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Updated: Jan 22, 2021 141 Comments · by

Weekend & Family Friday: Lucy 2 Bootie

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A pair of Lucy 2 Bootie

My niece has a birthday coming up and asked for everyday shoes that were not sneakers. I’ve always been a fan of Stride Rite shoes for little kids, including the Surprize by Stride Rite line at Target — they’re durable, comfy, and come in patterns and colors that kids love.

For her birthday, I sent Stride Rite’s Lucy 2, a cute bootie that I would consider for myself if it came in my size. It comes in two colors — chocolate with a purple zipper or black with a blue one (I sent the chocolate because I knew she liked purple), and has a tiny heel. The zipper allows for easy on and off, and it comes in both regular and wide widths.

The Lucy 2 is on sale for $39.99 at Zappos and is available in sizes 7 Toddler to 5 Big Kid.

Sales of note for 11.30.23…

(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)

Kid/Family Sales

  • BabyJogger – 25% off 3 items
  • Crate & Kids – Toy & gift event: up to 50% off everything; save 10% off full price items
  • J.Crew Crewcuts – 50% off everything; extra 30% off sale styles
  • Ergobaby – 40% off Omni Breeze Carrier, 25% off Evolve 3-in-1 bouncer, $100 off Metro+ Strollers
  • Graco – Up to 30% off car seats
  • Strolleria – 25% off Wonderfold wagons, and additional deals on dadada, Cybex, and Peg Perego
  • Walmart – Savings on Maxi-Cosi car seats, adventure wagons, rocker recliners, security cameras and more!

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About Ann

Ann is a working mom, a longtime reader of Corporette and CorporetteMoms, and has been writing our morning fashion advice for working moms since November 2020! She has a daughter (born winter 2014) and a son (born fall 2019) and is a public interest lawyer in Washington, D.C.

Comments

  1. AnonATL says

    I have woken up to an angry and leaky baby the past 3 mornings at 5am (normal wake time is 6:30). Our standard Costco and Target diapers are suddenly not making it through the night. He’s still only about 19 pounds in a size 3 at 6 months. I think he would be way too small to size up yet. We’ve tried both our target and costco brands, adjusting the waistband, and still we leak. He’s frequently a belly sleeper and leaks at the top front.
    Any recs for the best overnight diapers? Or anyone have success with the Sposie liners?

    • Anon says

      you could always try sizing up? i have found the weight limits on diapers to be totally inconsistent with body shape. for daytime we use target diapers, but for nighttime Huggies bc i heard terrible things about the Target nighttime ones. I have twins and one of them even started leaking through the nighttime Huggies so i added in a sposie liner, but didnt start doing that until she was 2 and started consuming an absurd amount of water.

    • Pogo says

      My giant superbaby is 17lbs at 5mos. We have in size 5 at night. I am not kidding. We tried EVERYTHING. He was good with Huggies size 4 at night until he wasnt. Added a sposie. Defeated that. It was pee disaster everywhere every night. Size 5 is the only thing that contains him.

      • AnonATL says

        Lol I share your super baby frustration. This kid is in the 90+% for height, and I swear he’s as big as the 14mo that just joined his daycare. That and he grows out of clothes in less than a month…
        Sounds like the consensus is to size up for nights. Thanks y’all. That 5am wake up is the worst. Not quite late enough to start the day and not quite early enough to go back to sleep.

        • Pogo says

          Mine is 100th %ile for both height and weight! Which is funny bc DH and I are very average. I think he’s going to do all of his growing before age 2.

          I also super commiserate on the pee leaking at night. It is the WORST. At one point we were leaking through by like, midnight. Poor guy would be all wet inside his merlin suit :(

    • Anonymous says

      I like Seventh Generation overnight diapers. But honestly sizing up will work just fine too. Many kids need bigger diapers than their weight would suggest. For a boy, make sure he’s pointing down.

      • Anonymous says

        I just looked it up and my kid was in size 4 diapers (even during the day) at 6 months, and she was only 17 pounds. So I would probably just size up as a starting point.

    • AwayEmily says

      Yup, size up. I used Honest size 6 night diapers on both my kids starting when they were under a year.

      • anon says

        +1 size up and I swear by Honest overnights. Have worked great on all three of my kids.

    • anon says

      Different brands? We switched away from Costco at that age for convenience reasons and I didn’t realize until we tried other brands that Costco didn’t actually fit him all that well compared to others. Our few leaking incidents went away entirely.

      • NYCer says

        I agree re trying a different brand. We switched to Huggies Overnights around that age, and it was a gamechanger.

    • TheElms says

      I have a tummy sleeper and using a “sposie booster pad” in the diaper has worked best for us.

    • Anon says

      We use target overnights and size up. We were still having issues, and we are EFF now, so we shifted some daytime calories to 4 larger daytime bottles and a smaller bottle right before bed (same total volume). They still have enough calories to sleep though the night but pee less overnight.

