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Happy Green Monday! It’s another big day to save, as the Macy’s website so cheerfully puts it, and they’re having a pretty good web deal for them: take an extra 25% off, plus free shipping at $50 with code FRIEND. For today’s maternity pick, I’m liking this navy top with lace details — it seems like the perfect thing to wear to holiday or New Year parties whether they’re casual or a bit fancy — and you can probably get a few wears to the office as well, with a blazer or sweater. It was $30, but it’s marked down to $20 today — and available in sizes S-XL (also in pink, oat stripe and navy stripe). Motherhood Maternity Flutter Sleeve Ruched Lace Trim Top
(Also cute: this and this.)
Sales of note for 12.5.23…
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Holiday sale up to 50% off; 5x the points on beauty for a limited time
- Ann Taylor – 40% off your purchase & extra 15% off sweaters
- Banana Republic – Up to 40% off select styles; up to 40% off sale styles
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything & extra 20% off purchase
- Eloquii – Extra 60% off all sale
- J.Crew – 40% off your purchase with code
- Lands’ End – Up to 70% off everything; free shipping (readers love the cashmere)
- Loft – 50% off your purchase with code (ends 12/5)
- Summersalt – Up to 60% off select styles & free scarf with orders $125+ (this reader-favorite sweater blazer is down to $75)
- Talbots – 40% off your regular-price purchase; extra 50% off all markdowns
- Zappos – 34,000+ women’s sale items! Check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kid shoe brands on sale.
Kid/Family Sales
- Crate&kids – Free shipping sitewide; up to 50% off toy + gift event; free monogramming for a limited time only (order by 12/15)
- J.Crew Crewcuts – 40% off your purchase with code
- Pottery Barn Kids – Up to 50% off toys, furniture & gifts
- Graco – Holiday savings up to 35% off; sign up for texts for 20% off full-price item
- Walmart – Up to 25% off top baby gifts; big savings on Delta, Graco, VTech, Fisher-Price & more
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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?
JJ says
Thanks in part to everyone’s advice on my situation the past several weeks, I’m giving notice at my current job for a perfect-seeming in-house attorney position. I’m so happy and nervous and sad (I love my current coworkers) all at once. But I can’t believe I’m going to get to spend so much more quality time with my sons.
KJ says
Congratulations! Good luck with your new position.
FVNC says
Congratulations! Great news for you and your family. Good luck!
anon eagle says
Congrats JJ! I have been out of the loop for a while so I missed your other posts. I recently switched jobs too and I am very happy. Congrats on the new position!!
KJ says
You guys, I am beginning to suspect that Baby is trying to murder me with a deadly combination of daycare germs and chronic sleep deprivation. Blarg.
mascot says
Fortunately, babies are pretty terrible at succeeding with this type of plan. That first year of daycare germs is the worst for all parties. It really does get better. Well, at least until your child starts pre-k/kinder. I’ve gotten all sorts of lovely germs from this new crop of friends.
Anastasia says
Mine tried to do this a couple months ago. He was very strategic, and planned his strike for a week my husband was out of town so there would be no witnesses. I foiled him by taking a day off work, dropping him at his germy daycare, and crawling back in bed for the rest of the day. I would highly recommend that, if you can swing it work-wise. Otherwise, please accept my sympathies.
EB0220 says
The first year is the worst. It’s a vicious cycle – sickness = bad sleep = more sickness = etc etc…. My firstborn did not sleep more than 3 hours for her first year and a half. Now she sleeps 10+ hours straight.
MomAnon4This says
This thread reminds me of the show “Family Guy” where Baby Stewie is always plotting to murder his family.
KJ says
Thanks for the sympathy! I always heard that you are sick all the time with a little one in day care, but man I was just not prepared for the reality of never-ending illness!
Gift for 5 and 3 year old says
I need a relatively inexpensive gift idea for my best friends kids – 5 and 3 years old. Mom is pregnant with #3, and something they can do together or a joint gift would be ideal. TIA!
Meg Murry says
Kiwi crate? Its $20 plus shipping for a single craft kit. My 7 year old got a monthly subscription from a family member to do with his Grandmother and he loves it.
Otherwise – arts and craft supplies? Pack of construction paper, glue sticks, googly eyes and pipe cleaners?
Gingerbread house kit or gingerbread men kit? They run $10-$20 and come with everything you need in the box – all you have to do is use the frosting “glue” to assemble and decorate with the candies in the box. We also get them post Christmas and save to decorate as a Valentine or St Patrick’s day house – mainly because we just sometimes forget at Christmas.
Or if you mean “together” like the 2 kids but not mom – Duplos, Lincoln Logs or plain old blocks? Or Thomas trains, if you know whether they have the wooden track sets or the plastic track sets.
Meg Murry says
Although if the parents are anything like me, they probably do not want any more STUFF in their house right now – so I would also consider something like books (doesn’t fall into my STUFF category – the more books the better in my world) or an experience gift like tickets to the zoo, museum or movie theater.
greenie says
My girls are this age… large-piece puzzles or board games or a big hit.
