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Updated: Nov 1, 2018 87 Comments · by

Family Friday: Foogo Insulated Stainless Steel 10-Ounce Food Jar

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Thermos Foogo Food JarA couple of weeks ago, my son stopped wanting sandwiches in his lunch, and he never wants to buy lunch at school — so I bought this Thermos container to send him with hot food. I picked it because it has great reviews at Amazon, and it’s worked really well. My son has brought pasta, mini pancakes, and rice & beans to school so far, and all of them have stayed warm. (It’s supposed to keep food warm for five hours, and he eats his lunch about four hours after I pack it. Before I put the food in, I boil water and put it in the container to warm it up.) It’s small enough to fit in his lunch bag, and it’s dishwasher safe. There are several colors and designs, ranging from $12.84 to $17.99, and it’s eligible for Prime. (Thermos also makes Foogo straw bottles and sippy cups). Thermos Foogo Insulated Stainless Steel 10-Ounce Food Jar 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!)

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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About Kate Antoniades

Editor of Corporette/CorporetteMoms since 2014, Kate lives in Rochester, NY, and has one son (born in 2010). A cat person and Oxford comma loyalist, she loves Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food and her Vejas.

Comments

  1. Redux says

    Is anyone planning a cute leprechaun trick for tomorrow? I am not interested in getting all pinteresty, but my 4 year old loves “tricks” and would probably get a kick out of something simple. Ideas?

    • Anonymous says

      Leprechaun pees in the toliet and forgot to flush? (few drop of green food coloring in the toliet)

    • Anonymous says

      Wait this is a thing? Since when? What fresh h3ll is this?!? I’m jealous of my mom who didn’t have to deal with all this nonsense.

      • Redux says

        Haha, sorry! I am a firm Never Will Elf On A Shelf Enter This House kind of parent, so maybe this is a slippery slope that I should avoid!

        • Anonymous says

          You do you! I just feel like every time Ive got this momming thing down Pinterest comes up with another thing my kids are going to be like “but at stay at home mom susie’s House leprechauns play tricks!”

          Totally minor, not actually mad :)

        • Anonymous says

          I would avoid.

          I posted about the green food dye – they do that one at my kid’s daycare. But at home we are firmly no Elf on the shelf and no other holidays shenangians. If you do it this year, kid will definitely ask about it if nothing happens next year.

          • HSAL says

            Yeah, I’m with you (though I did think the pee thing was kind of cute). My sisters-in-law both stay at home and go all out for every holiday. One family does a leprechaun thing where they leave coins and silly string around the house and I’m just like no. no. no. Last year my nieces had to stay with my parents because my brother and SIL were out of town on St. Patrick’s Day, and my mom had to do it all because obviously the leprechaun wouldn’t skip them this year! Avoid avoid avoid.

      • Rainbow Hair says

        Word! The leprechaun tracked glitter throughout the preschool, and though I think of myself as pretty chill about messes, that’s a step too far.

    • Anonymous says

      Gather green things – e.g. toys – and leave in your child’s shoes.

    • mascot says

      We live in city that makes a major deal out of St. Pats so naturally kids get into as well. My kid made a leprechaun trap at school and will set it out tonight. We got him a little bucket with some gold coins in it. The leprechaun also leaves him a message written in Lucky Charms on the table. You could also leave a tiny scrap of green fabric or green glitter to show that the leprechaun had gotten away.
      The funny part is, I am super anti-elf on the shelf because I don’t have time or energy to move a doll that I find creepy for weeks on end. Yet, I’m totally cool with pretending that a cranky, drunken gnome came scampering through my house.

    • shortperson says

      i am unreasonably annoyed by the st patricks day celebrations at my kids’ daycare. leprechaun hunt, party, etc. we are jewish so how do i explain this holiday to my kid? the school just doesnt have that many kids of irish descent. it is 60%+ chinese and they do way more for st patricks day than for chinese new year or mid autumn festival.

  2. Anon says

    Preschool etiquette question.

    My 4-year-old son’s best friend is preschool is “Jack.” He very much wants “Jack” to come over to play at our house some weekend. I’ve never met “Jack’s” parents because they’re on a different drop-off and pick-up schedule than I am, so I left them a note in “Jack’s” cubby, expressing my son’s love of “Jack” and his invitation to play. I left my contact info so we could arrange something.

