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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 4.18.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 50% off full-price dresses, jackets & shoes; $30 off pants & skirts; extra 50% off sale styles
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything; extra 20% off purchase
- Eloquii – 50% off select styles; 60% off swim; up to 40% off everything else
- J.Crew – Mid-Season Sale: Extra 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off spring-to-summer styles
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Spring Mid-Season Sale: Up to 50% off 100s of styles
- Nordstrom: Free 2-day shipping for a limited time (eligible items)
- Talbots – Spring Sale: 40% off + extra 15% off all markdowns; 30% off new T by Talbots
- Zappos – 29,000+ 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 – Up to 70% off baby items; 50% off toddler & kid deals & 40% off everything else
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off spring faves; 25% off new arrivals; up to 30% off spring
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Up to 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off kids’ spring-to-summer styles
- Old Navy – 30% off your purchase; up to 75% off clearance
- Target – Car Seat Trade-In Event (ends 4/27); BOGO 25% off select skincare products; up to 40% off indoor furniture; up to 20% off laptops & printers
See some of our latest articles on CorporetteMoms:
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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
Feeling extra stressed this week. I think everyone on my team at work has their kids home this week and/or next, and we’ve got deadlines we need to meet anyway so we’re trying to push through. It feels like everyone is hitting their breaking point. We even have COVID-related leave we can take, but since everyone is in the same boat it feels like I can’t take any. Just going to white-knuckle through I guess. It really feels like the first month of the pandemic again — my local grocery stores are out of stock, it’s hard to get delivery windows, and everyone is on edge.
Boston Legal Eagle says
I hear you. We’ve got generous leave too, but it’s hard to take at certain times of the year when there are a lot of (unmovable) deadlines. It’s close to impossible to get a pcr test for adults over here – luckily our ped is still offering same day tests. Our younger one is back at daycare but I’m dreading getting another call about a case in his class. Oh and tomorrow there might be a snowstorm. Eff.
anne-on says
Yup. Severe ice yesterday and the first big snowstorm tomorrow plus rising case rates = I may lose my mind before next week. Everyone I know is super on edge/stressed. It feels like the height of the pandemic again even though I KNOW we’re safer I just have so much less to rely on in terms of my emotional reserves.
Anon says
my employer gave us sick days for the first time to navigate from March 2020 – December 2021 and now no more sick days.
Anon says
Same here, except COVID related leave is no longer an option and I just found out I can only use X number of days for child related sick days. We also have so many deadlines but I really can’t work with the kids at home.
I’m really stressed out and wondering if I need to quit working until this clears up.
EDAnon says
My work ended COVID leave, too (and has otherwise been reasonable during the pandemic). If my child care closes (there was an exposure in another room already this week), then I am taking a two week leave of absence. They will have to get over it. I am done killing myself for my job.
(And I love what.I do, but my well-being and my ability to be there for my kids is worth more. And I don’t think they’ll fire me…)
Anon says
We’re on our second 14 day daycare closure for Covid exposure since late November, plus a planned two week holiday closure. I have unlimited sick leave but can’t use it unless someone in my family is actually sick. At this point I’m just waiting for work to fire me. I could quit but I figure I’ll just collect a paycheck in the meantime.
Anon at 9:51 says
+++++1 to your last two sentences.
EDAnon says
YESSS
strategy mom says
same girl, same. all of the “refreshed and rested” christmas break energy is gone
ASD diagnosis says
I have posted here a couple times before about my 3 yo son. The results of his autism screening came back yesterday. He has ASD 1. I would love to hear from those of you with ASD or as a mom to a kiddo with ASD because I feel totally overwhelmed and sad right now. Can I hope for him his own family, friends, career?
Cb says
You’re doing a great job – it’s better to know than not know. My husband has what used to be called Aspbergers, now probably ASD 1. He wasn’t diagnosed until his early 30s and I think he would have really benefited from that help early on. But now, at 41, he’s got a great job where he he works with annoying, demanding politicians (who regularly buy him coffee because they like him so much), we have a strong relationship, and he’s a fantastic father. He finds some social interactions difficult and is the NOISIEST person I’ve ever met, but he has a really rich and fulfilling life.
So Anon says
Hi there – My son, who is now 10, carries the same diagnosis (in addition to Crohn’s Disease and Celiac’s). Even though I knew it was coming, I remember receiving the actual diagnosis as a punch in the gut. Here is what I wish I had know then: Take some time to wrap your mind and heart around this. It is ok. He will be ok and you will too. My guess is that he is an awesome and somewhat quirky kid. That has not changed since receiving a diagnosis. My son has a close group of friends at school, and they all love to play minecraft together over facetime after school. My son does well at school, even though certain transitions and parts are challenging. He is such a sensitive and empathetic person, and he says exactly what is on his mind. He is one of my favorite people on the planet (the other being his sister).
When you are ready, search out the voices of autistic adults who provide the best guide in how to relate to an autistic individual. A few resources: The book “Uniquely Human” by Barry Prizant, Asperger Experts (website), Autism Level Up, Kristy Forbes – Autism & ND Support. I highly recommend staying away from Autism Speaks, anything that promotes ABA therapy/the puzzle piece, and any website that claims to be run an “autism mom.”
Realist says
I love the podcast “You’re Wrong About”. They just did an episode ripping apart the portrayal of autism in Sia’s Music film. The guest star apparently just wrote a book about autism. I really liked him on the episode, so maybe his book is good too. It is Eric Garcia’s “We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation.” The podcast episode is good too, very compassionate about autism. Maybe not exactly what you are looking for but I definitely don’t think you should be hopeless. Autism is part of the human experience (a bigger and bigger part, per the numbers), and the human experience is beautiful even when it is not what we expected.
So Anon says
I wrote a long post that is stuck in moderation. The short version: Hugs. You will all be ok.
Cb says
What podcasts and audiobooks are your kids listening to lately? My son is having his quiet time and I think he’s getting bored with Thomas and Storytrain (and my office is right next door and the ST lady’s voice is so annoying). I’d like something a bit longer, so I didn’t have to create a queue?
Not sure I should induldge him after he told me he loved me and sushi the same last night.