    • Anonanonanon says

      I used store brand during the day and name brand pampers or huggies overnight at night for my kids when they hit this point. Target ones just don’t cut it for 10 hours.

    • Anon says

      Late response, but you can totally put a size 4 on top of a size 3 just for night. I used to double diaper my kids at night to avoid this. They’re sleeping so it’s not uncomfortable like it might be if they were moving around during the day.

    • What ELSE have i missed? says

      I just want to say that I am a new parent to a 14 week old baby and I did not know night diapers existed or that people use different brands for day and for night until reading this thread!

      • AnonATL says

        I have learned the most random diaper info from all this. Apparently some brands are better for boys than girls. Some are better for different body shapes. Some are better for overnights.
        Diapers are complicated.
        Too much desperate googling early in the morning.. but not nearly as convoluted as all the baby sleep things I googled when he was tiny.

    • Nan says

      Double diaper! Don’t ask me why this works as it doesn’t make sense to me.

    • Colette says

      I have a similar giant baby who likes to down 14 ounces before bed.

      We do huggies overnight (size 3) and then sposie pad size 4 to 6.

      When we ran out of sposies, we have also successfully double diapered – huggies overnight on the inside and then a regular huggies on the outside.

  2. Color changing light? says

    I think this has been discussed here before, but I am totally failing to find it – what smart lamp/night lights do people use for kids rooms? We have the cheapo Mirari ok to wake clock and it’s worked great for our almost 4 year old, but we’re getting ready for her to share a room with little sister, and I love the idea of a light that can change colors – amber overnight, purple for a short period to chat/play quietly, green for wakeup time. Ability to adjust the time from my phone would be great too. Am I remembering correctly, does this magic product exist? Thanks!

    • AwayEmily says

      Yes! When we moved my kids into the same room (ages 2 and 4) we got a Hatch light and we use the exact same color codes you just describe. My 2yo always wakes up early, and I can see him on the monitor just chilling while the light is yellow, then the second we turn it purple he pops up and says “Light is purple! It’s PURPLE!” It’s adorable (and honestly she reacts much better to him waking her up than to us waking her up). It’s nice to be able to control manually to let them sleep in a bit sometimes.

      • Anon. says

        Yes, I’m greeted every morning to the happy scream of “Mommy, the light is Green!!!”

        We love our Hatch.

    • Pogo says

      yep, the hatch! each kid has one now. I toggle back and forth between the two to adjust their noise machine or light as appropriate. Such a great invention.

    • anon says

      Another vote for the Hatch. It’s more expensive than the cheap ok-to-wake clocks, but the ability to control it from my phone is amazing, especially for holidays like Monday where we forgot to set it to the “weekend” waking time until after the kids went to bed.

    • anon says

      yep, we now have three hatches. I actually use one in our bedroom too so when I wake up at night to nurse the baby I know roughly what time it is without finding my glasses (to see the alarm clock), turning on a light or looking at my phone.

    • Anon says

      Everyone with the Hatch (we love ours, too, btw): our cord keeps falling out of the port. It is very loose and sometimes the light doesn’t switch on if it’s not securely pushed in. Is this common? Do I have a defective one? Ideas?

      • AnonATL says

        This sounds strange to me. I have tripped on our cord before, and that still didn’t yank it out.
        Maybe customer support can replace it for you?

      • Ifiknew says

        Too late in the day but I’m convinced this is an issue with the earlier hatches I’ve since gotten a free power cord which worked for six months then I paid for a power cord which worked for another six months and now I just bought a new Hatch :( the second hen versions have a different round plug that doesn’t have this issue

  3. Lyssa says

    These boots are adorable, and I would totally buy a matching set for myself and my daughter if they had grown-up sizes.

    • Spirograph says

      Same, I saw the picture and my first thought was “oooooh, I needed new boots anyway!” but sadly, I have grown-up sized feet.

    • AnotherAnon says

      That’s so funny; I thought “Hm these are a bit twee” as I scrolled past, thinking they were for adults! Clearly I’m just here for the comments.

  4. Anon says

    Help me with some childcare basics as a I plan for next year. (I’ve had paid grandparent help up to this point, but that is over when the pandemic ends). Assume both parents are working outside the home. Kids will be in kindergarten and 2 years old.

    What do you do for childcare when school is closed (teacher training, snow day) or a little one is too sick for daycare? Do you scramble to find a babysitter? Have a SAHM friend watch them?

    • Spirogrpah says

      What is your aftercare plan? I ask because the wonderful before/after care in my elementary school always provides full day coverage for those random days off and even some snow days (if the central office is still open, I think?). In normal times, they also allowed drop-in care on those days off for kids not enrolled in the before/after care.

      • anon says

        This. Our elem school doesn’t offer before/after care, but all the local places that will drop kids off/pick them up from the school will also cover random days off.

