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As we slowly head back to the office, a few transitional pieces to bridge the gap between sweatshirts and full suits might be in order.
Grey State’s Maya Blazer is an office-friendly blazer that’s secretly a sweatshirt. This relaxed jacket is made from a smooth and soft cotton and “made in a mill that is Oeko-Tex certified, so you rest assured that the chemicals used to treat the fabrics are not harmful to the environment.”
It has a traditional lapel that gives it a more professional look — along with its practical patch pockets for your hand sanitizer, you’ll be ready for those first steps back into the office.
The blazer is $154. It comes in Deep Black and Claret (a burgundy red), sizes 0/XS to 4/XL.
This blazer from Express is a more affordable option at $49.99 (originally $138, marked down to $99, with an additional 50% off at checkout) and is available in regular and petite sizes.
Sales of note for 4.18.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 50% off full-price dresses, jackets & shoes; $30 off pants & skirts; extra 50% off sale styles
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything; extra 20% off purchase
- Eloquii – 50% off select styles; 60% off swim; up to 40% off everything else
- J.Crew – Mid-Season Sale: Extra 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off spring-to-summer styles
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Spring Mid-Season Sale: Up to 50% off 100s of styles
- Nordstrom: Free 2-day shipping for a limited time (eligible items)
- Talbots – Spring Sale: 40% off + extra 15% off all markdowns; 30% off new T by Talbots
- Zappos – 29,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
Kid/Family Sales
- Carter’s – Up to 70% off baby items; 50% off toddler & kid deals & 40% off everything else
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off spring faves; 25% off new arrivals; up to 30% off spring
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Up to 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off kids’ spring-to-summer styles
- Old Navy – 30% off your purchase; up to 75% off clearance
- Target – Car Seat Trade-In Event (ends 4/27); BOGO 25% off select skincare products; up to 40% off indoor furniture; up to 20% off laptops & printers
See some of our latest articles on CorporetteMoms:
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And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- If you’re a working parent of an infant with low sleep needs, how do you function at work when you’re in the throes of baby’s sleep regression?
- Should I cut my childcare down to 12 hours a month if I work from home?
- Will my baby have speech delays if we raise her bilingual?
- Has anyone given birth in a teaching hospital?
- My child eats everything, and my friends’ kids do not – how should I handle? In general, what is the best way to handle when your child has some skill/ability and your friend’s child doesn’t have that skill/ability?
- ADHD moms, give me your tips to help with things like behavior in the classroom, attention to detail, etc?
- I think I suffer from mom rage…
- My husband and kids are gone this weekend – how should I enjoy my free time?
- I’m struggling to be compassionate with a SAHM friend who complains she doesn’t have enough hours of childcare.
- If you exclusively formula fed, what tips do you have for in the hospital and coming home?
- Could I take my 4-yo and 8-yo on a 7-8 day trip to Paris, Lyon, and Madrid?
EB0220 says
I can’t believe it, but I’m thinking about a future where I might go to the office at some point. I need a new work bag. I keep getting ads for Portland Leather totes. They’re gorgeous but does anyone have personal experience? Do they weight 10 million pounds?
Cb says
Kid brags? A new little girl started at my 3.5 year old’s nursery yesterday, it was her first fully day and by the end of the day, she was crying for her mum. T went and gave her a cuddle, sat with her on the sofa, reassured her that her mummy was coming, and then got a teacher to read them both stories. His teacher was emotional telling my husband about it. Sometimes the world feels quite crap, and it’s helpful to remember that one of our contributions can be raising really kind, empathetic kids.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Aww… what a sweet kid! Definitely a good reminder about what we’re trying to do here.
Anon says
Awww he sounds like such an amazing little kiddo! Good job to you and your husband. One of things we hear most often from daycare is that my kid tries to cheer up the kids who are sad or crying and it makes me so happy to hear. Kindness and empathy are the values I care the most about.
fallen says
I would love to hear from people who have transitioned from nanny to daycare with multiple kids. We have two kids and are likely going to transition to school/aftercare for the oldest and full day preschool for the youngest (age 3). I am so nervous about it because we both have pretty intense jobs, but it feels like the right call for us.