Spirograph says
This doesn’t help on the annoying voice front, but the Magic Treehouse audiobooks are a big hit with my kids. My daughter is obsessed with Mrs. Pigglewiggle, and (maybe too old for your son?) they all like Percy Jackson.
For podcasts, we listen to all the APM ones: Brains On!, Million Bazillion, Smash Boom Best, and Forever Ago
AwayEmily says
It seems like SUCH a crapshoot. Audibooks my kids (3 and 5) love, all obtained via the Libby app from our local library: the looooooong audiobook (like 2.5 hours) of Frozen, some random compendium of fairy tales, Astrid Lindgren’s The Children of Noisy Village, the Mercy Watson books, the Princess in Black books. Ones they hated: the looooong audiobook of Frozen 2, a different compendium of fairy tales, Paddington Bear stories, the Mouse and the Motorcycle.
Anyway, my rec would be to just trial-and-error things you can get for free from the library.
Cb says
Ah, Frozen is a good shout. We’re very into Frozen at the moment – my husband and son wrap themselves in blankets like dresses and sing Let it Go. I need to get Libby back up and running. We’ve got the Paddington CDs and he’ll listen in the car but not at home. He’s currently listening to this dragon story, I peaked in and he’s on his bed, staring out the velux window, and listening. Normally he plays and listens but something about this one caught his attention.
Anon says
But Why, What If World, Kids Animal Stories, Greeking Out, Classical Kids Storytime, and Spare the Rock Spoil the Child. The last three are my favorites too.
Anon says
These are great but I couldn’t find classical kids storytime? I think our kids have similar interest so wondering if you could point me towards who makes that one?
Anon says
I looked at my app – it’s actually Your Classical Kids Storytime from American Public Media. They tell classic childhood stories (like Three Little Pigs and Paul Bunyun) and include classical music. Really cute!
Earlier poster says
Thanks!
EDAnon says
We do the Zoey and Sassafras books. We also do the Circle Round podcast, which is usually 20-25 minutes (so probably, too short)
DLC says
Lol sushi is really tasty.,.
If you have Audible, Laurie Berkner’s Song and Story Kitchen is sweet and how we bribe my four year to do chores.
He will also listen to Hamilton on repeat.
AwayEmily says
Yeah, my almost-4yo and 5yo can and do listen to infinite amounts of Hamilton. I’m so, so sick of it, although it is adorable when they run around singing “chaos and bloodshed are not the solution!”
Anonymous says
Doesn’t fix the queuing issue but we love the Circle around podcast. Stories are about 20 mins long
Anon says
Not exactly what you asked but 4 year old loves the Yoto Player. I like that she can swap out the cards herself easily and doesn’t need me to change or start the story for her, so it solves the queueing issue.
the Minotaur says
For the past two years, my 5-year-old has been listening on repeat to the audiobook of D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Mythology. It’s 4.5 hours long, and it’s narrated by Kathleen Turner, Paul Newman, Matthew Broderick, and the greatest narrator in the history of narration, SIDNEY POITIER. Here’s a quick sample: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1R3v7uvLx_c
Thumb says
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.
AwayEmily says
We JUST dealt with this with my 5yo. We also did day first, and I told her we didn’t have to do nights until she was ready. But I also primed her by talking to her about how it was important for her teeth (and having the dentist reinforce that), buying the special bitter polish and showing it to her, talking about my own struggles with thumb-sucking as a kid, etc. Finally, a year after (mostly) kicking the habit during the day, she said she was ready to do nights also and we put on the polish. The first night was really hard and involved crying, the second was easier, and after the third she was fine, and she even asked for more polish after it came off. Two weeks later, we had a little “party” for her to celebrate (helium balloons and cupcakes), and her grandparents Zoomed in to congratulate her. It’s now been about four months and I still haven’t seen her suck her thumb at all.
I have no idea how much our experience can generalize to others but I think it really helped having it be her choice and giving tons of positive reinforcement, and the bitter polish was super effective (we got the ella and mila polish from Target).
CCLA says
We had success with the nipit. Older kid we just did the polish for a weekend and worked like a charm when she was about 3. Younger kid was blistering and needed to stop earlier so used the nipit around age 2…I don’t recall what age the nipit works through but if it would fit your kid I highly recommend!
EDAnon says
My son stopped by himself during the day or we would have stopped him. He still does it at night (5yo) and I am not trying to stop him. Once he does sleepovers and such, I think it’ll naturally stop itself.
We had success with our littler one using AwayEmily’s technique for a pacifier. We told him it was his choice and that bid kids don’t use them. One day, he asked not to have it anymore. He asked for it once or twice after that (which we gave him) and then he stopped on his own. I think letting him decide (and giving him months of freedom to decide) helped a lot.
Anonymous says
You are smart to understand that the nighttime sucking is a habit, and it may not even be something he’s doing consciously. Some kids who want to stop will manage to fall asleep without their thumb in their mouth and then stick it in after they fall asleep. Bitter polish or some other way to interrupt the habit is your best bet.
Unlike other commenters, I would NOT emphasize free choice or initiative. If it’s an ingrained habit, his motivation and initiative are largely irrelevant, and he will feel badly about himself if he isn’t able simply to will himself to stop. I’d just tell him it’s time to break the habit of sucking his thumb at night, which he probably does automatically without even realizing it, and the bitter polish or Aeroguard or whatever you choose will help him to keep his thumb out of his mouth until the habit is gone.
AwayEmily says
Maybe I wasn’t clear — I think the free choice is best when combined with a tool to help it succeed. My 5yo understood that when she was ready, that’s when we would use the nail polish (and level up to other interventions if that didn’t work). What I wasn’t willing to do was force her to put the nail polish on before she was ready.
Anonymous says
Nighttime is tricky because they can put in their thumb without even realizing it. We used a sock over the hand until they were ready to stop. Adult sized sock worked best. Started with an elastic around the wrist over the sock to make it harder to pull off while asleep. Finished with sleeping with a sock under his pillow for a few nights in case he woke with it in his mouth or in case he was tempted before falling asleep. Didn’t try any of the gross tasting nail polishes as my parents used those on me when I was a kid and I just switched to other fingers and eventually knuckles.
FP says
We put a band-aid over his thumb that made him not want to suck at night.