    • Anonymous says

      You panic and take days off and work from home days and muddle through

      • Anon says

        yes, this. also – even if grandparent will no longer be regular caregiver, might they be available for the random day off, particularly if it is like a teacher work day as opposed to a sick day? my dad is a doctor and my mom worked a corporate job so she was always stuck with us when sick bc my dad had a private practice. if it was a planned day off my mom would try to schedule us playdates. only now as a parent do i appreciate how stressful that must have been for her.

        • Anonymous says

          Yep, the people I know with local grandparents rely heavily on them for stuff like this.

        • Anon OP says

          Thanks – the grandparent in question is moving to another state. The other set of grandparents is local, but grandma works outside the home and grandpa is getting more and more frail.

    • Anon says

      We only have one kid, so that makes it easier, but we’ve always covered that stuff out of our own vacation time or sick leave. DH is a professor, so he has a pretty flexible schedule except when he has a class and he’s always worked from home on his non-teaching days, so our standard rule is that he covers days he doesn’t teach and I cover the days he does. He sometimes teaches Mon/Wed/Fri and sometimes Tues/Thurs so it usually works out to a pretty 50-50 split between us. The first year in daycare they get sick a ton (I think I used 20 sick days the first year and that was just my half), but after that it’s not so bad. I wouldn’t expect a kindergartner to get sick much unless they’ve never been in preschool or daycare before. Our daycare has more scheduled closures than many places, but they generally line up with academic breaks and university holidays, except for a few random teacher workdays and I usually use personal leave to cover that. I assume post-pandemic there will be more flexibility to work from home for teacher workdays and sick kids rather than taking official leave.

    • anon says

      This is why we had an au pair, pre Trump immigration ban. It was a great solution for our family.

      • anne-on says

        +1. Au pair was a lifesaver for us with no local family and with my job requiring ~30% travel. We have a local part time sitter now which means more $$ for fewer hours, but she can cover emergency sick days and is scheduled well out for school breaks (like, I book her for all school holidays the week I get the calendar). We are enjoying having our house back to ourselves, and our kiddo prefers the stability of a sitter (au pairs changing every year can be hard on some kids) but the increase in cost is no joke.

    • Boston Legal Eagle says

      We’ve had my retired dad (about 30 min away) come to cover sick days. He can usually handle one kid for the day. We’ve just been in daycare so far, so the plan for kindergarten is still TBD but likely some combination of us working from home that day or my dad coming by to help.

    • Anonanonanon says

      We chose a daycare that provided before/after school care for elementary kids (and took them to school and picked them up) and followed government closures for weather instead of public school closures. We paid a little extra if child stayed the whole day for teacher work day/snow day. They covered Spring Break and most of Winter Break as well. We don’t have local family so it was the only workable solution for us. For sick kid, whoever doesn’t have important in person meetings that day covered. If both did, whoever couldn’t arrange coverage went in and the other stayed home, or we swapped halfway through the day if our meeting schedules permitted.

      • Anon OP says

        Thank you! I’m researching day cares for the first time so hopefully I can find one with this option.

    • AnotherAnon says

      In your shoes I might gauge grandparents’ interest in covering, but I have no experience there. TBH pre-pandemic I would panic and DH would usually cover since his job is more flexible. Now, I just let work know kiddo is out of school/sick and I will be WFH that day. They laid off 2/3 of my team last year and doubled our work load. I figure if they don’t have any consideration for my time, I don’t owe them much for theirs. #salty

      • lulaj says

        when my oldest was a baby/toddler in daycare, i found a grandmother/retiree on care.com to specifically be backup on sick days (no local family). She was not looking for regular hours and understood it was as needed (we did have do some date nights initially so she could get to know us/the baby). I’d say she wasn’t able to cover about 1 out of every 4 times we asked (and in that first year he was sick constantly). I also felt better having an experienced mom of 4 watch my sick kid with a high fever – she had good intuition and didn’t hesitate to call me if she felt I needed to get him into the dr. It was a great arrangement and reduced a lot of the scramble.

    • FVNC says

      Once upon a time when we had such things as babysitters, I had a care . com account as well as a list of about 10 sitters (local college kids, mostly) who might be able to help for all or some portion of the day. Caveat that I work from home, so I was okay having a random person in my house from care . com to watch my sick kids. I wouldn’t have done that if I were going to an office. There was much panic and scrambling involved, even with this much potential backup available.

    • Anonymous says

      Sick kiddo- you or DH take the day off and/or work from home.
      Professional days/school vacation days etc- combo of totally winging it, utilizing afterschool programming (our town has a great one for all the random half days and some holidays), plus we have a neighbor in middle school that watches our kiddos on some of the more minor holidays (columbus day, etc). Remember that the older kids are off, too!

    • Anonymous says

      I had WFH flexibility even in the Before Times, so I would usually just work from home when I had a sick kid. Sick kids sleep a lot and are happy to chill on the couch with TV when they’re awake, so in my experience it’s actually not hard to get work done with a sick kid at home. It’s the days when they’re healthy but excluded from daycare because of the 24 hour fever rule that are more challenging, but we managed.