I am mainly nervous about both of us having to take more days off with school closures/sickness/etc, and especially with covid in the mix. For what it’s worth, I have a ton of flexibility (academia) so that’s not a stressor, but still have to get stuff done if I miss work.
Anonymous says
If you are using your flexibility to deal with pick ups/sick days – make sure your partner is clear that you need that time back elsewhere. For us, that usually looks like him handling bedtime or breakfast solo so I can work for 2-3 hours in the evening or morning.
fallen says
yes – great point! the way we are thinking now is that I will take all sick days/etc. when I am NOT teaching/have faculty meetings (I teach/have faculty meeting 2-3 days a week during the academic year), and he takes when I do – so hopefully it is a somewhat even split, but absolutely if it ends up being with me taking more of them the plan is he will watch the kids on the weekends so that I can work.
Anon says
I commented below but I have an academic DH and it’s always been our rule that he covers the absence if he’s not teaching and I cover it if he is. Some semesters he teaches MWF and others TR so it works out to a very 50-50 split.
anon says
We switched to daycare for a couple of years after starting with a nanny and then switched back. Daycare was very stressful for us. My more high strung daughter struggled with the hectic transitions at the beginning and end of the day and the amount of stimulation. The meltdowns were epic. She did so much better with part time preschool, plus time at home to chill.
We also had tons of issues with daycare illnesses, beyond what others experience. Our daycare was not good about excluding sick kids, including those with a high fever or highly contagious sicknesses such as HFM, so we were always sooooo sick. In one month we all had the flu, pneumonia, two bad colds, HFM, strep, pink eye, and two stomach viruses. Our pediatrician gave us an ultimatum that our 1 yo needed to leave group care or get tubes because the constant illnesses were resulting in ear infections. We switched to an au pair and she never had another ear infection.
Anon says
It does sound like you got hit really hard by daycare illness, but the recommendation to get tubes is very common and my personal opinion is that pediatricians are overly aggressive about them. Our ped pushed them on our 2 year old last winter (her first in daycare) after a half dozen ear infections. We had our referral to the ENT scheduled for March 17 and then the world exploded. This winter we made it through without a single ear infection. I think the Covid protocols (especially the kids wearing masks) were definitely a factor, but I also think being older and having a better immune system makes a big difference too because we did have a couple colds that didn’t turn into ear infections. We’ll see what happens next year and beyond as the world hopefully gets back to normal, but to me it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to do tubes the first year in daycare because it seems like in many kids the ear infection problem is dramatically reduced by their second winter even without tubes.
us too says
This was us, too, and found it to be very common, though we had it particularly bad (sounds like you did, too). We had a running not-funny joke that we were legitimately at the pediatrician’s office every other week from October (6 mos old) to April (12 mos old), and she got tubes at the end of April. 3 bouts of croup, HFM, 3 ER visits and an overnight stay of 4 nights thanks to a particularly bad ENT situation that she’s since grown out of — apparently her airway just needed to lengthen, which happens naturally as she grew.
DD isn’t school-aged quite yet, but I was told basically you deal with it now or you deal with it when kiddo goes to preK or K. After tubes she didn’t have a single sick visit to the pedi (24 months and counting, hooray!).
anon says
I don’t really buy that we would have had the same level of sickness in pre-K or K if we had skipped daycare. We may have had a few illnesses, but I’ve never heard of any kindergartner having the level of sick that we had from daycare. Puking with a stomach virus while your eyes run from pink eye and you hack from lingering pneumonia while you calm a baby with croup is something special.
Our kids have caught some things from a part time preschool and pre-K and we’ve found that it’s roughly equivalent to the rate of sick we got from public school. Occasional illness, but nothing dramatic.