Anonymous says
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
Anonymous says
(crying face emoji)
Anonymous says
I am pretty sure they copied and pasted from our school district’s communications.
Anokha says
I’m supervising remote kindergarten, and this made me literally laugh out loud.
anon says
So good, right down to the mask foragers who are collecting and handing out masks. Though I’ll note that our local mask foragers are highly ambitious, with multiple people reporting that they have 2,000-5,000 N95s/KN95s stashed on their dining room tables for distribution to teachers whenever we stop having fake snow days.
(It snowed four days ago and the roads have been clear for two days, but schools are still closed and aren’t expected to open tomorrow.)
Anonymous says
We must be in the same county. Ordinarily I would be extremely annoyed by the school closures, but I am currently grateful that what seems to be one tiny patch of ice in the shade under one tree in one remote corner of the county is giving the district an excuse to cancel school. Now if we can just find them a way to stay closed for the next two or three weeks without admitting it’s because of COVID, we’ll be all set.
anon says
NoVA? I’ve been wondering why your schools are still closed since over here on the other side of DC (where we did only get 9″ of snow on Monday) roads have been totally fine since Tues afternoon.
anon says
Yes, it’s a snowmicron closure. We can’t close for covid because of SB 1303, so we’re closed for “snow.”
also in VA says
Wait, what? SB 1303 outright prohibits COVID-related closures? What happens when there are too many staff out sick to keep school open?
anon says
There is an exception in SB1303 for “critical staff capacity” but it’s on a school-by-school basis and it does seem our district actually did that math. They also didn’t move to virtual, but just closed the whole district using a snow day.
anon says
*doesn’t seem*
also in VA says
Gaaaah. Combine that with the end of school mask mandates on January 15, and we’re doomed. Maybe it’s time to seriously consider formal homeschooling, although that would probably kill me.
Ack in VA says
Wait, what? Is VA really ending mask mandates in schools on 1/15??
Anonymous says
Youngkin is still insisting that he’ll rescind the executive order requiring masks. If your school board imposes its own mask mandate you may be OK, but I’m in the county that inspired Northam to impose a statewide order so there’s no hope of a local mandate. Most of our school board is anti-mask, and right-wing militia members caused a disturbance at the school board meeting where a mask mandate was being discussed.
Anonymous says
I love this so much. “There are no robots.”
Anonymous says
We are in one of the VA counties with snowmicron closures this week (love the term!). Here is what we have heard today from various sources about a return-to-school date.
– District snow day announcement: Going back tomorrow, unless it snows again overnight. (Note: At least three or four snowflakes are in the forecast for one end of the county, so another snow day seems like a good bet.)
– Local school admin announcement on unrelated topic: When students return to school next week…
– Teacher: Posted materials for next class 1/13.
Who the heck knows.
Anonymous says
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.
EDAnon says
I am SOO sorry. I am sure.I will join you in that boat soon.
Anonymous says
Yep, just got that phone call. Kiddo is <2, so the classroom is closed through the end of next week.
anone says
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?
Boston Legal Eagle says
When we went on a trip last August, we got blow up mattresses for our kids (then almost 3 and 5) with little air rails that went up the sides (will link in reply). My younger one was and still is in a crib at home. They shared a room then. It was fine, they slept ok and no one got out or fell out.
Boston Legal Eagle says
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LWQMM4V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Anon says
We have this bed too and my toddler loves it. After using it on vacation he then refused to sleep in his crib at home anymore.
Anon says
We have this air bed and use it in situations where there is no bed for kiddo (e.g., my parents’ apartment). My kid likes it. But I don’t find it very practical to take on vacation. It’s only slightly less bulky than a PNP.
Anon says
I only have one kid so can’t comment on the room sharing issue, but my almost 4 year old is still in a crib at home but on vacation she sleeps in a normal bed, sometimes with us and sometimes without depending on what’s available. If she’s alone in the bed we build a pillow wall to prevent rolling out. She did fall out of a bed once on vacation, when she was almost 3, but it wasn’t a very high bed and she was fine even though she hit a marble (!) floor. I don’t think she really needs the pillow wall anymore but after that experience, she and we are extra cautious.
Ashley says
No experience with room sharing but we bought these inflatable bed rails for vacations that are very easy to blow up with a hair dryer on cool setting. With those, I doubt your 3yo would fall out.
Allie says
We bring inflatable bumpers on vacation for our older one. Seems to do the trick. We bring an inflatable camping pad (rolls up tiny) for our toddler and have her sleep in the same room as the big kid but on the floor on a camping pad and folded up blanket – she loves it!
anone says
You guys are the best!! These are so helpful to know. Are these inflatable things easy to pack?
CCLA says
Yes! We use the hiccapop ones and they come in a drawstring bag and collapse to fairly small. Also, another point of anecdata, our kids room-shared for the first time on vacation when they were 1.5/3.5, and it went fine. We brought the white noise machine they are both used to which I think helped.
EDAnon says
My kids have shared on trips even when they didn’t share at home. We just tell them its the only option. The older one doesn’t always love it, but it’s ended up fine. They share a bed for one trip and they’re just used to it now.
Spirograph says
My kids share a room even at home, but I’d give a resounding yes to sharing on vacation. Mine normally sleep in their own beds, but the boys had to share a queen or king in a few hotels/air bnbs recently. Any change in sleeping arrangements = excitement and stay up a little too late the first night (or two), but it will be fine.
FWIW, my youngest was in a twin bed starting when he was newly 3 and we never used rails. He’s fallen off a couple (literally two that I can remember) of times in the past few years, but unless you know he’s a very active sleeper, I wouldn’t worry about it. I always check to make sure there’s nothing that would hurt to fall on, and maybe put an extra blanket or pillow on the floor if the bed is high on a hard floor.
OP says
Thank you! Do you put anyhting between them if they have to share a queen bed? They both roll around quite a bit in their own beds..
Spirograph says
My problem isn’t with them rolling into each other and waking each other up, it’s with them staying up giggling, or if they’re in bad moods, complaining “he’s on MY side!” “he took my stuffie!” “his foot is cold!” So in that case yes, a pillow wall goes in between. They do roll around a bit, but if they wake each other up once they’re asleep, they don’t wake *me* up to tell me about it. I usually found them adorably snuggled up together in the morning.
