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I’m always amazed at how much those little pouches cost for babies and kids — some of the fancier ones are almost $2 per pouch. I buy these GoGoSqueez pouches in bulk on Amazon, though, and the price comes down to $20.40 for a pack of 48 with Subscribe & Save (or $.42 cents per pouch). When I’ve done the math in the past, they even come out less expensive than the big jar of organic applesauce we get on Fresh Direct. Hooray! GoGo Squeez appleapple, Applesauce on the GoSales of note for 5.5.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase (ends 5/12); $50 off your $200+ purchase (ends 5/5)
- Banana Republic Factory – Spend your StyleCash with 40-60% off everything, or take an extra 20% off purchase (ends 5/6)
- Eloquii – $19 & up 300+ styles and up to 50% off everything else
- J.Crew – Shirts & tees starting at $24.50; extra 30% off sale styles
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – 40% off full-price styles & extra 15% off; extra 55% off sale styles
- Nordstrom: Nordy Club members earn 3X the points on beauty; 30% off selected shoes
- Talbots – 40% off one item & and 30% off everything else; $50 off $200 (all end 5/5)
- Zappos – 27,000+ 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 – 40% off everything & extra 20% off select styles with code
- Hanna Andersson – Friends & Family Sale: 40% off sitewide
- J.Crew Crewcuts – tk; extra 30% off sale styles; kids’ styles starting at $14.50
- Old Navy – Up to 75% off clearance
- Target – 20% off women’s clothing & shoes; up to 50% off kitchen & dining; 20% off jewelry & hair accessories; up to $100 off select Apple products; up to 40% off home & patio; BOGO 50% off adult & YA books
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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?
JJ says
I have at least two of these (and a baggie of Goldfish) in my diaper bag at all times. Highly recommend them.
Ciao, pues says
On the topic of eating, RoseyNews just had a post about kids who are “hilariously picky eaters.” The teddy bear picnic made me lol. Oh, toddlers.
RR says
I have much love for these things. My almost 7 year olds still take them in lunches or as snacks, and my 17 month old loves them.
DD says
Not to stir up controversy, but I think these are the same type of pouches that allegedly have contained mold in the past. http://www.mommyish.com/2014/08/01/mom-finds-mold-in-fruit-pouch-gets-shamed-by-internet/
I will also say that my child has had his fair share of them in the past, as they’re super convenient and tasty, but I’m now hesitant to give these to him after seeing these claims.
JJ says
I saw that original post, as well. Now I’ll squeeze a little out so I can see it before I give it to my kids. It’s slightly ridiculous, but the convenience is hard to beat.
Spirograph says
I hadn’t seen that, and I’m not sure which I’m more disgusted by, the picture of the mold or the “how dare you try to make your life a little easier by occasionally feeding kids flavored applesauce in a pouch” comments on that link.
We buy these things at Costco and send them to daycare as son’s snack whenever we’re out of fresh fruit (or when we don’t have time/energy to cut up an apple in the morning), and throw them in the diaper bag whenever we’re heading out. They’re so convenient. I’m not going to stop buying them, but I will check them for mold now. ew!
pockets says
man, I thought I was judgment-proof because I bought the fancy organic pouches. Seriously I thought the little Plum Organic pouches were my ticket into the fancy mom club. The more I learn the less I know.
JJ says
Right? Apparently I’m not a good mom unless I grew the apple tree and then made the sauce myself.
Rustan C says
test comment
Burgher says
I feed my picky toddler these pouches constantly, because he will always eat them and Grammy’s homemade applesauce jar doesn’t exactly fit in a diaper bag. But hey, I’m still excited that my kid ate one carrot stick last week, so I’m not exactly Mrs. Crunchy Mom, Godess of Nutrition and Balanced Meals.
I looked into the mold thing, and it seems like it was one really isolated incidence. I mean it’s gross, but as long as the pouch isn’t all inflated with botulism, I don’t think there is any harm done.
CPA Lady says
I’m having a big work dilemma and I was hoping you ladies, especially those with older children, could give me some advice. I’ve been working in public accounting for a couple of years. One of my favorite managers left about six months ago to go work for a private company. She reached out to me yesterday to tell me about an opening in her department. She works way fewer hours and makes $30,000 more a year at her new job than she did here. Since most of y’all are lawyers, I guess she did the equivalent of going “in house”.