      • Pogo says

        Agree, in the before times, LO only stayed home when he had a fever or was otherwise *really* sick. Said kiddo would lay on the couch in a lump and watch tv and not do anything except possibly accept the water bottle I forced on him. I could easily wfh with the help of tv in this case.

        A healthy kiddo? nope. it’s just survival when he’s home and we’re both working.

    • Anon OP says

      Thanks for all the comments! I have more information to inform my search and decision-making. This is exactly what I needed.

      • Anon says

        The only other things I didn’t see mention is double checking to see if either of your works have an agreement with an emergency care provider, like the Bright Horizons back up care.
        Also, once I started researching Summer Camps for my oldest it was news to me to realize how many of those same camps offer Spring Break and Random Holiday day camps.

        • Anonanonanon says

          Yes! Our local park service offers spring break camps, winter break camps, etc. I forgot about that. Some karate studios and sports complexes do as well. I have a weird thing against using karate studios for before/after school care, as they aren’t licensed like childcare programs and there seems to be a high rate of abuse come out of those places, but I know plenty of people who use them

    • DLC says

      This doesn’t help with the two year old, but for our elementary school child, we use the aftercare program at our school for days off – at ours, you pay the enrollment fee and can do drop in whenever you need. Which is helpful also on days when we both have to work late and can’t do pick up.
      Another thing we’ve done is some of the places where my kids take classes (like the gymnastics place and the local theatre) have full day camps on these days. Our kiddo actually really likes these because one of her friends who goes to a different school also enrolls so they get to hang out all day together. These places also do winter break/ spring break camps.
      I have also swapped childcare with friends – like they take MLK day off and I watch both kids and I take President’s day off, or some such.
      For sick days it’s me or my husband, or in a pinch, a SAHM mom friend, if it’s nothing too serious.

    • SC says

      We scrambled to find a babysitter. I had a list of people who pick up extra money babysitting. Our list was actors and musicians who our former nanny, also a musician, knew. Co-workers have had lists from local colleges, especially where there was some connection, like a sorority the co-worker had also belonged to. I know some people who use grandparents in a pinch, but our local grandparents were never willing.

  5. Cb says

    Someone recommended a book that had all the animal houses in it ages ago. Like bears live in dens, rabbits in burrows, etc. And my google skills are failing me. Anyone remember?

    • Pogo says

      oo I might need to get this. LO is obsessed with pretending to be a baby animal and building his den/nest/etc. “Mommy I’m a baby birdie! This is my nest!” (pillow fort).

      • Cb says

        We spent the AM building different houses/habitats for his stuffed animals / puppets. “Giraffe can’t go too close to lion, he might eat him!”

  7. anon says

    Talk to me about summer camp, especially the sleepaway variety. I have an 11-year-old who is now old enough to go to a one-week overnight camp. It’s within an hour of our home. He has never done anything like this before and is socially immature for his age, although fairly responsible overall. I waver back and forth between just signing him up for the day camp and letting him experience something more immersive. He is not the most flexible human on the planet (a feature of ADHD) and I see it as a growth opportunity for him. His school community is pretty insular (his grade is unusually small), and it would be nice for him to get to know peers outside of that environment. I know I got a lot out of going to camps, but I don’t remember when I started doing that. 12, maybe? I remember being homesick even though I was having fun. Thoughts?

    • Anonymous says

      Let him go! 8 year olds go to sleepaway camp where I live so I think even a socially immature 11 year old will be fine. And if he isn’t, it’s just one week.

    • Spirograph says

      Send him! I started going to summer camp when I was 7, iirc, and I was a camp counselor for several years in high school and college for a camp that started as young as 6 year olds. My ADHD son went in summer 2019 when he was 6, just for 2 nights. He was homesick, but also had a lot of fun. Camp is a wonderful experience for most kids, and the counselors and staff will have plenty of experience dealing with homesickness. If he is totally unable to cope, they will call you, but I never had to do that and only remember it happening a couple times (even then, the parents were able to talk the kid into sticking it out and they had fun in spite of themselves).

      Tips: Start mailing letters to him a couple days before he leaves so he gets some mail right at the beginning. That always cheered up the really hesitant kids. Also, if you can find one friend to go to camp with him, that could help. More than one friend, they’ll just stay in a pack and not hang out with other kids, but a single familiar face seems to make kids more likely to make new friends because they feel more comfortable

    • avocado says

      Summer camp is such an important way for kids to build independence. If the parents don’t signal that the kid should be worried, or that you’ll come pick them up if they don’t like it, kids almost always end up adapting by halfway through the first week.

      I started sending my daughter to sleepaway camp when she was 6. She loved it and didn’t want to come home. One of her friends was terrified to go to camp without her mom as a chaperone but got pushed into it at age 12. She came home saying it was the best thing she’d ever done.