Anon says
To give the opposite opinion, mine share a room at home and on vacation and that’s totally fine, but they’re horrible at sharing a bed with each other. We can sometimes make it work by putting them in different beds initially and then moving one once they fall asleep, but they inevitably wake each other up overnight or super early and everyone ends up exhausted. We’ll put one on the floor in a sleeping bag rather than share, at this point.
DLC says
Sometimes when we go on vacation we get the most sleep when each parent sleeps with one kid. Not the most romantic, but often the most practical for us.
+1 to Floor and sleeping bag being a good option too.
Anonymous says
If you’re really worried about falling you can either use s pillow under the sheet as a bed rail or make a nest on the floor, which is how one of my kids chose to sleep on vacation for years. If it’s the first time out of a crib I would anticipate some trouble falling asleep. they are sharing a room and don’t usually, I would expect quite early wake ups. Ours don’t share at home – on vacation when they first start waking up, instead of rolling over and going back to sleep like they do at home, the immediately start playing /shrieking (2.5 and 5.5).
Anonymous says
Maybe I’m on the wrong board here for my income level but are there families where the kids don’t share a room on vacation? I grew up whole family sharing a room on vacation and it’s only with the rise of Airbnb’s that we can afford even two bedrooms!! And we are solidly upper middle class.
Anon says
I think it’s not uncommon for each parent to take one kid, as someone mentioned above.
I earn a lot less than many here, but with Airbnbs we always try to do one bedroom per person. We – especially me – really like having our own space and there usually isn’t a huge cost for additional bedrooms (I’ve rented 4 bedroom houses for <$300). Of course in a hotel room, everyone shares one room or you have at most a suite with one bedroom and a separate living area so in a family of 4 you would have two people in each room.
Anonymous says
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!
NYCer says
Target online usually has a broad range of swim suits for kids.
Anonymous says
The Target suits fade and pill very quickly.
NYCer says
They also cost like $10-15, so I don’t mind replacing them often. YMMV.
Anonymous says
I can’t deal with having to replace worn-out swimsuits in the middle of the season. All the halfway decent styles are always sold out in most sizes by June.
anon says
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08XH64724/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Anonymous says
Oh I like this! Any idea if this is a “real” company or more of what Amazon has been doing recently (sketchier, low quality overseas brands)?
anon says
My kids both have this and it’s worn well, though I don’t know anything about the company. We got it last year before spring break and they wore the suits all summer and again over Xmas. It’s not great for actual swim lessons or laps, but is great for playing in the sand, running through the sprinkler or doing wet outside activities like kayaking or paddle boarding.
anon says
My kids think the unicorn rainbow cats are hilarious.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QWC1KQV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1
Anon says
I got some great suits for me and my kiddo at Athleta.
Anonymous says
+1 for Athleta Girl. The swimsuits seem to run a little smaller than the clothes.
Anonymous says
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. Their stuff fits her build perfectly.
anon says
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MZZZIVE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1
Anonymous says
swimoutlet . com
anon says
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TF6BN60/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1
Anonymous says
If she wears rashguards for sun protection, at that age the surf brands (Roxy, Billabong) will have better rashguards than Athleta, Lands’ End, etc. The surf rash guards tend to be more fitted so they look more grown-up and don’t float up in the water. My daughter likes to wear the bottoms from a Roxy two-piece with a Roxy rashguard. Sometimes she wears the bikini top under the rashguard as an undergarment.
Anonymous says
OP here. Not for our April beach trip but this will be great for summer between camp and a few weeks at the shore being beaten up by waves.
BlueAlma says
Mott50 has great prints. Don’t know how their girls suits fit.
Anonymous says
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.
Anon says
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.
Anon says
The university I work for doesn’t normally grant unpaid leaves of absence. It’s theoretically possible, but I know multiple people who tried to get one and no one has succeeded. Our daycare closed for 14 days today too. So I just put myself on an unofficial leave of absence – I’ll be checking email and doing what I can during nap time but I’m off the clock at 5 pm even if there’s lots of work to do. They could fire me, but they probably won’t, and even if they fire me I’m no worse off than if I’d quit. I’m done doing the “take care of kids all day, work all night” thing that we did in spring 2020. My mental and physical health still haven’t recovered.
EDAnon says
Smart move.
Anonymous says
If your mental health is poor enough you might explore a FMLA protected medical leave (or state analogue). Multiple people in my depart have taken them for mental health reasons in the last 18 months.
Anon says
I did take a short FMLA leave last winter when things got really bad for me. I don’t think my current situation really justifies FMLA leave, and I think it be very frowned upon to take it twice. (I know they’re not legally permitted to discriminate against protected leave, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.)
EDAnon says
I am wondering about this as an option, too. When you say you gave notice, but you’re on an unpaid leave of absence, is it your and your firm’s expectation that you will return some day? Or at least, it is an option?
Anonymous says
We had an associate quit middle of last year. She was just completely burnt out. She didn’t even have another gig lined up, just was planning to take some time and reassess. We offered for her to instead take an unpaid leave, with an open door to come back in a few months. She declined (which I totally understand) but this was definitely not a formal policy, just something we were trying to make work to keep someone around. I realize we have bigger problems when people are so burnt out that they are quitting (this was not a parent, so the stress was not related to childcare, just a very overworked associate), but FWIW with the labor market the way it is, I wouldn’t be surprised if this were an option that many places would consider.
anon says
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.
anon says
Ours had a set threshold that depended on age and it drove my crazy that my kids’ 2yo class wasn’t allowed outside when the 3yo and 4yo classes were.
Anon says
If the “feels like” temperatures is below 25 or above 100 they don’t go out. It’s a licensing rule in our Midwest state. But when they don’t go outside they should have a large motor room they go to and run around in? I know it’s not quite the same but still plenty of running/jumping/unstructured play etc.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Yes, when the kids can’t go outside at daycare at ours, they do an indoor gross motor room – it should be all free play for that, so it’s not 9+ hours of structured activities and storytime for indoor days.
Mary Moo Cow says
Ours was 32 degrees, which I think is the same in elementary school. It also depends on the condition of the playground, tho, so if it is 34 but there’s still snow on the ground, they might not go out. I suspect it is also regional; I’m in the SEUS, so lots of us don’t have snow gear so the whole class stays inside if kids aren’t dressed appropriately.