Not too sure what gender… but my girls want the Frozen version of Chutes and Ladders really bad… Target always has fun board games for this age at a good price.
mascot says
Zingo game? (It’s like bingo and supposedly kids love it) Moon sand?
Floor puzzles would be fun too and something they can both work on.
Newly pregnant says
My friend’s 3 year old loves stickers and arts and crafts projects.
ANP says
Art supplies are always good. I usually love board games but that typically requires parent engagement and a pregnant gal with two kids may want to disengage on the couch more than she wants to play a board game (though of course her partner could also play with them — I’m just weighing in from my own lens).
We love love love love LOVE magna-tiles in our house (my kids are 5 and 2), and they’re good for age 2 to 200, but that may be more than you want to spend. Excellent joint gift and I’ve yet to see a child of any age not be captivated by them.
MGM says
Hoping someone can help with advice. I have a 6 month old and just found out I’m pregnant again (yikes). I’m not telling work until we pass the 12 week mark but I’m already worried about how it is going to go over when I say that I have to take another maternity leave when I just barely got back from the last one. Should I say it was an “oops” baby to smooth things over a little? Should I just not even care what their reaction might be and just be matter of fact about it? I understand my rights but even still, office politics is real and needs to be taken into account. I’m at a smaller office (15 attorneys) and we usually have at least one person out on maternity leave a year – I’m just feeling like I’m pushing it a little in terms of timing and don’t want this to be held against me down the line. Also if anyone else has kids spaced about a year apart, please tell me it will be ok and that I will survive this!
KJ says
People will probably wonder, but it’s no one’s business if your pregnancy was planned or not. To be honest, I would be concerned that saying it was an “oops” might lead to people think I’m not careful or responsible about family planning and wondering just how many “oopses” I might have. I think it’s better not to disclose anything about how you got pregnant in the workplace. (I come to this perspective after learning waaaay too much about a new co-worker’s fertility treatments. T MI!)
And congratulations! I’m sure you will find a way to make it work with two close together, and just think, you’ll be done with the baby years more quickly!
Anonymous says
Honestly, I think most people will assume that you intended to have your two kids close together to be done with baby stage quickly. I don’t think they’ll see it as a negative since, based on that assumption, they will also feel like they’ll be done with your maternity leaves quickly.
I absolutely agree that it’s no one’s business whether it was planned or unplanned, but I also don’t see it helping you – partly because as KJ suggested, people may see it as irresponsibility, but mostly because I think it’s really not as bad in other people’s opinions as you fear.
My SIL had hers 14 months apart and LOVED IT. It was two years of mayhem, but well worth it in her opinion.
Anonymous says
“I also don’t see it helping you” should be “I also don’t see publicizing it as unplanned helping you”.
MGM says
Yeah it was not a true “oops” but I thought maybe the workplace would be more forgiving than hearing that I planned on two maternity leaves close together. Like I said, this is a small office and personal details get shared quite often so I know I’ll be asked if it was a planned pregnancy at some point. We had a new hire that was pregnant the week after she started and she said it was an accident, which did seem to deflect the attitude that some of the senior attorneys had. It was frequently said around the office that this was an unexpected pregnancy and that she did not mean to have it happen right after starting at the firm. So….that is basically the explanation for why I thought it might help me if I said it was an “oops.” But I think your advice (and KJ’s) is great. And thank you so much for letting me know your SIL survived and loved it!
JJ says
Congrats!! We had an (honestly) “oops” second baby and found out that I was pregnant when my oldest was 9 months old. Most people just assumed that we planned to have the kids close together to get the baby phase over with quickly. I did tell the people that I was closest to that it was a happy surprise, and they didn’t seem to judge me for it.
Were some people annoyed at work that I took maternity leave two consecutive years? Maybe. But I just made sure that my work was excellent and I never heard anything but praise.