I am so torn. I love my job, I love the work that I do, I love my coworkers. However, I do not love working weekends 5 months out of the year and working 70 hour weeks. And I didn’t love that stuff even before I had a baby. This is my first tax season with a baby, and quite frankly, I’m scared. I’m also scared about what leaving public accounting would mean– does it mean I’m not dedicated and driven? Not as ambitious as I thought I was?
I also think I would be crazy to pass up a job with a higher salary and fewer hours.
UGH. Does anyone have any advice?
Jen says
That sounds amazing. I recently left private practice and took a job with regular, steady 40 hours per week — but for 1/2 the pay. I can’t even articulate how much happier I am, so if you could do the same and make more, I would definitely take it.
Also, I definitely felt like a failure because I couldn’t hack it at a firm with 2 small kids, but I don’t care about that anymore. For me, being able to take family vacations and randoms days off to spend with my kids and to have weekends basically all my own means so, so much more to me.
JJ says
So, I went through the same decision late last year (and I was going in-house from a law firm). I felt like it meant that I’m not dedicated and driven and not maximizing my potential. The pay would equal about the same currently, but there’s a slightly lower ceiling in-house at my current company. I still, at first, felt like it was somehow “leaning out.”
But after talking to friends that made the switch and my world’s-most-pragmatic-husband, I realized that I didn’t need to derive that sense of satisfaction from my job.
I made the switch. I’ve been here a month. I work substantially less hours. The work is not as hard, but it’s interesting in a different way. I had a long conversation with my best friend at the law firm last night and hearing her describe her weekend work and how crazy her life is made me realize that I don’t miss that, at all. I actually spend time with my kids without worrying about emails on my phone (life changing!) and I’ve realized that for this season in my life, this is the right move for me.
TL;DR: It totally depends on your family. But I did it and have no regrets.
ANP says
It’s all relative. If you’re still challenged and kicking butt at work, I don’t see it as leaning out if you’re opting for better hours and more pay. In my book, that’s smart! And with that free time, what’s to say you couldn’t join the board of a nonprofit or do some other highly-fulfilling volunteer work that you don’t have time for now, but that augments your personal and professional development in a completely different way? I think there are a lot of ways to look at this and I would definitely interview and see what happens. Good luck and keep us posted!
pockets says
yes, you are crazy to pass up a job that has fewer hours for more pay.
FVNC says
Congratulations on the opportunity!
I moved from biglaw to in-house, more than four years ago, pre-baby. I do miss things about the firm: being part of a deal team made up of really, really smart lawyers; admin/IT support; prestige; educational opportunities (i.e., working closely with senior partners and seeing how they interact with clients); and the high level, interesting work. Those positives are — for me — outweighed by the reduced stress and hours, the flexibility (my manager is 1000 miles away and generally doesn’t know/care if I’m actually in the office versus working from home), and the relative stability (i.e., no “up or out”). My decision was relatively easy because I did not envision being a partner and after only 3 years was starting to feel burned out. Even so, I still felt a little like I was “leaning out” — I’d always tried to be or do my best in school and in my career, so striving for anything other than making partner at prestigious law firm seemed like I was selling myself short. Now though, I realize it was a great move for me and my family, and have no regrets at all.
You’re in a great position in that you (mostly) love your current job. Do your due diligence about the new position to make sure it’s a good fit for you — whatever that means (flexibility, reduced hours, etc.). If it’s not exactly right for you, you can stay where you are.
mascot says
Without the experience you have (and the dedication and drive that got you there) would this job even be a possibility for you? I’d at least see what they have to say.
Anon says
CPA (tax) here, pregnant with twins. Totally feel your pain. I felt like I was throwing in the towel too but you just have to change your frame of mind. See Jen’s response above – I think it sums up the change perfectly. I moved to industry a year and a half ago and it was life changing. Everything about my new job is better: better pay, better hours, and much better benefits. My current job is really great, so great that I’m having a hard time figuring out how to stomach not coming back. With twins it would be really difficult, but I decided I’m just going to play it day by day after they’re here and then decide.