I know this might be unreasonable in daylight savings time, but can you get him out in the morning? We have a run club at school that meets at 7:30 and I drag my daughters a few times a week to run/walk a mile before school. DH had a basketball goal in the driveway and shot baskets for 15 minutes everyday from elementary to high school. An indoor trampoline or inflatable bounce house and let him play for 15 minutes in the am and right when you get home?
Anonymous says
Yes, in MA the department that oversees child stuff (EEC then DESE) has a chart. It’s a combo of temp + windchill. Something like low 20s-mid30s depending on windchill.
Anonymous says
I’m in WI. State licensing requirements say that young toddlers can play outside unless the windchill is below 20 or the heat index is over 85. There’s a little more flexibility for older toddlers/preschoolers – I think they can play outside if the heat index is under 90? I know they get more flexibility on the colder end, too, maybe as long as the windchill is above 0? Our daycare can’t use the multipurpose activity space due to Covid, but there’s enough space in most of the classrooms to move climbing equipment around from room to room.
Anon says
We’re in IL elementary schools. The kids go outside above a wind chill of 0, or below heat index of 100. In the before times, that meant they were in the gym outside of those temps. Now that means they’re “supervised” in their classroom, which severely impacts their movement.
We talked to our after school care provider and asked if they could incorporate movement on those days, just to help with behavior. So on “indoor recess days” I know at after care they’ll do big physical movements like dance videos and musical chairs or whatever. It doesn’t help with the school day, but it helps a bit at night.
Anon says
does anyone have a thermometer recommendation? i think we need a new one
EDAnon says
We buy the 8 second one from Walgreens (maybe Vicks brand?). We have to replace the battery more often that a regular thermometer, but it works well.
Anonymous says
Our Vicks thermometers eat batteries too! Glad to know it is not just me.
anon says
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.
anon says
If they’re recently vaccinated (aka not 12-16yos who aren’t boosted yet) and you have a good mask, that should be okay.
Anonymous says
Apply common sense based on what you know of your situation. In your shoes, I’d be pretty sure I’d already exposed the people in my household, and wouldn’t be concerned about staying strictly isolated from them for an additional 10 days.
Anon says
I think best practice is yes, for you to isolate in a bedroom with access to a bathroom and have your spouse/partner bring you meals. Try as much as you can to make this happen.
In reality, my spouse is gone for work several days a week (and he is not allowed to call out/ use sick time if he’s not positive himself) so I was not able to do that and just treated it as the kids and I were isolating together in the house. Not sure what other options exist, when your family is exposed so can’t go anywhere else.
TheElms says
I thought the new guidance was if you are Covid positive and asymptomatic isolate for 5 days, test, mask for 5 days. If you are symptomatic, isolate until fever free for 24 hours, test, then mask 5 days, if you have persistent symptoms isolate for 10 days. Not sure what happens if the tests come back positive, but I think you have to isolate for the full 10 days. If you don’t isolate then they are exposed to you and their quarantine will effectively restart every day they are exposed to you.
Spirograph says
I don’t think the tests accomplish anything if you already knew you were positive… PCR stays positive for a long time, and rapid tests have a significant false negative rate. My understanding is
– Exposed and asymptomatic: If you’re vaccinated, you don’t need to do anything other than mask. Unvaccinated, you should quarantine then test after 5 days.
– Symptomatic, irrespective of known exposure: Isolate and test. Positive test, you stay isolated but if your symptoms are gone or “resolving” after 5 days from the date symptoms started you can go out, just wear a mask. Negative test you should probably still keep whatever-those-germs-are to yourself, but there’s no specific guidance.
– Positive but asymptomatic: Isolate 5 days from date of positive test, then wear a mask for at least another 5 days.
I believe the thinking is you’re most contagious in the couple days before symptoms develop and immediately afterward, so the long tail of isolating doesn’t accomplish much from a public health standpoint. OP, you didn’t mention whether you have symptoms… Your family was certainly exposed before you knew you were positive. You could wear a mask around them if you want, but it’s a bit of closing the barn door after the horse has left.
Spirograph says
I guess I’ll add that I see the “isolate” guidance as more of a “stay home so you don’t infect anyone new” thing, and not relevant to members of your household. It seems a total crapshoot: I have friends where it spread within their household despite attempts at isolating, and others who didn’t even try but no one else caught it.
anon says
OP here. I have a cough, runny nose, and fatigue. If omicron weren’t out of control, I wouldn’t have thought much of it. But here we are. Agree that I will stay away from the family as much as I can in the next five days, but they’ve certainly been exposed already!
NYCer says
FWIW, my boss’s vaccinated son tested positive before Christmas and no one else in the family caught it. He has his own room and bathroom, but my boss said they didn’t strictly isolate him or wear masks 100% of the time. No one else in the family (vaccinated/boosted parents and vaccinated sibling) tested positive. So there is hope for the rest of your family!
Their family agreed that it was impractical to live in the same house and stay completely isolated from each other over the holidays.
NYCer says
Adding one more good news anecdote for you… A friend’s toddler tested positive around the same time (pre-Christmas), and no one else in the family has tested positive there either (including an unvaccinated <1 year old sibling, who they did try to keep separate to the extent possible).
Anonymous says
FWIW, my husband and I both had breakthrough covid cases a couple weeks ago. Our kids were all fully vaccinated as of mid-Dec and didn’t get it (negative PCR tests earlier this week), even though we spent 10 hours in a car with them when we both had symptoms. We didn’t attempt to isolate within our house, either.
I hope you feel better and your kids are as immune as mine are!
Anon says
FWIW the epidemiologist who advises our Firm told us that basically if someone in your household has it, you’re going to get it (not like earlier in the pandemic) so whatever you do, it’s likely you’ll end up with the same outcome.
Anon says
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.
Anon says
this is me too! our nanny actually just had covid, so i am wondering if my kids do test positive or get exposed at school, can i still have our nanny come? bc while i know you can get covid again, don’t you have immunity for a bit? this is just all so exhausting. and yes i understand that employers want to return to business as usual, but there is still no vaccine for kids under 5 so covid exposures are very very disruptive!