Anon says
The “you deal with it now or you deal with it later” advice about kid illness is only sort of true. There will always be more illnesses the first year in group childcare than the subsequent years, that’s true. But a 5 year old immune system is much more developed than a newborn’s so they will fight off many bugs that would make a little kid sick. Even a kid who has been with a nanny full-time has likely had some exposure to common colds and noroviruses through activities and playgrounds and isn’t going to catch every single bug they’re exposed to the way a baby does. And there are physical changes as kids get older that make ear infections in particular much less frequent. The people I know who started kids in daycare or school at age 3+ did not experience the near-constant illness that those of us who started babies or young toddlers in daycare normally do. That said, there is a significant and growing body of research that the immune system battering that daycare babies and toddlers go through is very good for long term health and I’m glad I did it.
Anon says
i don’t know if your nanny does any other stuff for you – like kid laundry, taking out trash, etc. but who will now do all of that stuff. do you need to hire more household help? is your type of academia work stuff that can be done from home, or do you work in a lab?
Anon says
I only have one kid but DH is in academia so I can comment on that aspect of it. It’s really nice not having a boss breathing down your neck about missed days. I think it’s less of an issue now with so many people working remotely due to Covid but for me the hardest part of the first year of daycare by far was sending my boss an email what felt like every third day “Sorry sick kid, working from home.” He was understanding in the beginning, but got really exasperated 20+ absences later. DH didn’t have to do that and he’s senior enough (assistant professor) that everyone he has meetings with on a regular basis is either his peer (research collaborators) or subordinate (postdooc/grad student) so no one gave him grief about missing meetings. I’m sure it depends on your kid, but both DH and I feel like we can get a fair amount of work done when home with a sick kid. Sick kids sleep a lot, and are generally happy to lie in bed and watch TV. If necessary, it isn’t that hard to make up work after kid bedtime or on weekends but honestly we rarely do that – I know it varies based on what field you’re in but DH at least doesn’t feel like he has to put in 40 hours every week because some weeks he works much more.
You’ll probably have a lot of illness the first year in preschool, although less than it would be if you’d sent your kid at a younger age, and Covid protocols might also lessen the amount of normal illness if they’re still in place next year. They definitely have for us this year – we’ve had exactly two colds, both of which were extremely minor and didn’t even require an absence from school although we kept her home for one day with each cold, just because we have the flexibility to.
fallen says
thanks! your husband job situation seems exactly like mine (also assistant professor, same situation with the people I have meetings with, same situation with flexibility of when I put in the work), so it is very reassuring to hear that it worked out well for you. and that’s a great point about covid making it less likely for other illnesses to spread! hopefully that’s the case for us.
Spirograph says
Honestly, I have found daycare to be *more* reliable than our nanny was. That depends on the daycare and depends on the nanny, but it may not be as much of a transition as you think. The random half days we have at daycare are all on the calendar for the whole year, so there’s plenty of time to plan around them. We have not had a daycare closure for covid (knock on wood). The 24 hour rule for illness can be frustrating, but your 3 year old probably has been exposed to most daycare germs on the playground or in other social settings already, so I wouldn’t necessarily expect the frequent illnesses that a baby often gets during the first year of daycare.
School closures for elementary are a real potential issue, but your aftercare program may cover it. The before/aftercare at our elementary school covers full day every day, including most of Spring and Winter break.
Anon says
Same. We had a nanny briefly and she was less reliable than our daycare, even when you factor in all the daycare sick days. She was only with us for 4 months and I think she took 8 days off on short notice because she wasn’t feeling well or didn’t want to drive in the snow (these were relatively minor snowfalls and both our offices and the public schools were open), plus we had given her a week of paid vacation so in total it was a lot more days without childcare than we’d have in the same time frame at daycare. I think our nanny was unreliable compared to many other nannies, but relying on just one person seems scary to me even if that person is very dependable. What if they need to be out for weeks for a medical issue? I guess you hire another nanny as a short term replacement, but it seems like it would be really frustrating and scary to have to do that with basically no notice, even if it’s not the nanny’s fault.