MGM says
JJ – how long ago did you have your children? And how hard was it to deal with two so young? At what point did it get easier? Basically I want to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel ;)
JJ says
There’s light! (Sorry this response is so delayed). My youngest is 16 months old now. I won’t lie, the first 6 months are hard and I don’t remember much of them. But once the baby could sit up and we could put him in a pack n’ play (or jumparoo, etc) and hold his own bottle, things got MUCH easier. Now that our oldest is almost 3, he is shockingly self-sufficient and can do most things himself. I’d suggest having a very open and honest relationship with your husband to get you through this. Do not, whatever you do, keep “track” of how many diapers you change versus him, etc. Just make an effort that both of you are contributing 50% to childcare in whichever way works best for your marriage, and you’ll make it out alive :)
anon eagle says
Congrats on your pregnancy. I had my daughters very close together. My youngest is 8 months and my oldest is 22 months. It is very difficult. The bottle prep/ daycare bags/ midnight laundry/ daycare pick up and drop off/ etc make for very long days. Now that my youngest just started sleeping all the way to 5am, things are getting better. My day starts at 4:20 am and ends around 10pm. JJ had mentioned to me that things get better when the baby can sit up by herself, and that was very accurate. If you can afford it, I am highly recommending a housekeeper 2x a month and a Saturday morning babysitter at least 1x a month so you and your partner can run errands. My mother lives 2 hours away and I wish I could move closer to her. I did get major side-eye at work with my back to back pregnancies. I was not married to my SO at the time, so that might have added to the gossip. I believe that having 2 children of the same sex makes life easier (hand me down clothes, no redecorating of the nursery). My firstborn is very close to her dad because I had a miserable second pregnancy and could barely get off the sofa to put her to bed some nights. My firstborn was also a late walker (she took her first steps as I was in the hospital giving birth to the 2nd baby) so I had a difficult time carrying her up and down the stairs in my 3rd trimester. I’m tired and going into rambling mode, but I hope this helps. Hang in there and be sure to take very good care of yourself during your pregnancy. I tried so hard to be a good worker and help out with the first baby that I compromised my 2nd pregnancy. My second baby had to be induced at 38 weeks because she was measuring 33 weeks. Having a very small, fragile newborn only added to choas. Ok, again rambling. :)
OCAssociate says
I finally got my free pump from insurance, so I have 2 Medelas. I plan to keep one at home and one at work, but I’m wondering if I’m really sparing myself much schlepping, since I’ll still have pump parts/milk/cooler to take back and forth.
Anyone else have a work pump and a home pump? Any tips on transporting the accessories & milk back and forth? Do you bring the work pump home on weekends or just leave it in your office permanently?
Thanks!
Anonymous says
It sounds brilliant and wonderful to me to have a pump permanently at your office and just schlep the parts and bottles back and forth. That being said, I’d highly recommend keeping an extra set of pump parts at the office (just in case!) and I’d spend time/money finding the perfect cooler to fit the bottles and ice pack(s), so it will fit inside my regular bag. I don’t refrigerate the parts between pumping sessions — I just soak and wash them when I get home.
EB0220 says
Hi! I put a lot of thought into this but I’m still refining my system. Here’s what I do:
1) Office: I use a Medela Freestyle for the office. I bought it when I was nursing my first baby (currently on #2). I have another of the same model that I got from my SIL. I keep both pumps, along with a full set of spare parts, in my office in case my main pump fails or I forget to bring a part from home. I have two sets of spare parts that travel home, get washed in the dishwasher overnight and come back to work. I alternate these part sets since I find it takes the whole day for them to dry. You’re still carrying a bag but it’s much lighter if you aren’t carrying the pump itself around.
During the day, I have one cooler + ice pack for milk and one for pump parts. You could just as easily refrigerate but my office is pretty far from the kitchen.
2) Home: I use my Medela Pump in Style (free from insurance for this baby) when I’m pumping at home. I pump once a day after baby is asleep with this pump. It’s not the best but it does the job. I don’t have any backup parts or anything for this one since it’s not catastrophic if it fails or something. I probably should remedy this though.
And, on that note, I have to go pump. Looking forward to seeing others’ systems!
Anonymous says
I had a cooler to transport milk and parts, one of the soft-sided ones with a strap. The strap was nice to have as an option, but mostly I just put it in my regular work bag.
I kept the cooler and parts with the pump during the day. (I don’t have a private office, so I have to use the pump room, where I leave my pump during the day.) So I just needed to bring myself to the room and only carried the cooler morning/evening.
Fully agree to keeping an extra set of pump parts at the office, regardless of where your pump lives.
It was easy and I liked the system.
Maddie Ross says
I had (actually, still have, just never took it home) a pump at work and one at home – both Medela pump in styles. I bought one right after my milk came in because I literally could not wait for the change in my insurance to kick in and then got one a month later once for free once it did. I loved having a dedicated pump both places. I kept spare parts at work just in case, but normally carried clean pump parts to work each morning in a lunch bag and carried milk home each night in the same bag. It was super easy, and to me, way more discrete since I was carrying a normal lunch bag with an ice pack and not my black pump bag.
jlf says
+1
I had exactly the same system as this.
Meg Murry says
My pump case couldn’t fit the milk and parts in it without very precise packing, and didn’t have room for a second set of parts – so carrying only one bag with parts and milk is way easier than pump bag plus second bag plus work bag.
I carried my parts (in gallon ziploc bags that I washed and reused for 1-2 weeks each) and 4-6 empty bottles and an ice pack in a large patterned lunch tote that was approximately 9x14x4. The only issue was that there was another person in my office with the same lunch bag but luckily she was also a mom, so she understood when I warned her to be careful which bag she grabbed from the fridge or she could be in for a surprise (I stuck my milk bag in the break room fridge after my last pump so I didn’t have to trudge back to the pump room at the end of the day).
Link to bag to follow
Meg Murry says
This is the style/size bag I had, in a different discontinued pattern:
http://www.thirtyonegifts.com/catalog/product/1/catid/20/swid/988a/thermal-tote-in-black-chevron/