Anon says
My daughter is turning 4 next month and the milestone of spending half her life in a pandemic is hitting me very hard. She’s never had or been to a birthday party, never done extracurriculars, never had an indoor play date, never met her “cousin” (my best friend’s kid) who just turned 2, hasn’t seen most of my husband’s extended family since she was an infant, etc. It’s all so hard and awful. And it feels like there isn’t an end in sight, particularly with regard to the school closures. Our daycare doesn’t allow vaccinated people to avoid quarantine (half her pre-K class is now fully vaccinated) so I don’t know when this ends. Hopefully things will be better in 2023 when she starts kindergarten because the public schools seem less strict about quarantines, but who knows what awful variant will exist by then. We are doing so much damage to an entire generation of kids and it’s just heartbreaking.
Anonymous says
Mine turns 4 in June. She’s my youngest so I know all the stuff she’s missed. But also…in the past 2 years we have still done bday parties, swim lessons (summer, outside) , gymnastics (masked) and (masked) dance class. She goes to part time preschool.
Also, yes, there are things she’s lost but there are also things she’s gotten that my other kids did not. DH and I WFH full time, and we are home a LOT more. DH used to leave the house at 7am. Now he walks her to preschool every day and comes back in time for his 8:30 stand up.
I used to pick the kids up at daycare at 5:30. Now I log off at 4 and we hang.
With fewer extra curriculars my older kids are home more and play with my youngest- a lot. Last year they were hybrid and home 3x/week.
Is it great for work? No. But it has been pretty good for our family.
Anon says
We live in a red state and there are literally no activities for kids here that require masks. If you have that option, consider yourself lucky because it’s definitely not the norm in most of the country. We will probably start activities with no masks this spring, but only because we will have all already caught Omicron in daycare. All the rest of the stuff is not within our control. My child has never been invited to a birthday party and I’m very confident if we had one no one would come (because of Covid, not because they hate my kid). We have asked people on playdates but no one wants to meet indoors. We offered to fly to my best friend last summer when numbers were low, but she wasn’t comfortable seeing us because of the risks of us getting exposed on the plane. She has a seriously immunocompromised family member (elderly parent going through chemo) so I fully understand and support her reasoning, but it still sucks.
Anon says
Eh I live in a red state and there are plenty of masked dance, art, etc. classes that I have seen in my blue city. It may be worth a look if you have bandwidth or can offload it. Also plenty of unmasked activities indoor which…I don’t get. We cancelled a cooking class that my older son was going to do because they weren’t requiring masks.
Anon says
There’s nothing. Trust me, I’ve searched high and low. I even politely asked some local businesses if they would consider adding a mask-required class and they all said no, citing lack of demand. The only reason the schools here require masks is because state health department rules would have everyone having to quarantine constantly if there were no masks.
Anonymous says
My red state/blue city doesn’t even have any fitness classes for adults that require masks to be worn for the duration of the class, and certainly not for kids (even when we had a statewide mask mandate, it exempted children under 8). I thought for anything athletic the norm was to permit people to remove the masks during exercise? Many local places, including the yoga studio I used to go to, require you to wear a mask when you’re not on your yoga mat or whatever, but that’s basically worthless with an airborne virus.
Anonymous says
Do you have parks? Playgrounds? Outdoor pools? I have relatives in a deep red town in a red state and when I visited I saw plenty of COVID safe outdoor activities for young kids.
Anon says
Yes, we have parks and playgrounds and outdoor pools. I never said we didn’t. But these things aren’t available/aren’t as fun to use in the winter and also don’t have the social and developmental benefits of a structured class with peers.
Anon4This says
Wow, I have a recently turned 4-year-old and 1-year-old and I haven’t thought about any of this too deeply because it is…tough. I know everyone’s situation is different, but is there some additional risk you can take? Understand if not, and the thought alone is exhausting.
Again, caveat that while I’m cautious, I’m less covid-cautious than others here, but my older son has been to birthday parties (mostly outdoor ones), we have mixed indoors with extended family/friends with kids (pre-omnicron, but we did have DH’s side of the family – all 4 vaxxed – visit over the holidays), mix with my vaxxed immediate family regularly, and older son does 2 extracurriculars (one outdoors, one well-ventilated/windows open). We haven’t dealt with school/class closures since 2020 but I know it’s only a matter of time. I don’t take either kid on errands indoors, which I limit anyway due to how good delivery/curbside has gotten. I’m hoping by 2023 it is more of an endemic virus, which it seems like is possible.
Anon says
I hear you. Your kids can go to the grocery store, to extracurriculars, and to playdates. It’s all a game of risk and benefit. There’s a risk to taking your kid to the grocery store and there’s a risk of isolating indefinitely. It’s all hard.
Anon says
I’m just tired of playing the risk/reward game at this point. I should be able to send my kid to preschool and have her see my 70+ year old high-risk mom that weekend without worry. I should be able to take my kids to the grocery store without fear that it’s going to impact my ability to have childcare for the next two weeks so I can work. I’m so tired of it all by now. 50% of my motherhood experience has been in a pandemic (including a second pregnancy and birth). I’m done. Limit reached.
Anonymous says
Clearly the poster knows they CAN and has made risk calculations for her family that lead them to not do these things. It’s not like people haven’t thought things through at this point.
Anon says
I’m the Anon at 12:55 and the lack of extracurriculars is admittedly our choice, and if we lived in a state where there were kids’ activities that required masks we’d likely make a different one. But a lot of the lack of normalcy in our lives, including the lack of playdates, birthday parties and seeing my best friend’s kid are all driven by other people’s decisions. We run in cautious Covid circles and I can’t force other people to socialize with us indoors if they’re not comfortable. So it’s really not as simple as just “move on and do this stuff.”
Anonymous says
I hear you. I look at the numbers on Polio (which are disquietingly close to what we see for Covid in terms of death rates and “Long Covid” and Post-Polio syndrome, basically we regard Polio as so bad for what might be called Long Polio today, which only affected a small percentage but affected them so bad that we look back on Polio as a horrendous disease, even though it was usually mild in 95% of cases). And I look at the high rate of long-term health complications in SARS and MERS survivors, which we have no reason to believe will be that different for Covid survivors. And I just cannot believe how this pandemic has been mishandled by our leaders, from the local level all the way to both White House administrations. Just an utter catastrophe through nearly the entire course of the pandemic, and it is most apparent when looking at how young children and their mothers have been the absolute lowest priority for every policy decision or lack thereof. Our patriarchal geriatric “leadership” can just [redacted swear words continue for several minutes].