Anon says
I think this is nanny dependent! Our nanny of 5 years took 3 sick days total. She was amazing and we appreciated it! And didn’t get sick much!
Anon says
I want your nanny’s immune system! I’m healthy and consider myself a responsible employee but I used way more sick leave than that even before I had kids in daycare sharing their germs with me.
ElisaR says
same. daycare is a company, so they have coverage is a teacher is sick. my nanny calls out constantly.
Anonanonanon says
Personally, I have found daycare/ before & after school care less stressful than a nanny. HOWEVER, we do not rely on the public shool’s before and after program because of the frequent school closures. We used a daycare that offers a before and after school program (they take the kids to school and pick them up) and also covered most weather closures, teacher workdays, holidays, etc. They also offered a full-day summer camp. Relying on the school system’s version would not have worked for us, but this provided more continuity for the kiddo.
fallen says
what before and after are you doing? our public school doesn’t have one (everyone in the area seems to be a SAHM or have nannies) so we are looking into a few different outside programs for before and after and having a hard time choosing!
Anonanonanon says
It’s an independent daycare in our area. We had used a different one but switched because they charged daycare prices to just… corral a bunch of kids in a room with minimal supervision. The one we ended up with actually set activities for them, had themes for the week, etc.
Anon says
Does anyone know how Polarn O Pyret sizing runs? I have a kiddo who is 92 cm so not sure to pick the 92 or size up to 98.
FVNC says
Granted, both my kids are on the very small size (single digit percentiles for height) but my just-turned 4 yr old still fits in his size 92 (18 mos-2 years) shirts. He wears 3T in more typical brands (Cat and Jack, Lands End, etc.). So, I’d say they run a bit large. The quality is amazing, though, so we typically buy a size up and cuff sleeves or pant legs, which has given us a several years of wear for the Polarn O Pyret items we have.
Anonymous says
Recommendations for name labels for kids clothes? Prefer not ironing if at all possible. Thanks!
Clementine says
NameBubbles. Always and forever. The peel and stick laundry safe labels for tagless clothes are amazing.
Anonymous says
+1
Anonymous says
Namebubbles.
Anonanonanon says
Second namebubbles. Their labels for tagless clothes seem to also work on tags without ironing.
Anon says
My answer is I don’t. Clothes that we’d be devastated about losing don’t go into daycare, and even without labels most things don’t get lost. I think we’ve lost some mittens but that’s about it.
Anonymous says
wow your daycare teachers must love you
Anon says
Meh, they’ve never asked us to. If they cared, they could ask. I always thought the point of labeling was if you’re really concerned about your stuff getting lost and we’re not.
No Face says
Labeling is required at my kid’s school.
Spirograph says
Same. I label water bottles, but the clothes? meh. I think many families don’t label. I always send my least-favorite stuff to sit in the extra clothes bin, anyway. Sometimes one of my kids has come home in an article of clothing that is not hers/his, and I just wash it and send it back with a note. I have no idea, nor do I care, how many times another kid has worn my kids’ clothes. (I don’t even remember what’s there at this point, but now that I’m thinking about it, I bet it’s too small and needs to be swapped for warmer weather.)
anonforthis says
Rude comments like this are why I go through spurts of never reading this site. I label coats, bags, cups, etc., but not every piece of clothing (that they keep on all day) and have never heard a complaint. Sheeshhhhh!
Anonymous says
I only label things that go on and off throughout the day like hats and coats and now masks. I’ve never labeled regular clothing and the teachers don’t seem to care. A couple times we accidentally sent in a mask without initials on it and a teacher wrote her name on it with a sharpie, so clearly they want the masks labeled. But they’ve never done that with any dresses/shirts/pants.
Clementine says
FWIW – I don’t label most clothing. I label stuff that’s likely to be taken off (so jackets, hoodies, sweatshirts, hats, etc.) and shoes… but there was also a phase where 4 kids in the class had navy blue velcro Saucony Jazz sneakers.
