Family Friday: GrandPro Tennis Sneaker
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These men’s sneakers were getting rave reviews in the comment section over at Corporette for looking great and being comfortable. For more casual offices, these say “I am dressed casually, but also am professional,” and for the weekends they say “I am dressed down but still care about my appearance.” Are they the most stylish sneakers in the world? No, but if I bought them for my husband he’d shrug and then wear them into the ground, which is all the excitement I can get from him when it comes to shoes. Cole Haan GrandPro Tennis Sneaker
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Sales of note for 9.10.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; up to 50% off everything else
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off wear-to-work styles; extra 30% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – 40-60% off everything; extra 60% off clearance
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Extra 40% off sale styles
- Talbots – BOGO 50% everything, includes markdowns
- Target – Car-seat trade-in event through 9/28 — bring in an old car seat to get a 20% discount on other baby/toddler stuff.
- Zappos – 26,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
Kid/Family Sales
- Carter’s – Birthday sale, 40-50% off & extra 20% off select styles
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off all baby; up to 40% off all Halloween
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Extra 30% off sale styles
- Old Navy – 40% off everything
- Target – BOGO 25% off select haircare, up to 25% off floor care items; up to 30% off indoor furniture up to 20% off TVs
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And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
- I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
- I’m thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?
- I’m now a SAHM and my husband needs to step up…
- How can I change my thinking to better recognize some of my husband’s contributions as important, like organizing the shed?
- What are your tips to having a good weekend with kids, especially with little kids? Do you have a set routine or plan?
I know this is the age-old problem for working mothers but I am frozen with indecision on whether I want to “lean out” into a less stressful, lower paying, job or stick it out in mid-law. Third year associate, billing approx. 1800 hours a year. Due to the nature of the job that includes routine evening/weekend hours. I am just over the hours—I’ve missed so many bedtimes, dinners, playing at the park before dinner, etc. All of the partners in my practice group seem stressed out all the time, so it’s not like there is light at the end of the tunnel. On the flip side, we work in an area of the law with awesome clients and my co-workers are great. There is a lot of personal satisfaction that comes with our work and knowing we helped truly deserving clients. I am afraid that in five years when our three kids (under six) are less demanding I will regret leaving and be stuck in government somewhere with a flat salary. My husband does way more than his fair share of house/kid work and is supportive of whatever I want to do. We can afford the pay cut by cutting out some extras in the budget. This feels like such a cliche question but thanks for anyone who has insight!
Help with transitioning off bottles? DD is 13 months old. She’ll drink water out of sippy cups during meals. She’s almost fully transitioned to cows milk, but still drinks 5 ounce bottles (1 ounce formula, 4 oz cows milk). At this point I think she’s drinking too much milk and not eating enough solids. Her pediatrician confirmed at our 1yr appointment that they would like her drinking a *little* less milk. She’s all finger foods all the time, and has been that way since 6 months. We barely did purees. Do I just drop one bottle and offer milk at meals and see how she does? I’m thinking of doing a sippy cup of milk in the morning and dropping that bottle. There just seems to be so many different ways to do this and what I would really like is a manual! Even the pediatrician was like “well you could do X or Y or Z!”
Thoughts/suggestions on travel with a ~1.5 year old? After taking 2 years off from our previously (pre-baby) annual big trips, my husband and I are itching to go somewhere – probably early fall timeframe. But this time we’ll have our 18 month old in tow. I’d love to go to Italy, but I’m wondering how that will work with a toddler.
Friends have recommended just keeping him on East Coast schedule so we can still go out to dinner, etc. But then I think he’ll be sleeping until like noon? I don’t want to spend $$$ and not be able to experience the place that we end up going. So I’ve also been considering a resort type setup where husband and I could hang out/go to the pool, etc. while baby sleeps. Maybe Greek islands or something? Anyone have any advice or suggestions that worked really well for them with a kiddo this age? Thanks so much!!