    Two weeks later … nothing. Everyday the two of them run up to me when I’m there picking up my son and asking when “Jack” can come over and play. I’m not sure what to do here. Do I leave another note? Should I assume Jack’s parents aren’t interested and leave it alone?

    • Betty says

      In our house, it is so easy to loose track of all the papers flying around. I wouldn’t assume that they received it and are not interested. Can you ask the preschool to help facilitate the exchange of contact information? Our public pre-K would not hand over another parent’s contact info, but would happily send a note home to the other parents (in the school folder) with my contact information. I would try reaching out a second time.

    • J says

      I wouldn’t assume that. I’d assume they’re busy working parents who have very good intentions, but that your note got put in a pile with all the other papers that come home from preschool and forgotten. Maybe not the nicest, but certainly not with bad intentions. I think a friendly follow up would go a long way. Also if you think it would be possible to arrange your schedule to “run into” Jack’s parents, that could help. They might not be overly comfortable taking their four year old to a stranger’s house and leaving him. It could help to meet you. Or maybe you could make a specific invitation that they feel more compelled to respond to? Like next Saturday at 10:00 AM for two hours (or whatever) and then comment that Mom and/or Dad are welcome to stay if desired, but certainly aren’t required. (Unless you do want them to stay!!)

    • NewMomAnon says

      I have definitely forgotten to respond to playdate requests in kiddo’s cubby, and I’ve had parents forget. I don’t take it personally, and I hope they don’t either.

      Can you leave a note that you are going to be at X park/library/restaurant TIME on DATE, and would love it if they would join, here is your phone # if they have a conflict?

    • EB0220 says

      Yep, I agree with Betty and J. It’s probably a case of busy/disorganized. A few things I’ve actually done in this situation:

      – Invited everyone to my kid’s birthday party to get parents’ contact info
      – Waited until a school special event with parents invited and tracked the parents down there
      – Asked the friend to remind his/her parents to contact me if he/she wants a playdate
      – Left a second note in the folder
      – Asked the teacher to make sure that the parents get my contact info

      Sometimes it doesn’t work. I must have tried 4-5 times to connect with my daughter’s preschool best friend’s parents, but they weren’t interested. I would try a few times before giving up!

  3. Anonymous says

    My working mom did green food dye in our morning cereal milk or oatmeal. Easy and cute! I still remember.

  4. Meg Murry says

    We don’t do anything special for St Patrick’s day, but a friend told me that her kids get a box of Lucky Charms cereal every year “from the leprechaun”. I thought that was a cute and not too difficult to pull off tradition.

  5. Two Cents says

    I loved the post yesterday about the NYC doctor with 4 kids — I echo everyone’s comments that the OP’s level of organization is so impressive and something to strive for!

    Question for the OP – how did you decide to have 4 kids? Was it religiously motivated (Catholic, Orthodox Jew, Mormon, etc.)? Those are the only families I know having more than 3 kids, and all of the moms are SAHMs. I don’t personally know any working mother in a traditional high powered profession like law or medicine who have 4 kids (the max is 3, and those are few and far between). Personally I would love to have 3 kids but it seems daunting at times.

    Kudos to you on making it all work and thanks for sharing.

    • GCA says

      Not OP, but my SIL is a doctor who just had her 3rd kid! Both parents work in fairly high-powered jobs, but BIL has a little more schedule flexibility. They made it work via some punishing combination of daycare, sitters and family members. (Also, SIL is Superwoman.)

      • GCA says

        (Two Cents – what I meant to add before I fell down a work-related rabbit hole was that 3 kids is not impossible, but looks like it takes a lot of dedication and a genuinely equal partnership!)

    • NewMomAnon says

      We have three female partners at my large regional law firm who have 4 kids. One of them is on a part-time status, and the other has a spouse in a lower pressure job (or maybe SAHM dad?). I don’t know about the third. As far as I can tell, none are the Orthodox/Catholic/Mormon type of religious, and all are very involved parents. Some of it might be that my firm offers a lot of options for flexibility, and our region tends to support dual-income families pretty well (lots of good daycare options, good backup care options, relatively short commutes into downtown areas, etc).

    • Anonymous says

      Also not the OP but Laura Vanderkam is an author and speaker who writes about time management and she has 4 kids!