I started having tax seasons melt downs towards the end of my stint in public accounting. I passed out on 4/15/12 in the office and was unresponsive for 15 minutes and woke up to hot paramedics :). I couldn’t handle the stress any longer. I know everyone handles high stress jobs differently and that was my wake up call that I needed to do something different because the stress on my body was not worth it.
Meg Murry says
I have taken a big step back in my career path now with kids, and one thing that I like to consider is how I am fulfilled by my overall life, not just my job. My job is now just something I do to pay the bills, and while I like the people I work with and make mini projects to challenge myself, it is in no way prestigious. However, I now have time to volunteer in my kids classrooms, actually meet the preschool teacher and talk for a minute, and eat meals with my family – at my career path job I was lucky to see my kid for 1/2-1 hour a day awake, and I was always tired and grumpy. Being able to actually enjoy my kids, husband and house has made a major difference in my happiness (and the number of pharmaceuticals I now dont have to take to keep my depression and anxiety at a minimum )
I would recommend at least exploring the possibility. It might not work for you, or it might not be a good move right now, but you should look into it, especially if you have the win-win of less time and more money.
d says
I get this. I faced a similar decision when my baby was 6 months old. I loved my job and my co-workers, and I wasn’t really unhappy with the amount of money that I made. But once you have a kid, your ‘happiness’ with your job is only one component of the calculation. My new job is not as exciting or fulfilling as my old job. It’s fine. But my out of work life is better in every way – I have dinner with husband and baby every night, I don’t have a ‘work phone’ any more, I don’t ever work nights or weekends, I make more money, and now I have the time to spend it / save it for kid’s college, etc.
The first three weeks at the new job were weird, and I wasn’t sure I could handle living without the adrenaline of litigation. But that passed. No regrets.
ANP says
We love these pouches and buy in bulk at Costco — but I’ve also gotten them through Amazon Subscribe and Save.
Hive, I need some encouragement. I’m interviewing for my dream job next week and will be 19 weeks pregnant. The CEO of this company has recruited me but there are other candidates — plus I’m interviewing in front of employee panels, etc. so I need to bring my A-game. I vacillate between thinking “YES! I am a BAMF and I am going to ROCK THIS!” and “Oh man WTH am I doing, interviewing while pregnant? They’re going to take one look at this round belly and laugh me out of the room! No one will take me seriously!”
FWIW, the CEO and I had lunch together in the fall and have had limited email correspondence since that time, but I was not pregnant when we met and he doesn’t know I’m expecting now. Part of me just has no idea how to deal with the elephant in the room and I’m angry at myself (the world?) that this is even an issue. If my husband were to be interviewing right now he wouldn’t have to explain anything about his kid/family situation and I hate that this is the case with me. *pity party*
mascot says
It can be done. A friend of mine interviewed and was hired for a new job while in her third tri. Her offer included maternity benefits. Go on with the BAMF line of thinking.
KJ says
I interviewed while visibly pregnant and got the job. I started my new position when I was 38 weeks along, and no one ever had an issue with it. I say go in expecting the best – people may surprise you! Good luck! You got this!
NewMomAnon says
I interviewed in the my third tri, got the job offer, and then developed some complications and had to turn it down. Note that you will probably not qualify for maternity leave (you often need to be employed at the company at least a year), so you’ll need to negotiate something there. I negotiated unpaid time off, with a bonus to compensate me for the lack of paycheck. It also means that you may not have any PTO after you return to work, which can be a bear with a kiddo in daycare.
I actually think 19 weeks is a fine time to interview – you’re showing so you don’t have any choice but to disclose, yet you are still pretty comfortable and have a couple months of good energy levels to settle into a new job. You can even travel a bit if needed. If the job sounds good, I would definitely go for it and just own the pregnancy; the company will make anything happen for you if they really want you.
anon says
Also keep in mind that while you may well be showing to people who know you, you might not be to people who don’t. I assumed I was SO OBVIOUSLY PREGNANT at that stage but to strangers, I wasn’t (even to our neighbors, who I assumed knew but then who were very surprised to see me next at 30 weeks).