Just a minor whine – I am so tired. Tired of neverending winter, of seemingly neverending pregnancy discomforts (coming up on 25 weeks), of losing my primary stress-relief outlet (running) due to said discomforts, of being primary breadwinner for us my entire adult life so far, of being truly middle-income in a HCOL city without family nearby, of never feeling quite financially secure enough as every spare penny goes to daycare or retirement, of having to be a hard-ass with threenager kid#1 in the brief time I see him awake each day. Last night after a particularly rough kid bedtime I couldn’t even move, I just sat there and cried for a while. If I see one more sunny vacation photo from a friend I think I will lose it. No advice needed, just solidarity.
Can I whine about how hard it is to even consider a career change once you’re staring down 40? I’m in higher ed and interested in moving into another area at my university. (I generally like what I do, but I’m burned out and wishing I could try something different.) Because higher ed is so rigid about hiring requirements, I would basically have to start over at entry level to even try anything new. I’m especially interested in becoming a career counselor but the salaries are a pittance, even in my LCOL city. I’m not above taking a few steps back in my career, but am I willing to go back to the salary I earned as a new graduate in 2002? No, I’m not. I have two kids, a mortgage, and a strong desire to save for retirement. It’s not like I’m raking in $$$$ as it is. It’s hard not to feel stuck.
Has anyone used the Bookroo subscription service for children’s books? It was mentioned in a WaPo article yesterday and seems great, but I’d love to hear some reviews from real people.
Can’t reply directly to the first thread on phone. +1 million to preschool as the easiest time for working parents in terms of logistics. After they start school, it just gets harder and harder as they get older, the intensity of activities increases, and the child care options dwindle.
I will say that for us homework did become almost entirely hands-off when the kid hit sixth grade. Fifth grade was the peak of busy work where the kid demanded I sit with her the entire time. It was also the peak of big projects assigned with no structure or guidance to enable the kid to do them independently. In sixth grade the teachers provide rubrics, graphic organizers, and other tools that allow the kid to do everything with minimal parental intervention. All I have to do is answer a specific question once in a while. YMMV, but hopefully this is encouraging to elementary school parents drowning in homework.
Cup of Jo is a multimillionaire who travels with at least one nanny, maybe more (even though she’s not super open about that fact). Her advice isn’t going to be that relevant for parents traveling without any childcare.
I’m going back to work next week and my EBF 4.5 month old has recently started rejecting the bottle. She’ll drink an ounce or two to take the edge off of her hunger, but she refuses it after that. I’m worried about her getting enough to eat while I’m at work (I work a compressed schedule so when I’m working I don’t see her at all that day) and that she’ll “reverse cycle” and eat more at night to make up for it. Any advice from moms who have been there?
Also, are there any formulas that BF babies take to particularly well? I want to have some on hand in case we need to supplement.
When anyone gives it to her, unfortunately.
Glad to hear you were able to introduce formula with no issues!
Solidarity on the running thing while pregnant with a toddler! I found it really tough too and nothing really replaces it. My last pregnancy, I walked in the morning instead of running and took up meditation. Meditation was the only thing that came close to touching the feeling of running. Also, this is temporary. You will run again.
Cross-posting from the main site. Does anyone have a good, straightforward chocolate cake/cupcake recipe? It’s for my kid’s birthday party on Sunday. I’m a good, experienced baker, but none of my cookbooks seem to have a “normal” chocolate cake recipe.
Advice needed – we just moved and for school year logistical reasons, we have a nanny with our 3 and 5 year old until school starts up again in the fall. They’ve been in daycare and then preschool since they were babies. I think we’re all trying to figure out the right level of structure/routine. Our nanny is well trusted, etc but not a mom herself or any kind of childhood ed person, and asked us more for the routine that they usually follow — and the answer is that we outsourced that to pre-k and they had a good mix of educational/play/nap/structure meal times etc. Any advice on how to advise her on how to set up their days? They don’t usually nap with us on weekends, but did everyday at school, so maybe I should tell her to do quiet time? Do others say things like, spend an hour reading, an hour outside, 30 minutes of crafts every day or similar? Help?
This is so helpful! Thank you!
I really don’t like these. They look like men’s shoes – my husband would like them.