Make My Life Easier Thursday: Outdoor Table in A Bag

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I remember this table from when I was a teen, and it still looks exactly the same (in a good way!).

Picnicking has become a favorite weekend activity for us. After juggling too many meals in my lap, I finally bought this portable table from Crate & Barrel. This table comes in its own carrying bag and unrolls for easy assembly. Just screw the legs on and you’re ready to go.

In addition to picnics, use this table at the beach or for outdoor concerts.

The Outdoor Table in a Bag is on sale for $47.

Sales of note for 9.10.24

(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)

Kid/Family Sales

  • Carter’s – Birthday sale, 40-50% off & extra 20% off select styles
  • Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off all baby; up to 40% off all Halloween
  • J.Crew Crewcuts Extra 30% off sale styles
  • Old Navy – 40% off everything
  • Target – BOGO 25% off select haircare, up to 25% off floor care items; up to 30% off indoor furniture up to 20% off TVs
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Recommendations for educational apps for 6 to 8 year olds?

My kid enjoys:
Reading Eggs (the Math Seeds part)
Prodigy (both math and English)

She also uses the Khan Academy and PBS Kids apps, but I feel like for her to be self-motivated about it, Khan Academy is slightly too educational, and PBS kids has a lot of fluff. Reading Eggs/Math Seeds and Prodigy seem to hit around the sweet spot.

Thanks!

Layoffs today at a company I joined not long ago. I was assured my team and I are safe, but it still doesn’t feel great. Going to be a long day.

What are some of the best / least painful fundraisers your schools do? This is for a K-5 school but all ideas welcome.

There has always been a “direct appeal” aka write a check option but looking for other ideas that don’t make working moms gag.

Going on a long road trip this weekend. Any ideas for non-screen activities for my 7-year-old girl? There will definitely be tablets and screens involved, but everyone needs a screen break sometimes. I thought about audiobooks, but I honestly don’t know where to start. It’s just not part of our normal routine.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what convinces people to go from anger/ frustration/ sadness at events in the news to actually taking action. Not just posting something on social media, but actually joining an organization or calling your representatives, etc etc. So I’m curious: if you have tried to channel your feelings into productive action, no matter how small, how did that come about? And if you’re still just screaming into the void (an idea which to me encapsulates a lot of what is wrong with how we respond to things), why haven’t you stepped up?

I need advice as to how to navigate my parents’ falling apart marriage. Dad refuses to see a doctor for his routine issues. We suspect mental illness stemming from trauma in childhood which went untreated: he sleeps a lot, is always angry and accusatory towards mom, disrespects her in public and at home. Family friends noticed his behavior and said he is paranoid and acting like a jerk. I was thinking that it is not my job to fix their marriage but what I would like to do is try to convince him see a cardiologist (he is overweight with high blood pressure) and most important a neurologist or physiatrist. How do I do that?

Probably a dumb question but for those of you who don’t let your kids quit an activity they’ve signed up for, how do you make them participate? We’ve generally taken the approach that activities are supposed to be fun, and if they cease being fun we let my kid quit. But right now my 4 year old wants to quit a soccer class she otherwise really enjoys for the absolute dumbest reason, and I really don’t want to give into it. But she is an extremely strong-willed kid and I know that if I force her to go to the class when she’s told me she doesn’t want to, she will just totally refuse to participate and possibly scream and cry on the sidelines which seems really stressful and embarrassing. I’m tempted to bribe her with a reward if she goes to class with a good attitude and participates, but that’s not good parenting, right?

We are hosting a birthday party for our 2-year old on a Sunday from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. We are inviting her daycare class (2-3 year olds) and a few friends and family. We expect at least one parent will stay with each child. We had hoped for a Saturday party, but our venue (farm) was already booked. For the Saturday party, I was going to order Chick-fil-A breakfast party platters – figured the kids would eat chicken nuggets, adults could have little breakfast sandwiches, with fruit, water, coffee, etc. But now that the party is on a Sunday, what do we serve? I want to serve a meal (lunch) for the kids, but also have foods the adults can eat. Is KFC a good option? Has anyone ordered party platters from KFC? I guess I could order pizza, but sourcing for other options. We’re in the Chicago area, if that matters.

It’s time to wean our 14-month old off her bottles. We started taking them away slowly, but went cold turkey last weekend. She asked for a bottle twice the first day, but seemed fine when we said no. But, she’s stopped drinking milk. She drinks milk from an open cup (Montessori school) at daycare and with lunch at home (and then thinks it’s funny to dip her hands in the cup) but refuses the Oxo tot straw cups I used with her older sibling and from which she will happily drink water. Any recommendations for other cups? Thank you.

In the vein of how not to hate your husband, what do you do when friends/acquaintances/colleagues really hate their husbands? I was at a lunch yesterday when a colleague started talking about how awful her partner was and how parenting was so hard, etc, in a very “you know how it is…” way.
But… I don’t? She had to race home from an event because her husband doesn’t like being left with the kids for any length of time, whilst I am gone 3 nights a week and come home to a happy kid, a happy husband, and clean-ish house? So I could either fake commiserate or be smug? I think I ended up smug, mostly because I knew that senior male colleagues were watching this conversation and I wanted to show I had my -ish together?

Similar to previous poster, I am also planning a birthday party for my two year old from 10-11:30 or 12, and inviting the whole daycare class. This one will be at a park in August. I talked to our local Kona Ice truck guy yesterday, they do fun stuff for birthdays including a personalized sign, music, Hawaiian leis, etc. But he can only come at 11, he’s booked for the rest of the day starting at 11:30. Is 11 am too early for Kona Ice for two year olds?

Being supportive isn’t about proving you have your “ish” together in front of senior male colleagues (seriously, that’s what you were thinking about?!) while someone else is openly struggling with that very issue. You should have simply listened and showed that you cared.

Pride goes before a fall. Be humble and kind because someday YOU might need it. If your life is easy and great, maybe you just got lucky. Stop patting yourself on the back.

Any recommendations for books for a girl around 3-4? Like most little kids, she loves anything with cute pictures.

As the news comes out about the police inaction in Uvalde, I am horrified, nauseated, angry. Let this please be the moment when we do SOMETHING meaningful about gun violence in this country.

If anyone here thought more police or more guns were the answer, I urge you to read the news and understand how regular police abandoned those children.

Our whole family has Covid. We were all really sick and are fortunately on the mend, but my 4 year old twins might kill each other before our quarantine ends. One in particular is picking unprovoked with her sister and idk what to do about it, tips?