I also am team ‘daycare is where ugly clothes I’m gifted that I don’t care if they get ruined go’. I will say that as they get older, i find myself labeling more – particularly if a kid goes to a school with uniforms. The poor teachers often end up with a dozen navy blue sweatshirts on the bench at the end of recess and then it’s been nice to have ours labeled.
Anonymous says
Same. Labelled water bottles, sneakers and that’s it.
Anonymous says
Yeah, our daycare did not ask for this so we didn’t do it. I label coats, backpacks, and water bottles (and did baby bottles). For coats I just use a sharpie. That’s about it.
Anonymous says
Mabel’s Labels.
Mary Moo Cow says
Inchbug; they peel off and stick on tags through multiple washings.
Mary Moo Cow says
I also use Inchbug rubber slip on labels for day care cups (we have to send in our own water bottles.)
anne-on says
Maybe I’m lazy but we just got a laundry safe sharpie and wrote on the labels or initials (first, last, middle) on the back of shirts. I also agree that daycare clothes were the ones we expected to get totally wrecked (not hand me downs) so I didn’t much care about writing on the clothes themselves.
Anonymous says
I tried this, and I found that even the laundry safe sharpie bled into something completely unreadable on the tags/collars.
Katala says
This. It’s also much faster to slap on a sticker than write the kid’s whole name. Those moments in the morning or if I’m doing a big pile of next-size/season clothes are helpful. FWIW, our daycares have both been clear they want everything labeled. I always label spare clothes and things that get taken off. I also do a big batch of clothes when we swap out the dresser for size/season, but I admit I often don’t do the one-offs we might end up acquiring in between unless they end up in the spare clothes bag.
Anonymous says
Thanks all. FWIW, this is for clothes that have to go to daycare that we don’t have multiples of and that come on and off throughout the day – jackets, hats, etc.
Anon says
We write initials with a sharpie. I think it would be cumbersome to write out an entire name, but just doing initials takes basically no time. Plus having the initials only means there are no privacy concerns when you eventually donate (I’m paranoid about that stuff).
Anon says
Also fwiw we did try NameBubbles at one point but I found that applying them took longer than writing initials with the sharpie (you have to really press them down to get them to stick) and then I couldn’t remove them easily when we were ready to donate the clothes.
Amama says
I use Sticky Monkey labels – we’ve used a variety of their labels over the years and they hold up well. If you have multiple kiddos, consider putting just your last name on the label for hand me downs…that’s worked well for us
Probiotics says
Reposting from yesterday: Suggestions for a probiotic for a gassy-at-night fourteen-month-old? We’re already doing yogurt every day but want to try this as well. TIA!
Clementine says
I’ve always used Klaire Labs infant probiotic. Correlation is not causation but we actually saw a surprising improvement in one kiddo’s mild eczema when we started giving kiddo a probiotic.
Anon says
I use Culturelle for both my kid and myself.
NYCer says
We used Mary Ruth Organics probiotic starting at age 1.
DC peds? says
Hi all, soliciting recommendations for a pediatrician in DC, ideally in network with BCBS. We’re located around Takoma but are willing to hop across town if need be. LO is a little over a year old. We’ve been doing well child visits at Children’s National but would like to be somewhere with more consistency; the clinic at Children’s is staffed by residents who seem to rotate out quickly. Thanks!
Anonymous says
No rec but would love to meet up at the Takoma (DC) Rec Center someday!!
Anonymous says
If “in DC” is negotiable, we and many friends use Pediatric & Adolescent Care of Silver Spring, which is right up 29 by the Target at Cherry Hill. There’s one doctor whose bedside manner isn’t my favorite, but the rest, and the NP, are lovely.
Anonymous says
We haven’t lived there now in several years, but I really really liked Dr. Lavanya Sithanandam at Park Pediatrics in Takoma Park. I now have a big managed care system elsewhere and prefer that for other reasons, but she was so great with our baby/toddler- very supportive , knowledgeable, etc. the clinic had (may still have, not sure) early morning drop in times for ill child that was so easy to do before determining if kid could go to daycare.
