a crib at home, but would love to not have to lug the pack n play because I think he should be able to sleep in a twin bed. Will he fall off? Just trying to maximize the amount of sleep everyone gets, since nothing ruins my vacations more than repeated night wakings. What would you do?
And, that’s a wrap folks. COVID exposure at preschool, closed until Tuesday. Longer if my kiddo tests positive.
Also a looming snowstorm here in New England which will undoubtably result in a snow day for my older two tmw.
You are welcome.
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a-note-of-reassurance-from-your-school-district-regarding-our-updated-omicron-policies?fbclid=IwAR1kXDj8dffyiTKA_-AqiLyWTBxH0bqF7M-QWj82iYfIc8bKJ3L7zqW6Lyg
Does anyone have any tips to stop night time thumbsucking? My son is five and relies on his thumb to fall asleep and probably at some points overnight. He responded well to rewards charts to stop daytime sucking but I think the night is too habitual for that to work. Thinking about something like the AeroGuard but any tips are appreciated.