Burgher says
I feel like the best way to address the elephant in the room is to just be honest. If they wouldn’t hire you because your’re pregnant, do you really want to work there?
quailison says
I have some exciting updates on all my pregnancy-related questions…because my baby was born early Saturday morning! We are all healthy and doing fine, though since he was two weeks early he’s really sleepy and having trouble breastfeeding. We ended up renting a hospital pump for the first month because he can’t really latch and falls asleep at the breast. The nurses and LC at the hospital didn’t seem to think his timing mattered for feeding, but he was technically late preterm so this latching problem and pumping is common…according to the internets. I will probably buy a mobile pump later but I am glad to have the really nice one for all the pumping I’m doing, especially since I’m not going anywhere anyhow!
We ended up doing firstname mylast hislast for my name conundrum. And the inlaws will drive out in two weeks and are happy about it.
All in all, the labor and delivery went pretty well, and recovery is going fine – for those of you who are pregnant and worried about the terrible birth stories you hear, take heart that it might not go that way. I’m still a little dazed because my labor was only 7 hours (though painful, no doubt) and was over before I knew it. I had thought I would have more time to process what was happening, and quite frankly, to worry about what was happening. But my body just took over and now here we are. Hoping you all have good experiences, too!
JJ says
Congrats!!
PregAnon says
Congrats! Good birth stories are always nice to hear!
Spirograph says
Congratulations!
anon says
Congratulations! Glad everything went well and that you all are doing well now. :)
Maddie Ross says
Congratulations! As for the BF-ing stuff, seriously give it a couple of days to see if baby will wake up more when you offer. 2 weeks early is not actually early or pre-term, so as your LC says, that shoudn’t be an issue. 4 days old is still really little – he will probably wake up and be a little more aware soon. Usually it coincides almost directly with getting home from the hospital ;)
anonymama says
and usually your milk comes in at around the same time. keep trying to get him to latch, it will make life easier if you get him on the breast before he gets too used to the bottle. I think it’s pretty normal for most newborns to be pretty sleepy the first couple weeks.
quailison says
Thanks for the advice. I do offer him the breast every time before I pump, and just this last session he started to actually suck! I think he even got some milk. So I’ll keep doing that.
KJ says
Congratulations! I’m glad you had an easy L&D. My baby was 10 days late, and we had issues with sleepiness and not latching in the first few days. Hopefully yours will be bf-ing like a champ soon.
Katarina says
Congratulations.
Anon says
I needed to hear this so thank you.
Meg Murry says
For my sleepy little non-latcher, it helped to have daddy or grandma give him half an ounce of breastmilk (when I had it, or formula if I didn’t) from a syringe while I hand expressed to letdown, so that when I put him to the breast the milk was there and waiting. The syringe of milk helped “wake” him up a little.
quailison says
Good idea! I think expressing so it’s ready to go might really help.
EB0220 says
Congrats! My late pre-term kiddo (3.5 weeks early) was so sleep, too. I undressed her and ran ice cubes along her face to keep her awake. Sometimes my husband sat next to me tickling her feet while she nursed. She developed into a breastfeeding champ! Good luck and enjoy!
quailison says
Good to hear. Every feeding, every day he gets a little better. Thanks for the luck!
OCAssociate says
Congratulations!!!
quailison says
Thank you all for the support and advice!
Philanthropy Girl says
Congrats! So excited for you.
I completely understand the late-pre-term latch issues. I was 3 weeks early with a scheduled c-section, and my LCs were very up front about his latch issues, which were compounded by the fact that a c-section delayed my milk coming in. Sounds like your little one is doing really well – it too my little guy a long time to figure things out. Just keep at it – give him the opportunity to nurse every time you can. Some people will try to tell you that if he doesn’t figure it out by a certain time he never will – don’t listen! It took me nearly 8 weeks, and I have a friend who worked for 12 weeks – both of our kiddos finally caught on. I have a champion nurser now, and the benefit of him getting a bottle so early is that I had no problem switching him from bre@st to bottle and back again when it came time to go back to work.
Enjoy this special time!
Tunnel says
Congratulations!!
