Make My Life Easier: Slip Scrunchies
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Sure, you can buy hair ties anywhere. But, if you’re in the market for an upgrade (or a thoughtful stocking stuffer!), add these silk scrunchies to your next Amazon order.
Made from 100% mulberry silk, these thin scrunchies are gentle on hair. Their smooth texture reduces friction, preventing damage and breakage. Unlike regular hair ties, they won’t leave a telltale ponytail crease.
A pack of six silk scrunchies is under $50 on Amazon (and Shopbop and elsewhere!). They also come in packs of four or ten in a rainbow of colors.
Sales of note for 1/22:
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Designer clearance up to 75% off!
- Ann Taylor – 30% off all full-price suiting, tops, and sweaters + extra 60% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off + extra 20% off
- Brooks Brothers – Clearance up to 70% off + up to 50% off outerwear and cold-weather accessories
- Express – $40 off $120, $75 off $200, $100 off $250 with code
- J.Crew – 50% off last-call winter styles + up to extra 60% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – Up to 70% off everything + extra 60% off clearance + 50-60% off hundreds of styles
- Lo & Sons – Winter sale, up to 50% off (ends 1/31) — reader favorites include this laptop tote, this backpack, and this crossbody
- M.M.LaFleur – Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Neiman Marcus – Up to 70% off select sale styles
- Talbots – Red Door Sale on Sale: Extra 50% off + 15% off markdowns + 25% off one new favorite
Last year my kid got Snap Circuits for Christmas. This year he has rediscovered them in a new way and it’s a very fun activity. Recommend. He’s in kindergarten.
Might be too late in the day, but what tricks do you use to get out of your own head when it comes to your in-laws? Mine are objectively lovely people, low-demand, no major complaints. But they are very different than my own family in lots of ways and I find I get into these BEC ruts where things disproportionately annoy me. Normally we stay at my parents’ house and just day trip there, but for Reasons this year we will be sleeping over and sleep differences really pop my top. But I recognize this is 80% a me issue (20% they are Wrong ;)
Another holiday gift question – how much do you spend on gifts for elementary school teachers?
My 6 year old just got diagnosed with ADHD combined type and ASD level 1, and they are concerned about her visual tracking ability and dyslexia but it was hard to evaluate those things because of the first two diagnoses. On the plus side we confirmed she is very bright. I knew the ADHD diagnosis was coming, and I suspected ASD but my husband thought I was overreacting. We’ve been working with her pediatrician to figure out medication for her but haven’t started anything yet. The visual tracking and dyslexia are surprising but would explain her struggle to learn to read. We already do therapy and have other supports in place, but the list of additional things we need to start doing and stop doing is long and it seems really overwhelming. And it is just a lot for a 6 year old to deal with. Sigh. Anyone have a similar kid and care to share stories of what they are like in upper elementary or later?
DH was not sufficiently excited (for my preference) about what I consider to be an amazing milestone for our 4 month old, so I’m sharing here. Baby is getting better control of his arms and using them to communicate! He motioned when he didn’t want me to take off his diaper because he was currently peeing and he motions when he wants his bottle or is finished with his bottle. I am super impressed that he has enough grasp of cause and effect to know that I shouldn’t remove the diaper while he’s peeing because then he will pee on both of us. I didn’t think they could logic yet when they’re so young! What a smart tiny human I made!
This year I was considering totally opting out of teacher gifts. Part of the reasoning was reading about emotional labor and things that only moms do – is there a single dad on earth who would give teachers holiday gifts? If not, why should I do so as a single mom?
I ended up deciding to do it for my younger, who is still in elementary, but let go of doing it for my middle schooler. And once the younger one is in middle school, I’ll be done with teacher gifts.
Thoughts?
We’re taking our kids skiing for the first time over Xmas break (1st and pre-K). What should they wear under their snow pants and coats? Do kids need a base layer, or is just a sweater ok? And if I do need a base layer, where do you buy reasonably priced ones for little people?
Hi! Not-so-Anxious Mom here. I posted yesterday about having to patch my younger kiddo’s eye for a few hours a day, hopefully just for a few months.
When DH and I debriefed about it last night, he had some uncharacteristic (for him) sad feelings about it too – just that it’s been harder with this particular kid, not kid’s fault, but wish it didn’t have to be this way, etc. Usually DH is very “Ok we have a plan – let’s go” without ruminating much. Since I’m usually the one that vents about this stuff to him, I gave him the space to just vent and talk through his feelings.