So Anon says
I know I am late to this game, but help me get started with Instacart. Is there anything that I need to know before placing my first grocery order? How much do you tip the delivery person? Do they just drop it outside on your front porch/step/whatever?
Anonanonanon says
I haven’t used it in a few months, but my advice would be to keep your phone close by while they’re shopping. One of my favourite features was that they could text you to consult with you when the store is out of something so you could ask them to check for something else. The good shoppers will proactively make suggestions, like “They’re out of the 16 oz jar of Ragu, there is a 16 oz of Prego, or I could grab the 32 oz of Ragu” I also had shoppers make weird suggestions that I was able to stop via text, like “They don’t have fever tree ginger beer, how about fever tree tonic water instead?” and I could ask if there was a different brand of ginger beer.
I usually tipped around $10 or more depending on the size of the order and the quality of the service. I There was one lady who we got pretty regularly for about a year who was amazing at proactively suggesting multiple replacement items, would ask them to check in the back of the store for stuff, etc. and I tipped her more.
They’ll leave it out front and text you that it’s there, or at least that is how it used to work!
Anonanonanon says
Fwiw, I highly recommend walmart grocery delivery. I know I know they’re an evil corporate overlord, but who isn’t right now that delivers groceries. I think walmart does substitutions well, and they give you an option to approve or reject substitutions within a timeframe. However, if you reject it, there isn’t an alternative, you just don’t get the item.
Anonymous says
Definitely keep your phone close by.
This is exactly why I gave up on instacart after a couple times. Like, I appreciate that they didn’t just make their own substitutions without asking, but the back and forth was annoying, and I would have rather gone shopping myself because it was the same amount of work. One time they just didn’t get ground turkey because the exact brand I’d checked on the list wasn’t available and I didn’t respond in time to the suggestion of getting a different brand or non-organic, so then I was missing a key ingredient for dinner that night and had to make another run anyway. (If you are unable to go shopping yourself, or just need a couple things, I can see the appeal)
anon says
This would drive me bananas and definitely would not save me any aggravation or time!
Anon says
+1 Instacart was too much emotional labor for me, with all the texting. It would be easier to just shop myself. We switched to a grocery store delivery service that will either make a substitution of their choosing or just not deliver the item (you choose for each item whether to substitute or not).
Anonymous says
I’ve had much better luck with curbside pickup that’s run by the retailer (Kroger, Walmart, Target) than with third-party shopping services (Instacart, Shipt). The retailers’ own inventory systems are much more accurate than the Instacart system. The store’s site might not know exactly what’s in stock, but it is usually correct about what products a given location does and does not carry. Instead of constant texts back and forth about substitutions, the store gives you one list of take-it-or-leave it substitutions that you can click through quickly. (Target doesn’t offer substitutes, but it will give you free shipping on out-of-stock items.) The Instacart shoppers are also less accurate about identifying products than the store shoppers. The stores don’t seem to mark up products for curbside pickup the way instacart does, you don’t tip, and you pick up at a set time instead of waiting around all day for the instacart shopper, who may or may not be on schedule.
anne-on says
This, we did it a few times when quarantining but omg the quality of the produce the shoppers picked ranged from ‘meh’ to ‘seriously?!?’ (and we eat a lot of fresh produce) so it just didn’t make sense for us to use long term.
Anonanonanon says
I liked this sometimes because I could ask them to check for multiple things if something was out,but yes, it was annoying to try to schedule the window for a time I knew I’d be able to actively engage in a text conversation. I find whole foods delivery does HORRIBLE substitutions (like.. you order cut strawberries and they sub with cut pineapple instead of just strawberries?) and Walmart does as well as one could without a text conversation.