Anon says
I’m anon at 1:18 and just want to say i’m sorry, i should have kept my mouth shut, even though everyone has been really nice! It’s easy to forget that so many different parts of the country and even just different groups of people do things so differently, that we could live 25 miles from each other in different towns and have completely different experiences. My apologies! Everything really does stink.
Anon says
I’m not the OP but a similar experience to the OP and appreciate this!
Anonymous says
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.
Anon says
There’s a difference between being infectED and infectIOUS. Michael Mina is a Covid test expert I follow on Twitter and he’s confident that if you’re infectious and able to spread it, you will test positive on a rapid test, which is what really matters. He has shared several reassuring studies about this. My understanding is that it’s less to do with the Omicron variant and more to do with the fact that so many people are vaccinated now, because apparently it’s more common for vaccinated people to develop symptoms before they become infectious (the symptoms are not actually caused by the virus but by your body’s immune response to it, which kicks in faster when you have the immune of a vaccine).
Anonymous says
Michael Mina and many others, including Maine’s CDC Dr Shah, are recommending a throat swab with the rapid tests. It seems to better catch Omicron, with nasal tests missing many cases. I think this is important, as I’m usually using rapid tests to see elderly family members for a meal and if the throat swab is positive, I think that could mean you are infectious if you are eating and chatting with someone in close quarters even if the nasal test is negative (because talking without a mask is going to spread from your throat).
Anon says
Yes, my husband took a test today because he had a sore throat and I told him to swab his throat as well as his nostrils. Test was negative and we have no reason to think he’s been exposed, so hopefully he’s fine.
Anonymous says
This is the opposite of our experience. At home test caught a symptomatic breakthrough case (Omicron probably, based on headache as first symptom) in my 6 yo but the PCR 14 hours later (the day she was throwing up) came back negative.
And that’s what I’ve heard from several other people as well. (Though none of them had PCRs within 24 hours of home tests like we did).
Anon says
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.
Anonymous says
Is your crib mattress one of those two-sided ones with a super firm side for infants and a softer side for toddlers?
At nearly 4 I wouldn’t waste money on a new crib mattress. I’d go directly to a real bed.
Anon says
No, I’m pretty sure it only has one side. I was looking at two sided ones but the reviews seemed mixed about whether there’s a real difference between the two sides.
Her room is small and we want to postpone a big bed for as long as we can. It seems like we can get a new mattress for <$100 and that's worth it to me even if it only buys us a few more months – and I think it might be quite a bit more than that since she's nowhere near exceeding the length of the crib and doesn't seem to have any issues with it except the allegedly hard mattress.
Anonymous says
We also had a tiny kid in a tiny room and elected to move her to a twin bed. The bed didn’t take up that much more room than the crib, and you are going to have to put a bed in there within the next year or so anyway. No kindergartener is going to put up with sleeping in a crib.
OP says
She’s actually not tiny, she’s pretty tall but still seems comfortable in the crib and is nowhere near 52″, the length of the crib. I was hoping we could make it until kindergarten and get a loft bed with a desk setup underneath for homework. There is room for a twin bed, but there’s really not room for a twin bed and a desk and I want to avoid buying a twin bed that only gets used for a year or two and then has to be replaced by a loft bed so we have space for her to do homework in elementary school. I know the AAP says no loft bed before age 6, but my kid is cautious and I think we’ll likely be perfectly comfortable with sometime around age 5 and definitely before the start of K at 5.5. I don’t think it would be safe currently, however.
Anonymous says
I am here to tell you my kindergartener slept in a converted crib, so toddler bed. NYC apartment + cheap parents = we put it off as long as possible.
Bette says
I am also frugal and I think i’d buy a twin mattress and let her sleep on the mattress on the floor until you are ready for the loft bed.
Anonymous says
What Bette said. Buy the mattress for the loft (twin or full) and put it on the floor until you’re ready for the loft.
OP says
Alright you all convinced me. I ordered a twin mattress and a cheap bed frame.
Anonymous says
My oldest is in third grade and is nowhere near ready to do homework in his room. He does all of his homework at the kitchen table, and even then he needs lots of prodding to stay on task. He does read in his room, but sits on his bed for that. My kindergartener does not have any mandatory homework.
One stop gap alternative is to buy a twin mattress and put it on the floor. You could use that when you buy a loft bed.
Anon says
The dining room is my “office” so it will not be a homework space. With two adults working permanently from home (stupid pandemic) there really aren’t any public areas of our house up for grabs and our kid will need to complete any homework in her bedroom. Point taken that there may not be much homework for a few more years, although I know it is technically mandatory beginning in K in our school district. We may opt out though, I’m a big believer that homework has little to no value until upper elementary school.
TheElms says
We have this and the sides are definitely different. https://www.amazon.com/Moonlight-Slumber-Mattress-Dreamer-Standard/dp/B08ZB8WHC5/ref=dp_prsubs_1?pd_rd_i=B08ZB8WHC5&psc=1
But what about buying a foam egg crate style twin mattress topper and just cutting it to size? That seems a lot cheaper.
Anon says
You can probably get a twin sized foam topper and cut it down to size.
Anon says
I am in awe of your witchcraft. You could try folding a twin-size down comforter (or kid sleeping bag?) and putting it under a fitted sheet. Or I think some of those waterproof covers are quilted which may add more cushion. I expect it will be difficult to find that soft of a crib mattress due to safe sleep guidelines, but a foam topper may be your best bet. There was very little difference in the two sides of the crib mattress we had (colgate eco classica IIRC).
Signed, my now 4YO catapulted herself out of the crib at 17 months like an acrobatic flying monkey, took the side off to make a toddler bed the next day due to aforementioned acrobatics and moved to a queen in her big girl room at 2.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Totally not witchcraft – one of my kids was climbing out of his crib by age 2 and the other has never attempted to climb out and will likely happily stay in there until past 4 (we’ll probably move him out earlier though).
