Nursing/Postpartum Tuesday: Lumi Pets Bunny Night Light
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When my son was a newborn, we had this type of night light in his room. I couldn’t find the exact one we had online, but this one is the same idea: cordless and rechargeable. The biggest plus to a cordless night light is that you can move it around the room. For middle-of-the-night diaper changes, you can grab the light and put it right near you on top of the changing table so you can see what you’re doing but also don’t over-stimulate the baby. Later on, I see the color-changing and remote being fun for an older baby and/or a toddler. The light is $21.99 at Crate & Barrel — and it also comes in a bear shape. Lumi Pets Bunny Night Light
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Sales of note for 1/16:
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Cashmere on sale; AllSaints, Free People, Nike, Tory Burch, and Vince up to 60%; beauty deals up to 25% off
- AllSaints – now up to 60% off (some of the best leather jackets!)
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your full-price purchase; extra 50% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles with code — readers love this blazer, these dresses, and their double-layer line of tees
- DeMellier – Sale now on, free shipping and returns — includes select options like Montreal, Vancouver, and Venice
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; extra 50% off all clearance, plus ELOQUII X kate spade new york collab just dropped
- Everlane – Sale of the year, up to 70% off — reader favorites include their scoop tee, Dream Pant, ReNew Transit backpack, silk blouses and oversized blazers! New markdowns just added
- Hannah Andersson – Up to 30% off all pajamas;
- J.Crew – Up to 40% off select styles; up to 50% off cashmere
- J.Crew Factory – 40-70% off everything
- L.K. Bennett – Archive sale, almost everything 70% off
- M.M.LaFleur – Tag sale for a limited time — jardigans and dresses $200, pants $150, tops $95, T-shirts $50
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Semi-Annual Red Door Sale – 50% off + extra 20% off, sale on sale, plus free shipping on $150+
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?
My husband has worked part-time for several years. He is in the medical field, so is now pulling 12 hour shifts, but at least it is only 3-4 days a week.
On his 3-4 days a week, I bill when I can and have conference calls when I can. I have 4 and 5 year olds that thankfully play really well together. There is only modest interruption, and I’ve prepared my clients and colleagues for that. If they have a problem with that, they can suck it! so, i average 2-4 hours of billed time during their play.
My kids were in school, but I have declared early summer for them. we participate in zero school activities. I simply do not care. We read to them every day and I believe imaginative play is best for them at this age anyway. ha! I love how I mask my laziness with free-range ideals!
As soon as husband gets home, he takes over. here lately (with the 12 hour shifts), he usually gets home right before they go to bed – he takes care of the bedtime routine while I start working. Then he puts together late dinner for us and we “catch up” for half an hour to an hour. Then I try to get a few more hours of work in. My goal is to bill 8 hours on those days, but it usually ends up being about 6. though, some days i just power through and get 10-11 (i.e., when working on document revisions).
On the days husband is off work, he does everything. He takes care of the kids 100% from 7.30am (when they get up) to 4.30pm. I work. I try to start by 6am and finish around 4.30pm and have some family time and eat dinner as a family and play until kids go to bed. On those days, I put the kids to bed (because I enjoy it) while husband cleans the kitchen. (Also, even on days he works, he cleans the kitchen. he is responsible for dishes and i am responsible for laundry. this works for us.) After the kids go to bed, I either work more or we chat — or I mindlessly scroll instagram!
other than dishes and laundry, neither of us really clean. we miss our cleaners! we have decided that’s just something that will fall by the wayside.
we are both exhausted, but we both feel this is the best division of labor we can come up with at this point. We are generally happy with how it is going.
also, I LOVE working from home (on days i have childcare from husband). it’s so nice to pop down for a few minutes here and there and talk to hubs or snuggle the kiddos.
So, confirmed children are made of rubber today. While I was on a call, DH told DD it was time for a diaper change. She took off running from him, headed downstairs, missed the top step and slow rolled down the entire flight of stairs. I heard the shouting and the thump thump thump through my headphones and saw her flop off the bottom out of the corner of my eye, started swearing (not on mute, fortunately only an internal call), dropped to comfort her, and, miraculously, she’s fine? Stopped crying after about 15 minutes, I poked around her, and she’s acting normally. If that had been me, I would have been in the ER.
DH’s boss told him yesterday that he will be expected in the office one week on, one week off. This won’t work for us without childcare. He’s a gvt employee (is, job security and benefits, but pay is half mine), and I can work full time from home, so if his boss won’t budge on that schedule, husband is the one who’s going to take FMLA.
I am getting sick of my family and am feeling sad about feeling this way. In particular, the last thing I want to do right now is be intimate with my spouse. I just want to go to my office and work hard and then go out for drinks with my friends or coworkers. Please tell me I’m not the only one feeling like this! I don’t see this situation changing for us for at least another few months, so I need to figure out a way to get out of this feeling.
So, our daycare officially opened yesterday. We’ve committed to sending our kid back starting a week from today. I am feeling all the emotions about this decision. Has anybody else sent their kid(s) back already or will in the next week or so?
You guys, I lost my temper this morning with my 5-year-old for acting … well, 5. I feel terrible. I am so over this stupid WFH-with-kids-underfoot arrangement. It is not working. She needs more than I can give her, and I have constant anxiety about sucking at my job and being a mom. DH and I had already agreed that we wouldn’t send her back to daycare yet and would try to get by with having a sitter come in a few hours a day during June. We may need to revisit that plan because I am breaking. I’m heading into my busy season and am struggling with having my attention so divided.
