Washable Wednesday: Elbow Sleeve Ponté Sheath Dress
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Happy Wednesday! This machine washable ponté sheath dress has been on my radar for a while — and now it’s getting great reviews over at Lands’ End. I like that it’s available in regular, petite, plus, and tall sizes, comes in solid black as well as a textured purpley tweed and a textured white/black tweed, and is only $79-$99. Huzzah! Elbow Sleeve Ponté Sheath Dress
(L-all)
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?
That Metafilter article on the Default Parenting thread is SO SO good – totally worth the read.
I don’t want to threadjack the Default Parent discussion – so I may repost tomorrow. But as it’s time to purchase a 2017 planner, I’m curious.
Do you have a favorite planner/organizer/calendar that makes life easier for you? FWIW, DS is not in school yet so I’m not balancing that, but we do have plenty of volunteer/religious/social/family things that keep us busy along with work. I need something that covers all my bases and I function better with paper over electronic.
Suggestions?
Our new nanny has been with us for several weeks. The role is really nanny/house-keeper or manager. Her first priority is the kids but when they’re at preschool (a few mornings a week from 9-12) she is to run errands, grocery shop, cook dinners and do laundry and other light cleaning. She also has the time they nap in the afternoons to cook and do the light cleaning. A cleaning team does the heavy cleaning.
Things have gone really well so far. The kids love her and she is proactive about doing activities with them when they’re not in school/asleep which I really like. We ramped up slowly on the household responsibilities because I know there’s a learning curve in picking up how we like things done, etc. So far, fridge is stocked, meals are cooked. Laundry and dishwasher have usually but not always been done (maybe 90% of the time). Other light cleaning like sweeping or vacuuming under the table or wiping down the kitchen doesn’t really seem to be happening much. These are things I would like her to do to the extent she has time and I’ve said and written this out. If she doesn’t have time, I don’t want her shortchanging the kids and doing it while they could be doing something else… although I did say I wanted them involved in very light cleaning to the extend that it is age appropriate. When I quickly clean up a mess they make, I usually have them get their kid brooms or a rag and help me – we’re talking under a minute of cleaning here.
Nanny and I have given each other informal feedback here and there but it’s time for a more conversation regarding how things are going, if her workload is okay, etc.
First question: any advice regarding things to say or ask, or how to phrase things?
Lead in to my second question: in the past several days I ended up being home two mornings when the kids were at preschool. Both days she left as usual to drop them off at preschool (this is when I normally leave for my office). One day she had a big shopping list that included stops at 2-3 stores. I had kind of expected her to do what our previous nanny did or what I have done when it’s been me with those responsibilities: shop, come home, unload and put away everything, start a meal or other task if she had time and then go pick up the kids at noon. Our house is generally between most stores and the preschool so it made sense. However, our current nanny didn’t come home before picking up the kids. It really didn’t seem to me like the errands should have taken her that long but maybe they did. Another day she had a very short errand to run that included a quick stop at a on the way back from preschool. 1.5 hours after drop off she still wasn’t back.
This nanny comes well recommended from someone I know who is probably a micromanager. I am not a micromanager. I want this to be a long term relationship with her being as proactive as possible. I also want to be a reasonable employer. I have been clear that the kids come first, clear that she deserves some downtime during her day (which is 8-9 hours, we pay her for 9 regardless), and clear that if she occasionally needs to do something personal that can only be done during business hours she should do it (while the kids are in preschool if possible).
Second question: how do I enquire about how she’s spending her non-kid time? How do we (she and I, together) figure out what is a reasonable amount of household work for her to take on?
Thanks!
My MIL is lovely, but she’s a pretty stereotypical passive southern lady. I’m a say-what-I-think born and bread New Yorker, so we are just at opposite ends of the communication spectrum. We get along just fine, though.
Anyway, I realized that my MIL and my ways may be genetic when I stopped to think about my 3 y/o’s behavior. If MIL, my kiddo and I all want to have a glass of water and ideally have my husband fetch it, the following would happen:
Me: DH, could get me a glass of water? (Might say please).
MIL: Gee, it sure would be nice to have a glass of water. (Nothing). Oh if only I were already standing up, I’d get a glass of water.
Daughter: Daddy, you didn’t get me any water you silly goose!
She pulled this last night and it absolutely cracked me up.
FWIW, my mother is a total martyr. She’d say something like “oh, well, everyone in the room has water but me. I guess I’ll go get myself some water then.” And pout for hours after. But she’s not relevant to this story ;)
In the daycare/school debacle post yesterday, someone mentioned the “rat race” that small children are on at an increasingly young age these days. I keep seeing alarmist articles about how kids have tons more mental and physical health issues because they are required to do a lot of sit-still high pressure academic work before they are ready.
For those of you who have kids in the 4-6 age range, what do you see, and what is it like? Are these articles overly hysterical? Or are they right on? If you disagree with the intense academic focus, how do you convey that to your kid and/or his teacher? And is there a difference in private v public? I’m considering the private v public thing (I’ve got a few more years to go, but I enjoy idly thinking about it) and one thing is that the private school advertises its kindergarten as a true play-based K program. My daycare turns more into a pre-school for the 4 and 5 year old kids, and I find it weird that there is a bulletin board with examples of the kids work that involves them writing words. I guess that’s just what it’s like nowadays? That they are expected to be able to read and write before they even get to kindergarten?
So our nanny just gave us notice, she is leaving us for a business position. I don’t blame her, she’s 32, I think she has more ambition than being a nanny forever, but this still sucks. Our first nanny had to leave us to deal with a medical issue, so we’re already on our second nanny in two years. It took us a month to find this one and she was only with us 6 months before this business opportunity for her came up. (Grr. I’m happy for her, but Grr.)
I had started to look into preschools for next fall, but they all have wait-lists that seem to run into next summer. I dread hiring another nanny, only to drop her hours or let her go next summer. I assume we should be up front about that when hiring, but I suspect it will narrow our choices. To top it off, my toddler loves her nanny–LOVES her–so I think no matter what we are in for a rough adjustment.
I’m not sure what I’m looking for (advice? commiseration? tips on handling the transition to a new nanny? tips on hiring a nanny for a 6 or 8 month period? something else that I have not thought of?). This just sucks and I wish childcare were easier.
This is a pretty dress but I find the ponte at Lands End to be poor quality. Lots of pilling even after minimal washing/wearing.