  6. Two Cents says

    Do you apply sunscreen on your children in the morning before they head out the door, even in winter? They are mostly indoors but spend at least some time on the playground, outside, etc. I apply sunscreen all year round on myself, but wasn’t sure if I should be doing the same for kids. Kids are young (3 and 5).

    • Mama Llama says

      Nope, not in winter. I figure the little exposure she’s getting is probably good for vitamin D. I’m DC though, so I might think differently if I were somewhere warmer and/or sunnier.

      • OP says

        I’m in DC too! I guess I asked because you always hear that the best thing you can do for your skin is to wear sunscreen, but wasn’t sure when to actually start (I think I only started wearing it in my 20s, but I also have medium brown skin).

      • Anonymous says

        +1 in NYC. He’s not outside for that long, and not that much flesh is exposed.

        • Anon in NYC says

          Same. I feel like I should, but it’s not worth the fight! We fight that battle every day in the summer though.

    • EB0220 says

      Not in winter. Winter is my wonderful vacation from sunscreen application and I won’t let it be taken away! :)

    • Betty says

      Nope. In northern New England, it is statistically not possible to obtain the requisite amount of Vitamin D from sun in the winter. Plus, the only part of my kids that are exposed are chin to forehead.

    • J says

      Same. I won’t put sunscreen anywhere on kiddo without giving her a bath before bed. Her skin seriously cannot handle baths every night in the winter. Of course if it was just her face, we could just wash her face. But with all the hats, etc. necessary to go outside and the short time when it is cold, I don’t mess with it. I tend to follow the daycare schedule of May-Sept. And during those times I am Captain Sunscreen and Hats.

      I only wear sunscreen on my face if burning is a possibility (I know, not the best practice.) I figure I’ll push it daily when she’s old enough for face products specifically and wants or need a routine that way. At that point, I’ll probably have to practice what I preach.

    • Boston Legal Eagle says

      Also a no here from Boston. I put a little on my own face, but mostly because it’s part of my moisturizer.

    • biglawanon says

      Yes, but just on their faces. We are in Southern California though.

  7. Projects for Grandma Pre Baby says

    Any ideas for suggestions for my MIL and Mom to do on pre baby visits?

    They both very much want to be helpful, but we already have furniture assembled, must have items bought and organized, etc. Other than prepping meals for the freezer, I’m short on ideas.

    They’d both be coming in from out of town, but staying at hotels.

    • Anonymous says

      Deep cleaning, like washing the fridge, inside of cabinets, windows, curtains, etc? (I’m not sure if I would be comfortable asking family to do that though). Freezer meal prep is great. Getting car washed, oil and wiper blades changed?

      • 2 Cents says

        I volunteered to clean out my BIL’s fridge bc it was packed and I found a few questionable items in there. I didn’t mind in the slightest, the baby was sleeping, the parents were taking a nap, and it was something to do because I’d already washed the dishes and cleaned up otherwise. It’s probably a “know your family” move, but I just told them what I was doing and they were too sleep-deprived to care :P

    • Anonymous says

      You could also ask them to do something more sentimental/fun, like writing down or looking up words to lullabyes they liked to sing, list of favorite books/stories, writing out family traditions, etc.

    • Anon says

      My aunt came and assembled baby stuff (sounds like you have that covered), washed all of the baby clothes, sheets, blankets, etc., and painted the nursery for me. My mom came up and made a few batches of baked ziti and meatloaf for the freezer. If you have baby bottles or pump parts, I thought sterilizing those was a pain and would have loved someone to do it for me. Mom also helped me wash some of the big stuff (comforters, guest bed sheets, etc. so I wouldn’t have to worry about those for a while). You could probably also sit down with them and have them put together a family tree for their respective sides with you, so you can share it with baby when elementary school wants the kid to do a tree with birth and death dates, etc.

    • NewMomAnon says

      The room we had planned to use as a nursery was basically our extra storage, so my family came over and helped empty, reorganize, and decorate the nursery. My mom and I also did some cute stencil art that is still hanging into kiddo’s bedroom.

      Otherwise, I would second the recommendations for cleaning, laundry and food prep.

