Everyone Thursday: Constellation Charm
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Ladies, clearly I need to start stalking some more mothers’ jewelry — I just realized I never updated my collection after H was born (gasp!). Which is your favorite piece of mothers’ jewelry — and what’s good to represent two kids? (Or: do you represent your kids, partner, and self? Pets? Do tell.) I recently met some of the ladies from Moon & Lola and got to look through some of their fun sets of personalized charms — I particularly like these stackable zodiac charms. Each charm is $28. Moon & Lola Constellation Charm
Psst: Mother’s Day is May 8, so we have some time!
(L-3)
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?
Incoming K Parent Night: Our local (supposed to be good) public school had incoming K parent night earlier this week at 6pm. (A bit of background: My son attends preK at that school through an independent program and my husband is an elem administrator in a different district.) The announcement was on the school’s website and didn’t provide any info re: bringing or not bringing your kid(s). So my husband and I brought our incoming kindergartner and his younger sister.
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but …. it was horrible. It was a 40 minute power point held in the gym that was structured to be a walk through a kindergartner’s day. It kind-of discussed curriculum but the teachers were not really sure about a lot of it. There was information about breakfast, but nothing on lunch. There was nothing for the kids to do (we brought some snacks and quiet toys). The microphone didn’t work, so it was impossible to hear and we had to tell our kids to stay quiet the whole time. There was a sign-up for kindergarten screening at the back of the room that wasn’t announced (I found out later). The teachers and principal all looked like this is the first time they had done this (its not). On the whole, I left with huge concerns about the school that I hadn’t had before, and I’m unsure what to do with these concerns. Do I just chalk this up to a bad night? Or take it as a reflection of the school and K program?
Another stroller question: I have a Britax B-Agile that I pass back and forth with kiddo’s dad. I would like to give the Britax to him and get myself one that I like better, so I’m looking for ideas. My wish list: folds like an umbrella stroller (trying to free up closet space), sun canopy, reclines, and has a basket or pocket. Prefer not a five-point harness, but needs to be more substantial than the cheap seat belts on the Cosco umbrella strollers because kiddo can wiggle out of those.
Also, do they make umbrella strollers with sit/stand capabilities? My kiddo would love the option to stand up and be pushed.
So I’m back at work and pumping 3 times/plus nursing at home. Baby has also decided she wants to eat 3 times a night so I nurse her a lot then since it’s just easier than trying to get her back to sleep without eating. I feel like I’m producing more milk than before and have been for a couple of weeks now since I started pumping to store some extra in preparation for going back (so was nursing baby and also pumping 2 extra times while home for freezer stash).
I am ravenous all the time! Like, it’s 10 am, I had a big breakfast at 815 and I already want to eat lunch. Yesterday I had dinner and then made toast an hour later. Is this possibly because I am making more milk? My appetite went into overdrive right after I delivered and then settled down in a few weeks. I’m thinking the same thing might be happening now, but wondering if anyone’s experienced something similar? FWIW, I haven’t gained any weight (yet) from all my extra snacking, I feel fine otherwise, and I had my thyroid checked 3 months ago and it was fine.
Looking for help from you smart, problem-solving mothers! I have a stroller question. The short version: what stroller situation do I need for a newborn and a 22-month-old?
Longer version: We do not have a removable carseat (just find them too heavy). With our first, we bought a Baby Jogger City Mini GT plus the Deluxe Bassinet. We loved this because the newborn could stretch out and lie flat. When the baby got older, we removed the bassinet and started using the stroller in the normal mode. That’s how the 22-month-old still gets carted the 10 minutes to the park. I want to switch back to the bassinet mode when the new baby comes, but then I have no way to transport the older kid. (The switch is pretty involved and couldn’t be done on a daily basis.) And the bassinet does not fit on any of the Baby Jogger double strollers. (The bassinets that DO fit on the double strollers are tiny; we considered and rejected them last time.) I thought I could just put the baby in a front carrier, but I want other people to be able to take the baby out too. And also, all the caregivers are quite tall, so we need something that works well for tall people. (This was hard to find last time.) And I don’t want to spend a fortune on strollers to cover a short-term situation.
Here are the scenarios I want to be able to cover:
1. Grandparent takes just baby out in a stroller.
2. Grandparent takes just toddler out in a stroller.
3. Grandparent takes both children out in a stroller.
Question: Do I need three strollers? (Ha!) And is there even a stroller that can do #3 if I don’t have a removable carseat?
I am in love with a local-to-me artisan company called Bel Kai (www.belkai.com). I was gifted with a charm from them after my first son passed away. I need to get in there and get one for my second son. Their things are a little more casual, so probably not suited for a work formal environment; I wear mine on casual work days.
I desperately want a mother’s ring – as a child I was fascinated by my grandmother’s. She had a gold ring with the birthstone of each of her children set in a track. I’m planning to wait until we’re done having children to ask for mine.
Going to be studying for the bar this summer. My son will be 8 months old in May. Two questions:
1) Currently I have 25 hours/week of childcare. If I am disciplined about studying during the 25 hours I have, is that enough? Or is this crazy and I absolutely need more childcare? I could go up to 30 hours with our current childcare situation; anything more we’d have to completely re-think our arrangements.
2) Son still nurses all.the.time. I pump 3x/day when I am not with him. I do not want to use my precious bar study time to pump that much. At this point would you transition to formula to make up for the missed pumping or push solids harder?
My husband got me a lovely necklace with baby’s birthstone. Unfortunately, baby is in a ‘grabby’ phase, so right now I take it off when holding said baby…
My lovely MIL got me a necklace with my name, my husband’s name and baby’s name on it. It’s one like this:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/207421978/four-sided-stamped-family-pendant?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=family%20pendant&ref=sr_gallery_28
I like that it’s not so fancy that I feel weird wearing it with jeans.