      Below age 10 I would make camp the kid’s choice; at age 10+ I’d require it. 6 – 7 days is an ideal session length for first-time campers–if they take a while to settle in, they still have a couple of days left to really enjoy themselves before they have to leave. 5-day camps are not quite long enough, as they really only have 3 full days. I have sent my daughter to camp with friends and on her own, and there are advantages and disadvantages to each approach. If they go with a friend, they may be more comfortable at first but they don’t tend to interact as much with the other kids and make new friends. If the friend is in any way bossy or domineering, that can also cause problems.

      This year, however, I wouldn’t send a kid to sleepaway camp unless he, the camp staff, and all the other campers were required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. We are keeping our daughter home for the second summer in a row, which is super disappointing because the really awesome program she’d planned to attend won’t be as good an option next year when she is older.

      • Anon says

        I think it’s silly to *require* a kid to go to sleep away camp if it’s not their jam. There are lots of other ways to encourage and develop independence in a kid. I didn’t go to an overnight camp until I was 15 or so just because there wasn’t a program that interested me (I’m not an outdoorsy person at all and I came of age before the wide selection of academic camps that are popular now). I was also busy doing my intense competitive sport in the summers. I turned out just fine, and was more independent and self-sufficient than most of my peers in college.
        That said, if OP’s son is interested in this camp, I agree she should not hesitate to send him.

      • Anonymous says

        That’s such a shame since obviously you know kids can’t be vaccinated.

          • Anonymous says

            My kids are going to camp and I disagree that it is unsafe. They go to in person school inside. Camp is a contained group and outside and I’m so happy to have it be open.

          • Anonymous says

            You are not comfortable with the risks of camp, which is your choice. Camp is not objectively unsafe and lots of us are glad it’s an option.

          • Anonymous says

            There were multiple superspreader events at overnight camps last summer. Unless maybe the campers are outdoors 100% of the time, including sleeping and showering, the UK variant will make camp even less safe this summer. But you go ahead and make your own choices, because those definitely don’t have any impact on other people.

          • Anonymous says

            Oh my goodness I didn’t realize we had a soothsayer who knows the future in our midst!

          • Anonymous says

            Do you ever want your kids to go back to school? If so, don’t send them to camp.

          • Anonymous says

            There were a couple of new stories last year about outbreaks at camps out of… how many camps that were open? Thousands? Tens of thousands? And I’m pretty sure most of the camps in the news didn’t require kids to wear masks or do any testing of kids or staff. We know a lot more about the virus than we did last summer, and many schools and colleges have been operating mostly smoothly since late summer.

          • Spirograph says

            I think it really depends on the camp. There were superspreader camps last summer, but I also read about some that did a really great job: masks and testing for the first 2 weeks with quarantine space for anyone who tested positive, and then after 14 days, everyone put their masks away and had “normal” camp. Obviously that was for longer-duration camp, though. I agree with you, avocado, I probably won’t be comfortable with a 1 week camp this summer unless there is major progress on containing the pandemic before then.

          • Anon says

            “Do you ever want your kids to go back to school? If so, don’t send them to camp.”

            I don’t understand this at all. The only school that summer camp could possibly affect at this point would be fall 2021 and beyond. Considering that adults and likely many teenagers will be vaccinated by the fall, I’m not really understanding how a few kids getting Covid at camp over the summer would force the schools to remain closed in the fall. Also there are so many things that are more dangerous than camp that many if not most people will be doing this summer in the post-vaccine world (like travel and gathering with friends/family), so it seems really weird to single camp out as The Thing You Must Not Do.

          • Anonymous says

            Anon 11:48, there are people on the main board today complaining that their school districts don’t even have plans to open in the fall. If we want schools to open in the fall, we need to knock infection rates way down. This means no one should be traveling or spending time in unmasked group situations like sleepaway camp over the summer. But hey, if you’re comfortable sending your kids to camp, I understand. Having to deal with on-line school again next year so your kids can go to camp this summer is totally worth it to me.

          • Anonymous says

            To anon at 11:42, I’m not sure schools and colleges are a good comparison for a one-week sleepaway summer camp. The *purpose* of a summer camp is to mix with different cohorts, and part of what has made schools work is cohorting. College dorms maybe are similar to camp sleeping arrangements, but in college you don’t usually sleep in the same room as 10 other people.

            My bigger question is whether the programming will still be effective. At least at the summer camps I went to as a kid, camp spirit was kind of the point: you ate at the dining hall en masse, did big group activities like capture the flag, campfires with sing-alongs, etc. and other camp activities like arts and crafts or archery or whatever with the mix of kids interested in them that day. You didn’t spend all day every day with the same 5-10 kids. All the ways I can think of to make sleepaway camp covid-safe really take away from the experience. There are obviously huge regional variations in how this will be handled, and there’s definitely an advantage to most activities being outdoors… but this just isn’t a year that I’m going to encourage sleepaway camp for my kids since they’re not clamoring to go.

    • Anon says

      where i am from, kids start going to overnight camp the summer going into 3rd or 4th grade and many kids go for 4-8 weeks. i went for the first time at age 8 for a month and yesterday i was just chatting with my friend who hopes to send her 7 year old this summer. i would of course ask him if he has any interest before just signing him up, but i say go for it!