    • Meg Murry says

      In addition to the other good ideas listed, allow some time to just spend with them doing things you won’t be able to do as easily post baby. Go for a leisurely dinner or brunch with them, or see a movie, or other type of adult hanging out that won’t be easy to fit in for the next few years (or in the case of your MIL, encourage H to take her out one-on-one as well).

    • octagon says

      Make lactation cookie dough and stick it in the freezer. Address envelopes for birth announcements. If you are doing a christening or a bris, think about logistics for that (do you need a program, flowers, catering, special clothing, etc.)

  8. lsw says

    Would people be willing to chime in on what they spend on a house cleaning service and what all they do? I had gotten my old house cleaned, but it was smaller and I lived alone and didn’t have kids so….I’m guessing it’s going to be pretty different now! We’re pricing out options now.

    What are your expectations? Do you have things basically all straightened up, including kids rooms, before they come?

    • AnonNC says

      $130 every 2 weeks, 3700 sq ft, 4 beds, 4 baths, 2 kids. We straighten up some, but they straighten up more. They usually wash any cups we miss and change the sheets on 2 beds.

    • Anon says

      DC suburbs. 2200 sq ft SFH, 2 stories, 2.5 baths. I pay $120 every other week for a woman and her 1-2 person crew. They do bathrooms, mop floors, dust, vacuum, change sheets if I put out clean bedding, general kitchen cleaning (including microwave but not fridge), dust fan blades when asked, empty trash and recycling. I generally pick up clutter before they come so that things get cleaned under instead of just around (including the baby’s room).

    • NewMomAnon says

      I spend about $120 every two weeks for a 1,000 sq ft condo with two bathrooms and two bedrooms. I do a significant amount of picking up before the cleaner comes (this week was about an hour; the last time was closer to 2 hours), in part because my house cleaner is super quirky and puts things in places I can’t find, and partly to save myself money.

      My cleaner provides her own supplies, including vacuum, rags, cleaning solution, etc. The only things I have to provide are a toilet brush and garbage bags. One thing she spotted early on is that she isn’t used to looking down for dirty hand prints on the walls, etc. So you might ask your cleaner candidates what their experience is cleaning after kids!

      For reference – my old cleaning service when I lived in a 1,400 sq ft townhouse with three levels, three bedrooms and 2.5 baths charged us about $200 per cleaning. I didn’t pick up nearly as much as I do now, and I think they did a slightly more thorough job than my current cleaner. They provided everything, including garbage bags and toilet brushes. When we moved to a 3,800 sq ft house (5 bathrooms! 5 bedrooms! Two living areas!) with a baby and two dogs, the cost jumped to $400-$500 per cleaning until we asked them to stop cleaning the two basement bathrooms and bedrooms.

      • NewMomAnon says

        And I should note – my skills in the domestic arts are limited. I hire a house cleaner because otherwise my house would NEVER get cleaned. I accumulate clutter so quickly, it’s embarrassing…so my house cleaner does a lot of maneuvering around things, and I probably have more dusty surfaces than most.

      • Tfor22 says

        This sounds close to what we do. We have a cleaner come every week and pay $100 each time. We live in a 1800 sq ft townhouse. We also put stuff away because we will never find it again and to leave her with big surfaces to work with. The putting away keeps us somewhat more tidy than we would be. In addition to cleaning she empties the dishwasher, folds and puts away whatever is in the dryer and changes the towels (weekly) and sheets (every other week). She used to wash them too but tended to overload the washer. She also loves to iron and will iron a few shirts or dresses.

    • lala says

      We pay $130 every other week for a 2000sq ft 3 bed 2 bath house. They clean bathrooms, kitchen (microwave and fridge), vacuum, mop, windows and hand prints. They provide their own supplies, and are very detailed.

    • HSAL says

      So I’ve considered getting a quarterly deep clean, but more regular cleaning just seems like kind of a waste of money to me. What am I missing? 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath townhome, 1500 square feet, two adults, a toddler, and a cat.

      – Vacuum the downstairs living area once or twice a week (10 minutes, 15 if we’re moving furniture)
      – Mop the kitchen maybe once a month or when we it needs it (10 minutes)
      – Vacuum the upstairs (bedrooms/landing/closet) once a month (15 minutes)
      – Clean the toilets once or twice a month (10 minutes to do all three)
      – Wipe down bathroom/kitchen counters as needed (5 minutes max for each)
      – Thorough bathroom clean every few months (this is probably what I’d use a service for, but maybe a half hour each?)