Anon says
Agree with the above regarding keeping your phone nearby. You can also head some of it off by selecting specific replacements (easier in the browser than the app) or “do not replace”. I usually tip 10%. They drop it on the front porch and then take a picture when it’s there and send it to you via the app. If you have issues, definitely call customer service and they can help (usually a refund for the wrong or missing item). Also know that the prices are higher for most stores than in-store prices and you have to see any sales on instacart for them to apply. Also if you order a lot of heavy things (usually beverages) you may get hit with a “heavy order” surcharge (which oddly enough does not apply if you place the order and then add the items afterwards). If you like it, you can buy a membership which results in lower sevices fees and free delivery.
My preference is for Giant (formerly peapod) because it is packed in a warehouse distribution center, loaded on a giant truck and then delivered. Accuracy of items and consistency are much higher than the luck of the draw for an instacart shopper, they generally run on time. We have a year-long subscription that gets us free delivery on orders over $100 and use it every week.
I’ve been doing grocery delivery for well over 4 years now and while parts of it are annoying, until I retire I am probably not going back to shopping unless it is for special occasions (e.g., I love the annual Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza). It just saves so much time and reduces so much conflict with DH when we can both add to and have input on the grocery list in a way that never quite worked when one of us went to the store.
Realist says
For those with higher income levels (many on this board), I encourage good tipping on Instacart. This pandemic has had a big economic impact on many of the people who are currently Instacart shoppers that many of us working from home have been able to avoid. I try to top $40-$60 on most grocery orders and I’ve done $100 on holiday orders. We’re saving by not eating out as much and I know my community needs the money.
Anon says
Wow, I think that goes well beyond “good tipping” and is just plain charity. It’s great if you choose to give money away this way, but there are valid reasons to want to direct charitable contributions to a reputable organization rather than an individual.
Spirograph says
Yes, and this also depends on your community. In my area, the instacart shoppers seem to primarily be university students, not the people who have been hit hardest by the pandemic and are most medically or economically at risk — I would consider that the low-wage immigrant population, who are not instacart shoppers because of language barrier (see also, texting comments above).
I agree in principle that it’s appropriate to show your appreciation for shoppers taking on covid risk on your behalf, though.
Anonymous says
Depends on how much your order is for. Our instacart grocery bill is not infrequently $400 so I don’t see 10% as unreasonable.
Realist says
Yup.
GCA says
Yes, this. I was wondering what the total order size was! I typically tip 10% so $40 on a $400 order isn’t unreasonable to me (though our very-flexitarian orders are more along the lines of $150/ week with a $15 tip).
Anonanonanon says
Ooooh that makes sense. Ours were usually in the $100-$150 range, so I feel a bit better about my $10-$25 tips!
Realist says
In my area, most of the people doing these deliveries are 20-40 year old people of color that can definitely use the money. It ends up being 10-20% of the order most of the time. It also ends up giving them what would have been minimum wage in 1970 for their hours worked if minimum wage had kept pace with inflation ($20-$25 an hour). I can’t change the minimum wage but I can be sure the people that deliver my food are paid fairly.
I don’t at all view this as charity. We give separately to food banks and community aid organizations. I know our tip is more than most people do, but my family can easily afford it. And I think those that can afford to do so should tip well. Or at least they should spend a few minutes thinking about why they are ok with having the person who delivers their food making just a few dollars an hour (and compare against what their own wage would be in hours). My own hourly wage exceeds $100.
No Face says
I tried instacart once and didn’t like it because of the issues people are discussing. I just did grocery pick up at Whole Foods for the first time yesterday and it was phenomenal!
Anon Bay Area says
Instacart is not my favorite. When I’ve tried (not recently), the pricing didn’t feel very transparent—there’d be some extra vague fee that I didn’t see until I’d take the the time to fill my cart. Fees + tip really added up. I hate that Instacart treats (some? All? Not sure where this stands) workers as contractors rather than employees (and so they lack employee entitlements like health insurance, workers’ comp, unemployment insurance, and paid sick leave).