Anyway, just feeling really down today. I went and worked out this AM and treated myself to a coffee from a coffee shop, and have therapy later. I’ve reached out to a few BFFs as well. We just had a huge deadline at work so I have some downtime right now but have tons of family/life admin I could be doing.
This board is always so helpful for me. Any other ideas to help me feel less funky/sad? And look, I know this is a minor thing in the scheme of things, and I’m so grateful all the interventions we’ve taken have kept kiddo moving forward/thriving. Just in my feels today.
Piggybacking off of the indoor recess thread – how often are your kids using screens at school (especially during instructional time) and what are they doing on them? Do your thoughts on this change depending on the age of the kid / the activity?
My kids are in pre school, but I teach middle school social studies. We do a lot of class discussion/modified Harkness method (and some lecture), but also the kids do a lot of research and writing (both solo and small group work). The research now is entirely on a laptop – we have an e-textbook, plus articles, primary sources, multimedia (photos, art) and curated online research tools. For solo or group work research, writing, and some projects it’s almost entirely on the laptop, but when we do class discussion or lecture I make them go analog with guided note taking on paper (though those notes are often used in a different writing assignment later). If we’re looking at a primary source or multimedia during that, I just project my screen up. We don’t do many videos, but if we do it’s a group activity. Ditto if we listen to period music as part of our discussion.
Homework is now also all digital (reading, writing). I mostly do analog for tests/quizzes, but not always.
We do a lot creative projects – I have a “writing assignment” each week and over half of them are creative (diary entry, newspaper article, political cartoon, “intelligence briefing”, skit, “interviews” … the rest are reflection papers, short class presentations or short research papers) so these can be screen heavy. A few years ago I started allowing the political cartoons, magazine layouts, to be done on the computer (Adobe suite), but sometimes I think I should go back to having them be analog.
I work in a private school with a rigorous curriculum, so I have a lot flexibility to design and change my lesson plans. Kids get 2 recesses a day + mandatory sports so they’re moving a lot, even if a lot (but not all) of our class time is sedentary. FWIW, recess is only indoors if it’s raining or I think below 25F. In PA this doesn’t happen a ton.
I’m the poster from earlier this week who posted about my anxious daughter engaging in unhealthy coping mechanisms (I’ve learned some vocab this wee!) Since you all were so helpful and supportive the other day (truly!), wanted to follow-up and say thank you!
We had a visit with her pediatrician yesterday just to figure out next steps. She’s resisting participating in her therapy right now. We’re going to take a month off and also schedule a visit with the pediatric psychiatrist she saw a couple years ago. And we’ll see where it goes. But feeling reassured and like we have a plan and aren’t alone at least. Which this board really helped with as well. In particular I think not making a big deal out of the self harm but also acknowledging that she needs to find some better ways to cope went over pretty well.
I know someone asked before about indoor activities for the kids during winter break — I have the same question but add in grandparents with limited mobility. Do we just resign ourselves to a lot of playing with toys on the rug while the grandparents chill on the sofa? Any other ideas?
Thank you all for the discussion yesterday about indoor recess! I decided that I want to try to organize some parent volunteers to come in occasionally to help supervise indoor recess in bad weather. I’m imagning a quick text in the classroom whatsapp group on bad weather days to see if anyone has a 30-minute window of time to pop over to the school. I know the logistics are always the killer, and not all teachers may be open/interested in it, but is there anything else I should be thinking of?
Recommendations for a 2-person stroller? My oldest will be 2.5 when the baby is born, so it needs to accommodate a toddler and a baby. We live in the city, so sometimes go on walks that are just too far for the toddler to walk. Also, has anyone gotten one of the ride along boards? Does it work ok or does it put the toddler in the way so that it’s hard to push the stroller?
How do I set up playdates for my kindergartener when the school doesn’t have a shared phonebook? He’s starting to make friends, but I haven’t met the parents due to different drop off and pick up schedules. There’s no room parent. There’s a shared google phonebook, but the collection was haphazard and most kids’ info didn’t make it in. Can I give my kid a note to pass to another kid with my cell number asking if they want a playdate?
What’s the norm for tipping daycare staff during the holiday season? We’ve been there two months, there are four primary teachers in the infant room, several floaters I’ve never even met and I’m not sure if they’ve ever seen my baby, and three owners. Daycare sent out a list of names and said thank you in advance but didn’t give any other guidance about what it’s typical.