      I probably spend less than two hours cleaning a month, and it seems like some people spend that much time just getting their house ready for the cleaners. I might wipe out a window well once or twice a year, but otherwise I never clean windows and they look absolutely fine. Am I just content in more filth? Will it all take longer with more kids? I’m happy to try and justify a cleaning service, but for us I just can’t see it right now.

      • Anon says

        When I was doing my own cleaning, it would take me 2-3 hours every weekend (and to be fair I would change sheets and do a thorough bathroom clean and mop and vacuum everything weekly). Pre-baby (but plus husband) we signed up for once a month cleaning, but with that the toliets would get gross after 2 weeks and the showers would start to show mildew. As two adults who weren’t home much, we just kind of lived with it. With the baby (and my husband staying at home, so someone is there all day making things dirty), we upped to every other week, and that seems to be about right. I have a pretty high standard of cleanliness though, and that is time I would rather spend with them (and my husband hates to clean and has much lower standards of cleanliness). Money well spent in our household to keep the peace alone and buy me a few extra hours of limited free time.

      • Anon says

        I think it’s a function of different stages of life. I have two elementary kids plus a 60 pound dog.

        All of us (dog and humans) shed a ton of hair (and track dirt/ mud inside), plus we have hard wood floors, so our floors are done by the Roomba 2x/week and the cleaners do a more thorough, furniture-moving sweep/mop every two weeks. My two kids are well past the diaper stage and brush their own teeth, so the toilets/ sinks/ counters probably should be deep cleaned every day but they wait two weeks for the cleaners. We have to send snacks and lunch to school each day, so crumbs and debris pile up on our counters table and floor by the pound. And we get nose and hand prints all over our windows, so a biweekly wipe down is needed to keep the sun shining in.

        We keep a relatively tidy house in general, but we do spend about 20 minutes the night before the cleaners come, just clearing off the floors and surfaces to make it easier for them to clean. Things like getting all the piles of paper into respective bins, putting stuffed animals in one corner of the room, picking up my personal pile-of-not-quite-dirty-clothes, fishing books out of the beds and back onto the shelves, that sort of thing. We’d probably do that every other week anyway but having cleaners helps make sure we all do it regularly and it doesn’t get out of hand.

      • AIMS says

        Maybe you’re just better at keeping it tidy so less cleaning is required? Or more organized and efficient? Or have less stuff because clutter is harder to clean around? Or it’s a different tolerance level?

        Pre-kids, I spent a few hours Saturday morning cleaning and it was fine 80 percent of the time. I would have a service come for a cleaning on some special occasion or to do a deep clean maybe once every year. Post-kids, I just find there is way too little time and I am too tired. Plus we had a workable division of labor where we both cleaned and Mr. AIMS was responsible for kitchen and bathroom areas since that was less discretionary cleaning and I did the stuff where straightening up nicely made a difference. Now, it’s impossible to clean up at the same time, we don’t want to waste what little alone time we have when kids are asleep cleaning and honestly I neither want to clean the toilet nor have any energy to harass Mr. AIMS to do it.

        So we have a person come twice a month. It’s $125 for 2 bd 2 bath apartment plus 20 percent tip (it’s a service). They do a pretty good job; wash floors, vacuum, wipe down cabinets, empty dishwasher, change sheets if asked, etc. My only complaint is the particular person we have doesn’t do a great job of making the place feel like it was cleaned the way some housekeepers do but I’d rather someone who doesn’t fluff pillows just so or arrange magazines beautifully but who actually cleans behind my toilet than the reverse, which is a problem I’ve had with other services.

      • Katala says

        So your estimates are FAR less than the time it takes me to do any of those tasks. I could probably get more efficient with practice, but that hasn’t happened in the last 15 or so years, so I’m not holding my breath. And it takes our cleaning person 5-7 hours/week so I can’t imagine being able to do it faster. Plus, I’m now either spending nap/night time on cleaning, when I could be working, or being constantly interrupted. I’d rather spend that time on other things, so to me it’s worth it. I guess the honest answer is, without hiring someone, most stuff beyond laundry and dishes just wouldn’t get done, which I could ignore before kids but is harder when little people are licking my floor.

