Budget Thursday: Linen-Blend Blazer

Had a crazy day yesterday and saw your post this morning. Just wanted to chime in that you’re not alone feeling this way! In addition to the great, great suggestions from other readers, I wanted to recommend a few books that have really helped me with this issue–

Say Goodbye to Survival Mode– Crystal Paine
Hands Free Mama– Rachel Macy Stafford
The Sweet Spot– Christine Carter

Some of these have some Jesus in them, but they have great advice. I basically have been reading self help books on this topic since I went back to work after maternity leave. They all say the same things, essentially, but hearing them over and over in slightly different ways helps me stay on track.

I am probably missing this in the earlier “pumping at work” threads, but… what do you do when someone knocks?!

I have very insistent knockers in my office who will knock, immediately try the locked door, then knock again and try the door with more force. Since I work with a small group I thought most people would probably figure out why my door is locked, but I suppose I need to try something else. Once I yelled out “on the phone” which was pretty obviously not true… Should I get a sign? I feel like that makes pumping in to more of a “thing” than it needs to be.

ARGH. Yesterday was K “graduation.” I moved a bunch of stuff, and was able to make it there with plenty of time. Got a great seat, and saw my kid bopping down the aisle — gave her a big kiss both to and from the stage. She saw me during the whole ceremony (waving, HUGE smile, no fear on stage, etc.). Felt like supermom. After, there was a class party on the playground, and I stepped away to take a call. I assumed that the ceremony was done, and/or didn’t read the materials closely (equally probable). Turns out, the individual classes did private “diploma awarding” ceremonies, and I totally missed the whole thing. Each kid got called up individually, handed an award, then was instructed to go find their families for family photos. Then, the families went and ate a big picnic lunch with their kids.

Putting aside my hatred for these “graduations” that show up in preschool, K, etc., my child totally reasonably expected to see me during the ceremony. I think it was almost worse that she knew I was there, but then, suddenly gone for the individual part (like, my husband wasn’t expected bc they talked beforehand about why he couldn’t go — we don’t make every school event, but definitely set the expectation ahead of time so they know what’s going on). She is still just so super sad about it all, and I feel like a total @$$hole. We talked a lot about how it made her sad when she couldn’t find me, and I told her that it would have made me feel so sad if I was in the same situation. I told her that it made me sad I missed seeing her get the award too. We talked about what she did when she couldn’t find me for family pictures (found *best friend’s* dad, and asked him for help with lunch), and that’s why it’s so important to be kind to friends and that friends are so important when we need someone to be kindn to us. We even talked about how she kept from crying during the ceremony when she didn’t see me while getting her award (counted to 7, imagined us going dancing and cooking in the kitchen). And I suggested we send the helpful dad a thank you note, which she loved.

So, on the whole, important lessons were learned, and I’m thankful for the resilience she showed. But, dang, she holds on to things FOREVER, and remembers things FOREVER, and she was still so down this morning. I still feel down this morning. She is a shy, sensitive child, and has come SO far this year. I feel especially bad that she was SO happy and confident when she saw me in the morning that it seemed to make the pendulum swing even farther in the other direction. Ugh.

Hi everyone. I’m looking to buy an 18k/24k yellow gold necklace for me to wear with my kids’ initials on two discs (or one disc). I’m looking for something sturdy, but pretty, that I can wear every day and that has a serious clasp. Any suggestions as to where I can buy something pretty yet solidly constructed? Saw a bunch of options on Etsy, but they were gold plated (not great, as I can’t wear that in the shower) and they all looked pretty delicate (my toddler would rip the chain sooner rather than later). Any suggestions?

I am feeling really overwhelmed by water table options. I figured I’d just go on craig s list and buy something used, but it seems like people are selling them for not much less than used. Does someone have one, preferably at Amazon or Target, that they loved? My son is only 11 months but is also obsessed with standing and splashing so it seems ideal for this summer.

Bizarre pregnancy emotional breakdown of the day… I started crying because I can’t find a pool to work out at.

After getting off pelvic rest when my PP finally resolved, I’m back on because of PGP/SPD/pelvic instability (thanks for all the recs the other day btw – already saw a chiro and started following the exercises in the book!). So for the last two months of my pregnancy, I really want to swim.

I’m finding it nearly impossible to locate a public pool in my area! I belonged to a gym in the city with a pool and swam there, but since we moved to the suburbs it’s impossible to find something. In the town I grew up in, we had a public town pool that was very nice and reasonably priced. It now seems that where I’m located, pools are either 1) gross/sketchy (like, I googled one and the first thing that came up was a pedophilia incident… no thanks) or 2) private/hard to get into and expensive.

Has anyone belonged to a pool club? Is it worth it? Around here the going rate is about $300/month. It feels so pretentious, but after touring a really dismal option today with murky, dirty water I’m kind of ready to be pretentious.