    • Anonymous says

      I have a longer reply in mod for some reason, but the short version is: do it!

    • Anonymous says

      Does he want to go? I don’t see that anywhere in your message. If he wants to go, and covid isn’t a concern I would absolutely let him. If he doesn’t want to, I would stroooooongly recommend not forcing it (I was definitely not ready at that age and had a literal panic attack with the director trying to physically pull me out of my parents’ car, which is one of my most traumatic childhood memories).

      • Anon says

        Yes, this. I went to one single night of sleepaway camp in my whole life and that was plenty. I was very happy to sleep at home. If he wants to go, great! If not, it’s expensive and unnecessary – definitely not a required “right of passage”.

      • Anne says

        This. I loved going to a month-long summer camp starting at 10 and would not worry about maturity etc. since being able to be a kid in a different setting is kind of the point. But, I wanted to go and was excited to go.

      • anon says

        He is on the fence. He thinks it sounds fun but is nervous. And, I know that this is a kid who often needs a gentle nudge into growth experiences, if you will, because he will stay in his comfort zone 100% of the time if we let him.

        • Anonymous says

          I have a kid like that, who always needs a nudge, and I would send him.

  8. Anon says

    How do I encourage my first grader to read without turning it into a chore or a fight? Technically, she can read and decode words but needs lots of practice to smooth it out. We have tried rewards, getting new books that she loves, reading jokes, scavenger hunts. She tries but I haven’t seen her perk up and get excited about it the way that she gets excited about everything else. She’s a great student so I’m just surprised and unprepared about her hesitation to read.

    • Anon says

      I think if you try to force it, it will likely turn into a battle and put her off reading. If you do nothing, there’s a good chance she’ll independently discover the joy of reading. But keep in mind that not everyone loves reading and that’s ok. My husband is brilliant and successful but has never read anything that wasn’t required for school or work.

      • anon says

        My kids like doing things that they’re good at, so practice does help them like reading more. We make it part of the routine to read at the same time every day, so that really helps with resistance. We also reward our kids by reading to them from a chapter book after we finish reading their book together.

    • anon says

      We’ve always done best by alternating pages. I read a page and then she reads a page. On harder books we’ll even alternate paragraphs or sentences. It really helps to move the story along a bit without her having to read every word.

      • Anonymous says

        This. Let her pick the books, too. My son was (still is) a reluctant reader and he would often pick books that he had mostly memorized. That’s OK! Speaking the words out loud while looking at them — even if you’re not decoding them on the spot — is still building the foundation, and confidence.

    • Anon says

      Keep in mind that until kids are very fluent readers, reading is a lot of work and not necessarily relaxing like it might be to you. We just kind of kept a few books everywhere-the car, every room in the house. We read to our DD as much as she wanted, but also tried to intersperse that with her reading to us.

    • DLC says

      The only thing my child (now eight) will read on her own are graphic novels. I had to get over my own snobbish-ness about it and realize that at this age anything to encourage her to sit with a book was a win. I feel like for my kid the reading she has to for school is so boring and onerous, I don’t want to add more to that load, and want her to realize that there can be fun things to be found in books.
      Also – audio books have helped too. If she listens to an audiobook of a series, she is more likely to want to read the paper copy.
      And letting her read on the iPad. or via screens always seems more enticing than a paper book.

      • anon says

        Same here. They now make graphic novels of everything (the Witches, BSC. Etc.). My kids also like magazines targeted to them (so DD got a Disney princess magazine for awhile, although they stopped printing it, and DS gets Hockey News because he’s obsessed with hockey). I signed up for epic!, which my kids love more than real books for some reason. Epic! will read some books out loud as they’re reading, although I told my 2nd grader to turn that feature off.

    • Io says

      Buy two copies of whatever longer book you want kid to read. Then read it aloud and have them follow along. About half way through start having them read (not every other page yet, maybe the top paragraph of each page.)

      The Matthew principle applies so strongly in reading, so NEVER make it a chore, always find something they’re interested in, participate with distance as much as possible.

  9. anon says

    Advice please! All indications (one partner clearing out files, strange meetings, etc.) point toward some shake up at my very small firm (two partners and a handful of attorneys that work for one partner or the other — not much overlap). Any advice for how to handle if/when I get a call that they are splitting, laying off, or whatever the case is? Questions to ask? My concern is mostly things I should ask/request during the limited window of a transition.

    • Realist says

      For a small firm it is difficult to tell what would be reasonable to ask for. You probably have an idea of what severance would be appropriate or even possible. Of course, ask for reference letters and LinkedIn endorsements and whatever else would be helpful in your market if you are let go. This is very know your firm, but leverage your relationships and find out whatever gossip you can so that you can position yourself as well as possible. Maybe you could depart with your partner or just be aware of what is going on. If you can do so discreetly, back up your contacts to your personal phone, save files that you are allowed to keep (writing samples, etc), and update your resume. It never hurts to do those last few things every year or two. YMMV, but if I were close to my partner, I would go have a conversation “Hey, I noticed XYZ. Is anything going on that you can discuss with me?”