Anonymous says
Oh yeah, my son never once tried to climb out, and in fact, once we converted his crib to a toddler bed around age 3 or 4, he still yelled at us to come get him out of bed every morning for a solid 6 months. He’s possibly a bit lazy, but we love him.
Anonymous says
I am similarly amazed by people who can keep kids in their cribs once they can climb. Ours was climbing out at 18 months. We tried one of those mesh tents and she literally ripped through it like a baby Incredible Hulk. She was in a twin bed at 2. She never got out of bed, presumably because that wasn’t as much fun as climbing out of a crib.
OP says
Oh we took one side off it right after she turned 2, so she can get in and out herself.
anon says
We switched to a twin bed when my preschooler started waking up because she found her mattress uncomfortable. I wouldn’t invest in a new crib mattress or even a topper for a 4 yo. Just get them a real bed.
Ugh Covid says
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.
Anon says
I would go for misery reduction and not try to isolate within your household. So sorry.
Spirograph says
This. I’m sorry. Covid does suck, but isolating within your household seems like it would make it suck more.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Ugh sorry. That sucks. Caveat that my kids are 3 and 5, with the older one vaxxed, even if they weren’t, but I still think I wouldn’t try to separate them if one was positive. I would have parents switch off watching the kids, ala spring 2020, while the other one works, and do the best you can. Maybe the older can wear a mask and try to separate where they eat meals? I hope for negative tests for you!!
Anonymous says
I posted above about my LO getting sent home from daycare today because her teacher tested positive. DH and I decided last weekend that we would go for the misery reduction approach and try to get it over with sooner. Plus, while our bosses are pretty understanding about the situation, there is no way we could both isolate and get any work done.
Anonymous says
I would not consider exposing the whole family to be the misery reduction approach. I have posted before that 14 people in my extended family, including 10 vaxxed and boosted adults, caught COVID over the holidays. Several of the adults have severe symptoms, including brain fog, that make it impossible for them to work remotely. I’d much rather deal with a kid bothering me for a few days than catch COVID and have to deal with the symptoms plus (potentially sick) kids for who knows how long.
Anon says
But I think the odds that isolation would prevent family members from sharing it are very, very low. Covid ripped through my extended family over the holidays too and every single person got it, despite lots of attempts at keeping the sick people isolated and everyone being vaccinated + boosted. So to me it just seems like a lot of effort for (likely) no reward.
Anonymous says
+1, that’s our thought process. We might decide differently if my kid was older, but we can’t just leave a 16-mo alone in a room with the TV on and some toys…
anon says
I have 4yo twins (so not vaccinated) and when one was exposed at school before Christmas we did not attempt to isolate them and figured they were both doomed and having them able to play with each other while quarantined was the better solution. (Turns out that the other twin was also exposed at the same time, we just didn’t get notified until a week later.)
Friends with 2 unvax’d kids didn’t separate them when one was exposed at preschool but did once the kid tested positive and the younger kid didn’t get it in the end.
Anonymous says
My youngest (3) is home in quarantine as of last night. My older two get their second shot today. We aren’t bothering to separate them.
Anonymous says
Posting late but if it helps, my kids have been exposed in daycare maybe 5 times at this point (including at least one during omicron) and have yet to catch COVID. You may not even have to worry about this, although it’s good you’re thinking it through before you have to.
TheElms says
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.
Boston Legal Eagle says
I wouldn’t drive that long at that pregnant even in non-Covid times! For this scenario, it wouldn’t really matter where the meeting was held, I wouldn’t go in the next few weeks at heavily pregnant. Why does it need to be in person? Can you zoom in?
Anon says
No, and no, my answer wouldn’t change based on whether participants travel. Omicron is everywhere now and the biggest risk is being in a meeting with people who may not be masked, not any travel to and from the meeting.
AwayEmily says
I would not. Like we’ve discussed before, even setting aside the actual medical risk, there are just so many logistical issues that crop up with late pregnancy and a positive COVID test (especially since you have another kid that will need childcare during the birth) that I think it’s not worth it.
Spirograph says
Yes, I’d go. From a health standpoint I’d be OK with either driving myself or having people come to me, but I’d rather not drive 4 hours round trip in 3rd trimester, pandemic or no. I’d plan on wearing a (K)N-95 mask and glaring at anyone who dared give me side-eye about it.
anonamama says
No in general, but IF career implications; then yes to meeting in your town, agree only if others are socially distanced, wearing mask and you wear KN95/N95 mask. I would be firm about the conditions ahead of time before agreeing. As said above, Omicron does not care if you’re vaxxed – and you’re so close to finish line. good luck!
Anonymous says
I’d beg my doctor for any kind of orders/note that would get me out of it. Sorry, boss! I am SO disappointed that my doctor has ordered me to stay home for the next six weeks so I won’t have a positive test at delivery. I hate to have to miss the meeting–I was REALLY looking forward to it.
Anon says
Agree with this. My friend is stuck in the hospital for a couple of weeks before delivering her second and their doctor advised to keep their other kid out of preschool bc the risk to kid being exposed/testing positive is so high and then DH can’t be with mom at what is going fi be a slightly high risk delivery with a baby then in the nicu. I also have multiple friends who in non Covid times with regular pregnancies who delivered while on business trips and got stuck at their location and another friend who recently delivered early and her husband couldn’t make the delivery bc he was on a business trip
TheElms says
Clearly the in-person meeting is not my choice. If it were up to me it would be a zoom. I’m hoping one of the senior folks calling the meeting will see sense in the next few days and I won’t need to say anything. I don’t see a benefit to voicing my concerns until I know for sure the meeting is happening in person. In the meantime I’ll see if my OB would be willing to put something in writing that I could point to (seems unlikely but can’t hurt to ask). Glad to have the confirmation that I’m not crazy for thinking my attending in person is not the best choice.
Anonymous says
Not at all crazy. I guarantee that you are not the only person, pregnant or not, who is silently hoping that the meeting will be called off. I just cancelled a small conference that was planned for the first week of February and got so many notes from participants expressing relief.
anon says
Just did the same thing, and I am so glad we made the change. It is not worth it at this point.