I’m still thinking about the conversation yesterday about women having to step out of the workforce because daycare and schools aren’t reopening. I understand that for many families it is a financial decision and it makes more sense for mom to step back instead of dad. However, what if we all committed to having our husbands tell their bosses that they *may* have to take leave if daycares do not reopen and all of the women staying quiet on the topic for a week or two while this happens.
Maybe if the powers at be fear that all of their men aren’t coming back they will start pushing politicians to prioritize daycare. Maybe it will seem more normal for women to take leave when all of the men have been talking about it first.
Even better, what if all of these dads take at least one week of leave. Even if they make triple your income, surely you can get by with one week of dad on leave instead of mom? We have to do something and we have to do it in mass for it to work.
The big fault though is if this plan spreads openly on FB or other places that the powers that be read, they won’t believe the men that say they may have to take leave…
Well, I waived the white flag and went on FMLA leave. Starting in a couple weeks so I can wrap things up and minimize how much I leave people in the lurch. Feeling so many emotions right now…relief for myself, happiness for my kiddo that she’ll have more attention from a less-stressed out mom, sadness for the part of myself that enjoyed my job and derived fulfillment from working outside the home, anger that I was forced into this (hopefully temporary?) SAHM situation, worry about what this new dynamic will do to my marriage, anxiety about what will happen if/when we still don’t have daycare when the 12 weeks are up, and so much frustration at the world for thinking we can have any meaningfully “reopening” without daycare/school.
DH and I are discussing sending DS (2.5) back to daycare in a few weeks. They’ve been open in different phases since March (first for only two-essential worker families, then for one-essential worker, and now opening back up to general public). They will re-start food service next week, so I’m thinking of sending DS no earlier than 6/8. They’re doing all the right things: staff will be wearing masks, parent/child/staff temp taken upon entry, no outside time/mixing rooms, low ratios (~10/class max), surfaces/toys are sanitized thoroughly throughout the day with bleach water, and no confirmed cases among staff of COVID-19.
Not only would this be great for DS (he’s currently an only child, so has gotten 0 socialization except for us and seeing grandparents and uncle via social distancing), but I think it would be helpful to us as DH and I have been struggling. A babysitter/nanny is not an option for a few reasons that I won’t drone on about. It’s sad because daycare means that he won’t be able to stay with his grandparents for even longer (my Dad would be in the incredibly high-risk category).
I guess my question is – how are folks dealing w the anxiety about sending their kids back somewhere, esp with the news about the Kawasaki-like disease that’s been popping up? The emotional side of my brain keeps taking over and not allowing logic. Given what the experts are predicting, I also am pretty sure that come Fall/Winter, DS will likely be home with us again so part of me thinks this is a nice window of giving him some “normalcy”.
We have several if these nightlights in various animal shapes. My kids adore them, and they aren’t too bright for sleeping. Rechargable is so much easier than batteries or cords!
Dear Gap Companies:
Dude. I get that your orders/shipping are delayed indefinitely…. if you’re this overwhelmed, maaaaybe dial back the aggressive sale emails. I’m not even frustrated my order is taking 3-4 months to ship; I AM frustrated by your 42 emails a day trying to get me to buy more stuff that won’t ship until Christmas.
Regards,
A woman whose kid has had exponential torso length grown and is now running around in crop tops 24/7 and this order has allll the tops.
My 9 month old still isn’t into eating non-pureed foods. I try but he flicks it around and rubs it in his eye. He’s ok with big things like a piece of toast or pizza crust, but it’s like the rest doesn’t even register as food even when I put it in his mouth. He tries to eat literally everything else, though. Do I do anything extra to help him transition or just go with it?
For some reason, my computer’s built-in webcam is at the BOTTOM of the screen! WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS! I can’t discreetly look something up because giant finger monsters appear in the frame, and we all know how lovely we look when filmed from below the chin.
Weighing how vain it makes me if I order a separate webcam to clip to the top of my computer. I think the giant typing fingers in the frame seal the deal. I’ve only had two video meetings since this started, but I think they’re going to start getting more and more normal.
Now that I’m seeing myself in digital meetings all the time I’m horrified by how bad my posture is. (I knew it wasn’t great, but I had no idea how bad it was.) Can anyone recommend a device to improve posture? Lumps seems to have not great reviews and there’s a few others. Any experiences?
Sorry for this really annoying and selfish complaint about baby gifts and request for advice: good grief, why do people think “you know what a mom needs for a new baby? A blanket!”? Daughter is 3 months old and we’ve been gifted eight blankets for her — two virtually identical woven blankets embroidered with her name, three handmade quilts and three handknit. The knitted and quilted blankets were all handmade by the gifters, mostly friends of the grandparents (we are not close to them personally and they’re mostly out-of-state). I very much appreciate the gifts but now I feel compelled to keep each one and not get rid of seven of them, even though I’m internally screaming get rid of them all. This count doesn’t include the six muslin blankets we also received, and then the multiple blankets we saved from the first baby.
Does anyone else feel like this? Am I a horrible person? Can I take pictures of her laying on them and then give them away? Why do I want to Marie Kondo everything in my life right now?