Instead, I get groceries delivered in a farm box (Farm Fresh to You, the farm also delivers a small selection of groceries), a grocery delivery company that is committed to paying its workers a living wage and as employees (Good Eggs), and big retailers with an online presence (Vitacost, Target). I also use curbside (Whole Foods—curbside has gotten a lot better in the past few months).
Anon says
Yes we used InstaCart on a vacation recently and the markup was staggering. A grocery store might charge a delivery fee but doesn’t usually mark up the price of items in addition to that fee. On InstaCart it seemed like things cost about 50-100% more than they normally would, plus there were hefty delivery fees. The point about employees being independent contractors who can’t get benefits is also a good one.
Anonymous says
This makes me feel better about never getting grocery delivery. I’m in NYC and curbside pickup isn’t really available here (as far as I know). Fresh Direct and Amazon Fresh have loyal followings, but their prices are high, and it just always seems more trouble than it is worth. Instacart is hit or miss for the reasons others have articulated, especially with pandemic stock fluctuations, and it is still expensive. So I have given up and shop in person.
Anon says
We do weekly curbside pickups at Kroger (suburban Midwest) but I still have to shop in person probably once every two weeks or three weeks at most. Doing the curbside pickups reduces the frequency and duration of the in-person trips and lowers our risk of exposure, but it would be incredibly hard to give up shopping in person completely. The curbside pickup is just not that reliable and frequently fails to give us something we need or makes a terrible substitution.
Katala says
I miss Fresh Direct. I still think about their tomato soup every time I eat a different brand.
Momofthree says
Any recommendations for lightweight long pants that can be worn in the summer?
My younger son is refusing to wear shorts & it’s starting to get very warm. He’s very active outdoors during the day & will be this summer so I don’t want him getting overheated.
Anonymous says
I don’t have great suggestions but commiseration from another mom of a shorts-refuser! We have just done his regular primary or old navy sweatpants but we live somewhere it doesn’t get that hot.
Anonymous says
We got the old navy unisex joggers for my son. They’re very thin. You could also google “toddler linen pants” or “toddler muslin pants” which would be lightweight. Best of luck!! I love when it’s shorts/sandals season for kids.
Anon says
This isn’t exactly what you asked, but kids in general seem way less bothered about being hot (or cold for that matter) than adults so unless he’s complaining I bet you can use normal pants for longer than you think. We typically send my daughter to daycare in long pants (leggings) unless the temperature is above 85. I wouldn’t be comfortable in long pants above 80 or so but she doesn’t seem to care.
Spirograph says
I laughed at this because I have the opposite problem: both of my sons want to wear shorts year-round, to the point that I can’t even keep them in their dressers, or they’ll wear shorts to play in the snow.
We have some Lands End pants that are pretty lightweight, I think they are the “pull on climber pants” but I can’t remember. I’d also look for unlined, lightweight athletic pants. The knees will NOT hold up if your kids are anything like mine, but they are nice and cool.
Sara says
Target has a ribbed cotton pair I just got in mannnny multiples for my 4yo with the same challenge.
Cb says
H&M does really lightweight joggers that my son wears frequently since he dislikes “sticky outty trousers”. They come in a 3 pack.
Anonanonanon says
Finally have an appointment tomorrow to get evaluated for ADD (which I definitely have and have been diagnosed with multiple times throughout my life but it’s been over a decade since the last time sooo I have no record). I’ve been so fortunate to choose a niche-ish career where my chaotic brain and habits could thrive, but I’ve gotten promoted to the point where I have to get it together and do boring things like grant reports and budgets and I’ve gotten as far as I can in life with non-medication coping efforts. Fingers crossed for a solution.
Anonymous says
Good luck! For a bit of optimism: my husband is a lot like you, right down to getting promoted out of the ADHD-friendly roles in his career. He’s found a doctor and medication that work well for him and takes it only on days when he knows he needs to focus on “boring” things.
Anonanonanon says
Thank you! It’s good to know that’s an option. That’s what I had/did in college, but I’m sure things have changed a lot in the past 10-15 years so didn’t know if it was still accepted!