      • mascot says

        We have a weekly cleaner who does the kitchen, the bathrooms, the floors, dusts the furniture, empties the waste baskets, cleans the mirrors, and changes the sheets. Less frequently, the blinds, ceiling fans, and the tops of mirrors/pictures get dusted. Weekly cleaning means that we have to be better about dealing with our clutter.

    • Katala says

      $130/week for one woman who is a saint. We do NOT straighten up for her. I try sometimes, but it’s just not going to happen. She does all dishes (this is one I do really try to have on track before she comes – run dishwasher the night before etc. – but last week it was a big sink full of dishes), as many loads of laundry as can be run during the time she’s here (sometimes that is all of it), changes/washes all sheets, cleans bathrooms, sweeps/mops/vacuums, cleans counter, stove, inside of microwave, oven/fridge (seems to be on a rotating basis). Plus she organizes our stuff. She’s put boxes of out of season clothes that were out in the garage. She organized my bathroom closet. She’s a godsend and while it’s a stretch to have her come every week, I don’t want to lose the spot so we do it. 2000 sq ft, 3 bed, 2.5 bath, 2 stories.

    • lsw says

      Thank you so much, everyone! I feel like the rate we were quoted was pretty high, but I want to try them for a while because it’s a mom-owned business that has gotten great reviews. My husband is very tidy, I am not, and neither of us like to clean at all so we are not good at keeping up with it. Looking forward to just taking this off my mind for a few months at the least.

      • Butter says

        It’s the greatest gift you can give yourself. I’m only slightly exaggerating. My only regret is not starting it years earlier. The bathrooms in particular used to drive me up a wall, and I still remember how stressed it made me. (Mostly dog fur getting in the corners, even though dog was not allowed in said bathroom. I don’t know how this happened.) Now I basically clap my hands and jump for joy every two weeks when I know the cleaners are coming that day.

        • Katala says

          This. I LOVE coming home on Tuesdays to clean floors, things put away, laundry done… well worth it. You can tell I feel strongly being all over this thread lol.

    • Anonymous says

      $105 for a monthly clean which focuses on bathrooms, kitchen, living room/dining room. 3BR/2.5BA 2000 sq ft house in a MCOL. (I regularly leave $120 because she’s so wonderful).

      I do quite a bit of regular tidying, but the magical cleaner who comes to our house does those deep-cleaning things that I sometimes skip. The big thing is that she washes all the floors and wipes down the cabinets and such – somehow I never get around to those things despite best intentions.

      The woman who cleans our house is just awesome. I’ll add that she has a kid with special needs and needed a job where she could control her schedule 100% and just leave if necessary so she started her own cleaning business. Part of our deal is that sometimes she has to just leave in the middle of a cleaning session, but if that happens she’ll come back and finish up in a day or two. It works out wonderfully- also, pretty inspired by the way she’s been able to make everything work!

  9. (former) 3L mama says

    I received a $50 gift card to Gymboree. I’ve never shopped there before – is anything particularly good? I just finished stocking up for my 2 1/2 and baby expected later this spring, so we’re not in immediate need of anything, but now I’ve got the gift burning a hole in my pocket.

    • BC says

      I love Gymboree pants for my boys. They have different body types (one has a bit of a belly, the other is a total string bean) but the pants work for both of them. All the t-shirts are a much higher quality that, for example, Old Navy or Carters.

    • mascot says

      Loved the Gymboree swimwear for my toddler. The boys trunks had a built in swim diaper and they always had cute matching rash guards. Quality it good. It’s the mid-market brand in the company that also owns Crazy 8 and Janie and Jack.

    • Anonymous says

      I never choose to shop at Gymboree for my kiddo as it is way out of my price range for kids’ clothes regularly. However, some extended family members seem to favour it for gifts, and we very frequently get Gymboree clothes as gifts in sizes that are too small for my (giant) kiddo. I exchange for a gift card and then have always spent the gift card shopping the clearance racks, where you get AMAZING value (at least in Canada). They often have additional 50% off clearance so I get leggings/shirts for $4-5 Canadian, and have scored some things like dressy coats for $~15. Definitely better quality than the Old Navy/Carters I usually buy but I can’t stomach spending $30-$40 per item on kids clothes, which seems to be their regular price.