PregAnon says
Walked into work today after working from home yesterday, and they had painted the big office / room I share with another attorney. WHOA! So smelly. I immediately backed out and saw a friend of mine from IT, and begged for a monitor and power cord for a station downstairs. I’m back down where I would rather be sitting anyway. It is nice while it lasts…and at least the smell was bad enough I didn’t have to go into any detail as to why I couldn’t sit up there. All day sickness is bad enough without that!
MomAnon says
Wow! Can’t believe the facility manager didn’t warn you about that!?
PregAnon says
Oh, it got worse. The other attorney that I work with insisted that I go up there to meet with her. She said, “oh, once you are up here for awhile you can’t smell it anymore.” It totally made me sick. She said, “oh, tomorrow you have to come back up here, I’m sure it is the low VOC stuff.”
No way. Just…no way.
Pump question says
How appropriate for feeding day!
I called my insurance company to find out what they cover for pumps under the ACA (after spending way too much time trying to figure it out on my own). Oddly, it seems like the coverage is great to obtain my own (not so great for rental) and there are many options – Medela PISA, Medela Freestyle, Ameda Purely Yours, Freemie, etc.
For all of you who have already been there, do you think there is any value in getting my own hospital grade pump, such a Medela Symphony, before the baby is here? Or, is it better to consider the other features of the more popular models and then rent a hospital grade only if necessary?
thank you :)
mascot says
My only experience was renting a hospital grade pump after delivery (pre-existing medical conditions made pumping very inefficient). Heavy, not easy to transport. Rental wasn’t that expensive though for the few months I needed it. I’d consider the standard options and rent one only if it proves necessary.
Philanthropy Girl says
I’ll second this. I used a hospital grade for a couple of weeks with my first. They are enormous and difficult to transport. Unless you or the baby have a medical issue that would make having the hospital grade important, I would skip it.
I’ve been very happy with my Medela pump-in-style. I purchased it directly through the hospital’s supply store, and had insurance reimburse me. I had a lot of run around with my insurance prior to baby’s birth not wanting to pay for it until the baby was here, so it was easier to purchase through the LC at the hospital and get reimbursed than to wait for weeks for insurance to process my claim.
Msj says
I would do the latter. “buy” the standard pump you want via insurance and then if you have issues that merit a hospital grade pump, rent as necessary. My insurance would only cover a rental with a doctor’s note.
Good luck!
Carrie M says
Does your insurance cover a pump up to a certain dollar amount? The Symphony is crazy expensive. I’d make sure you fully understand what your insurance is covering before you make that big of an investment. Not sure how your insurance works, but mine gave me the contact info for 3 medical device providers who were on contract with the insurance company. Talking to the medical device companies was way more helpful than talking to my insurance company!
I ended up renting a Symphony for 10 months due to supply issues. I carried it to/from work every day for 6 of those months. It comes in a huge hard plastic case, but it actually fits in a small tote bag just fine. I didn’t find it cumbersome to commute with it in a bag which also fit my flanges and collection bottles.
I’ve heard great things about the Freestyle and PISA too, but have never used either.
Good luck!
Pump question says
According to both the providers and my insurance company, specific models are covered as long as I obtain whichever covered model from the designated providers. I was definitely surprised to see that the Symphony was listed from one of the providers . There is a dollar amount limitation only if I obtain or rent from outside one of the designated providers. My insurance kind of blows when it comes to useful benefits so I was pleasantly surprised to see there were actual choices, as opposed to, say, one electric and one manual.
Maddie Ross says
I had a Pump in Style that I got from my insurance for free and had no issues at all with it. I would probably take my insurance up on that option, or one of the others, for free and only look in to doing the hospital grade rental if there was a specific need for it. To be honest, I actually had two Pump in Styles – one I bought at Target and one I got thru insurance. The one from Target was purchased in a moment of desperation when my baby was about a week old as insurance hadn’t sent mine yet and I was dying. It was worth $250 to be able to relieve the pressure. So for that reason alone, I would probably recommend going ahead and getting the free one through insurance now, as it’s not a quick process to get it. (Not super lengthy, but it can be a couple of weeks – and you may not want to wait!)