  10. DC anon says

    DC ladies, help me get out of a weekend rut. Kids are 3 and 6 and we go to the same 2 places every weekend (a high school track and an open field in our neighborhood). What are your favorite outdoor spots within an hour of DC proper. We have gone to Rock Creek and Great Falls, I am thinking about snow tubing soon. Any other ideas?

    • anon says

      We’ve been doing lots of biking on mild days. Our 6 yo will ride her bike and our preschooler will ride in a bike trailer. We’ll pull over at places to play on an empty playground or to feed the ducks.

    • Anon says

      What about a winery? 8 chains north is 25 minutes from me in Great Falls and is kid friendly. Pack a picnic lunch, get there early and sit outside. Change of scenery and in the summer and fall they had outdoor music on weekends (they may not for winter). I went in August when reservations were required (looks like they eliminated reservations for the winter) but the tables were very well distanced and it felt very safe. Friends of ours went to a farm in Maryland where they got to pet cows, see them milked, etc., so you might see about something like that too.

    • SSJD says

      There are all the monuments, which are free and open and a great place to run around.
      Here’s a list of less obvious things we’ve enjoyed:
      Arlington National Cemetery
      Ferry Farm where George Washington grew up (with good donuts nearby)
      Sandy Spring Sculpture Garden and nearby dam
      Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
      Mt. Vernon (free on President’s Day, usually)
      https://www.annmariegarden.org/annmarie2/
      https://artbma.org/collections/sculpture.garden.html
      https://www.marylandzoo.org/
      C&O Canal Locks
      Great Falls (near Billy Goat trail which is very fun but hard)
      https://bryceresort.com/snow-tubing/

    • Spirograph says

      Depending on where you are in DC, Sugarloaf Mtn in Maryland might be doable in an hour. Some nice hikes, and a winery at the base of it. Definitely close enough in Montgomery County: Brookside Gardens is much nicer in not-winter, but still has fun little paths, arbors, gazebos, ponds etc, and adjacent Wheaton regional park with huge playground, miniature train & carousel (not sure if it’s open), hiking trails and a pond. Cabin John regional park has a lot of the same.

    • Anon says

      Harpers Ferry is a tiny bit farther, any place to go outdoor ice skating, Frederick, walk along the C&O canal, arborteum, brookside gardens, manassas

    • Anon says

      Depending on where in DC you are could be just at an hour, but if you’re close to the NOVA side, frying pan park in Herndon! Historic working farm with goats, cows, pigs, horses, tons of outdoor space plus a playground and carousel (not sure if that’s open at the moment)

      • Anonymous says

        Oh thanks for this reminder! I heard about Frying Pan park from a coworker pre-pandemic but we haven’t made it out there, yet.

        Clark’s Elioak farm in Ellicot City, MD is similar in the opposite direction.
        If you want to go a little farther afield, there are several creameries within 90 minutes or so. We liked South Mountain Creamery pre-pandemic (and get milk delivery from them), but they have some restrictions in place at the moment.

    • octagon says

      We did Windy Run in Arlington last week – it’s only about a half-mile out and back from the trailhead in a neighborhood to the Potomac, but lots of opportunities to play on big rocks, and there are three separate stream crossings. It connects to the trail that runs from Great Falls to Roosevelt Island so you can make it longer if you want. We spent about 3 hours which was right for kiddo (5.5) in this weather.

    • Anne says

      Any of the national wilderness areas within 45 minutes of DC are awesome.

    • Anonanonanon says

      We like the little town of North Beach, MD. Don’t have to cross the Bay Bridge, long enough drive (40-60 minutes depending on where you are) for the 3 yo to fall asleep, a little ice cream shop, a boardwalk, etc. Something about seeing the water helps me. I see kids bike/scooter down the paved path next to the boardwalk, too. Depending on the time of day there is a bakery/coffee shop as well. It’s our go-to for those days where you can’t believe you still have half of a day left and no idea how to fill it but must get out of the house.

  11. Anon says

    I just need to vent. I had gynecological surgery earlier this week. It’s a surgery I’ve had before so I knew I’d probably feel bad the rest of the week and told my clients with pressing matters who to contact, etc. And basically everyone has ignored it. I’ve gotten constant requests and frustrated emails from clients wanting deliverables. I feel like part of this is covid fatigue (clients seem frustrated all the time lately) but seriously? My DH had been amazing with the kids letting me rest but I’m so fed up with work. This is the only real break I’ve had in months and it’s not like it’s fun.

    • Anonymous says

      Ugh, I’m sorry this is happening. Are you responding to those requests or do you have an out of office reply up? IANAL and don’t have external clients, so this is probably a total culture difference, but I would ignore them.
      Especially since you were proactive in providing alternate contacts. You’re entitled to recover from surgery in peace!