  10. ABC says

    Can anyone in DC or the MD suburbs recommend their cleaning service that does some extras like laundering sheets and towels and doing dishes? It needs to be a service and not an individual for job-related reasons.

  11. budget anon says

    Following up on yesterday’s budget convo, our budget always makes me feel like we are doing something wrong, but NYC is just expensive. Our biggest expense right now is our nanny, but she’s actually cheaper than daycare for two. We haven’t saved anything beyond putting 15% of gross in our 401(k)s since the twins were born. Hoping that will change when SO’s student loan is paid off in September, but for now, that’s where we are. Are we the only ones?!

    • AwayEmily says

      We were in a similar situation (living in Boston) and we talked with a financial planner and she was like “yeah…this is just the way it is when you live in a really expensive place.” Then we moved to a LCOL city and suddenly had So. Much. More. Money. So you are definitely not doing anything wrong — just keep enjoying the awesome benefits of living in NYC (the grass is always greener…our house and childcare costs are minimal now but we also only have one children’s museum, have to drive most places, etc…).

    • HSAL says

      You are definitely not alone. 15% of gross is awesome. I live in a bigger Midwest city with a reasonable cost of living, but when I have my twins this summer, daycare will cost us over 40K/year (no room for an au pair right now, and nannies don’t seem to be much of a thing here). My husband just graduated with his PhD and is job-hunting, but at best we’ll be in a similar position to where we are now with his grad student stipend and one child. It’s depressing, but I keep telling myself it’s temporary. The calendar year after my daughter was born we saved zero dollars beyond the 2% I saved out of my paycheck for my company match. There just wasn’t any money. The next year was a lot better savings-wise, but I’m assuming the next couple years will be pretty pathetic in that area. I’m down to one student loan payment, but I’ll probably have to cut back on the excess payments I’ve been making to that. And we have to buy a minivan. It’s just unending. So you can feel better than me, at least! :)

    • Anonymous says

      We did not put much in retirement at all when we were paying for daycare, and we only have 1. Also in NYC. You are not alone at all.

  12. AwayEmily says

    Looking for a good baking project to do with my two-year-old this weekend. Any particularly fun ideas/recipes? Something low-ish in sugar would be nice (for my own benefit more than hers…ugh post-baby weight) but not required.

    • KateMiddletown says

      Irish soda bread! Minimal ingredients and you can add raisins or not. I’ve seen tons of recipes for this weekend.

      • Anon in NYC says

        I love the Fannie Farmer one – I add raisins and caraway seeds (although those might be too much for a toddler).

        Another idea is banana date muffins. I make the ones from Gwyenth Paltrow and omit the seeds on top for my kid. It calls for maple syrup, but I’m pretty sure you could get away with less (maybe 1/2 cup instead of 2/3). Bonus is that it doesn’t include raw eggs so you don’t have to worry about taste tests!

      • Anonymous says

        Skinnytaste has a muffin version that worked well for me. She also has a non-yeast bagel recipe I’m interested in trying.

    • shortperson says

      we made sugar cookies last weekend and we split the batches up and added different colors of food coloring. then cookie cutters. and sprinkles. super exciting for my three year old. but not low sugar. m&m cookies were also amazing for her.

    • AIMS says

      Banana bread. She can mash the bananas with her hands (or not, your call). I never add more than half s cup of sugar per loaf and usually sweeten a bit more with dark chocolate chips instead. Coconut flakes (unsweetened) is another good mix in.

      • Walnut says

        Bananas can also be put in a ziplock and then mashed with toddler hands if you don’t want the mess.

        Or, if you don’t mind mess, my toddler LOVES cracking eggs. I have him do it in a separate dish so I can pick out the chunks of shell.

    • AwayEmily says

      awesome ideas, thanks! I forgot that sprinkles existed…I might split the difference and do banana date muffins WITH SPRINKLES.

    • Clementine says

      We frequently make these fabulous peanut butter banana oatmeal muffins that I found on a blog called the lean green bean. Use the internet searcher to find – I’ll attempt to post an address.

      They have only 2 TBSP of brown sugar in them – the rest of the sweetness comes from the bananas and some strategic chocolate chips. They’re high in fiber and delicious!

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