    • Realist says

      Whenever DH is complaining about a very similar situation the cure is to put out of office on email and voice. I know office culture will vary, but there have to be boundaries and unfortunately you usually have to set and enforce and enforce again. You should not feel bad about it either. You deserve to heal.

  12. Anonymous says

    Similar to the DC-area post above, do any NYC people have ideas of outdoor activities to do this weekend? We are in Brooklyn and have a car and a 3rd grader (among other things!). Nothing I can think of sounds remotely appealing, but that is partly because I need to sleep for several hours.

    • Anon says

      We don’t have a car, but if we did I’d definitely want to head to Jamaica Bay for some bird watching! Not sure how your kid does on car trips, but Storm King is amazing (you need tickets!). Weeksville Heritage Center is outdoors if you’re looking for something more educational and it’s just in Crown Heights.

    • Anoner says

      Fellow Brooklyn mom here. We had fun walking the Greenbelt nature train in Staten Island and the Salt Marsh Nature Trail in south Brooklyn. Also Shirley Chisholm state park is cool. My kids also like going to Jacob Riis even in the winter.

    • Anon says

      when it warms up a bit just drive to a town in Long Island, like sea cliff or something and wander along the water.

    • Anonymous says

      Thank you for these ideas! I did not realize Storm King was staying open all winter and I have been meaning to go to Weeksville (which I am thrilled that the city decided to bail out).

      My only idea, in case anyone wants to steal it or opine on its worthiness, is to drive into Manhattan to walk around the Seaport. It seems like one ought to be able to find parking on the weekend? Also FYI, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is hosting some outdoor sound installations and self-guided narrated nature walks. These sound more appealing for me than my kid, but its convenient at least.

    • Anonymous says

      I can’t read the whole article but I am not too worried about the fall (yet), and I would take statements by the union with a grain of salt – or at least put them in context. My husband is a NYC public school teacher, and I read the union’s public statements as opening salvos in ongoing negotiations – they tend to lead with the worst case scenario. In this case, I think they are joining the Mayor and Governor in lobbying the Federal government for more vaccines to be provided to the City and to the union, which is overseeing a lot of teacher vaccinations in partnership with various hospital networks. I do not expect schools to fully reopen this spring though; there is not going to be enough will for schools to reshuffle everything for the last couple months, which is unfortunate. (My husband hates remote teaching and how it is shortchanging students). My husband already received his first dose, and my teacher friend has an appointment that got rescheduled quickly after being cancelled. If supply ramps up starting in April, it is really hard for me to imagine teachers won’t have ample opportunity to get vaccinated by September.

    • Anon says

      What I’m wondering is whether schools will open full time even if all teachers have been vaccinated…because the kids won’t have been! I wonder if schools will still try to limit capacity and interaction between kids, like with a hybrid/cohort system, and/or keep shutting things down for every case. Especially if the new strain is circulating and kids are more susceptible.

      • Anonymous says

        We have been hybrid since September. I think- and will advocate for- full in person with *possibly* one section per grade of full remote. We have 4 elem schools and right now each school has one half of a class full remote. So each school has one of the 2nd grade teachers teaching one group of ~10 fully remote kids. Across the district thats 40 remote kids/grade. I bet they will go down to 10-20 kids across the district per grade that won’t/can’t return without a vax.

      • Anonymous says

        I think there will still be safety measures for sure, like masks and trying to keep cohorts separate, but I think way more schools will at least have an in-person option if teachers can be vaxxed. Our schools have been open for full-time instruction this year, but they had to shut down from Thanksgiving to January because they just didn’t have the staff to keep things open since there were so many sick staff members and staff members who’d been exposed and had to quarantine. Hopefully by fall we have the data that vaccinated people don’t spread the virus, so vaccinated people won’t have to quarantine every time they have an exposure. Also, theoretically the US could reach herd immunity by late summer if enough adults and teens get vaccinated, which would make new cases very minimal and probably allow schools to return to mostly normal even before any young kids get the vaccine. But I doubt vaccine availability and uptake will allow that to happen.

  14. SB says

    Does anyone have experience with therapy for themselves to help work through the nuances of having a special needs child? I just found out my five month old daughter has some issues with her vision and may possibly be blind, and I think talking to a professional would be helpful. Specific recs would be great – I’m in LA but would prefer virtual sessions, so location is irrelevant – but also would love to hear about other’s experience with this.

    • CHL says

      No recommendations but hugs and you are so smart to be thinking about this. Best of luck with your daughter and I hope you’re both getting the care that you need.

    • Anon says

      Hugs. I don’t have recommendations either but I am legally blind in one eye due to an issue that impacts both eyes. There has always been a worry from my doctors that I would lose sight in both eyes.
      While that hasn’t happened yet, it did make me do a lot of research into blindness. I recommend you do so, too. It helps me a lot. I actually do it every few years when the worry crops up again.
      There was also an uplifting article about a blind man who used technology to run an unassisted 5k in the NYTimes recently.
      I wish you and kiddo all the best. You will do great!

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