Weekend & Family Friday: “Raise Kind Humans” Market Bag
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Everywhere I look, stores are banning plastic bags — and good for them! I also love shopping at places like Aldi, where you have to pay for plastic bags. I keep reusable bags in my trunk at all times, and I really like this one from J.Crew. I like the jute outside with the waterproof lining for usability, and the mission to provide fair trade wages to the makers. When I lived in the city, I would have appreciated a longer handle, but for carrying groceries from a cart to the trunk of my car, this fits the bill. And how can I forget the message, “Raise Kind Humans,” which we’re all trying to do here. This bag is $68 and is available at J.Crew. Apolis™ “Raise Kind Humans” Market Bag
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Do people actually buy tote bags? I feel like mine are all freebies from conferences and WIC and the health insurance fair. WMATA even gave me one as, like, a thank-you present for not buying a car during SafeTrack.
My 3 year-old has been getting himself up every morning once dawn begins. He’s lovely, but he’s not getting enough sleep so not only is this detrimental to my precious early AM solo time, he’s a bear by evening! I’m hoping that the time change this weekend helps correct this, but clearly I know from this board that I need an OK to Wake clock. There are so many options on Amazon when I just search OK to Wake clock on Amazon. Will you please tell me what I want? The specific brand or link to Amazon would be much appreciated! THANK YOU!
Dog people: My friend’s dog is dying. She’s a little dog who had a long, happy life, but her organs are failing and it seems like she doesn’t have much time left. My friend posted about it on Insta. Should I go visit the dog (i.e., my friend) before the dog dies? I am not a dog person but I totally get that people feel like their dogs are family members.
Do you ever look at your bank account and think (1) I understand math, so this balance obviously makes sense, and (2) but, for real, where did it all go?! I track on Mint, know where it goes, etc. But I just can’t get over feeling like my lifestyle hasn’t changed enough to match the increased spending since law school. Nice to see you, adulthood.
Traveling to San Diego with elementary school aged kids for spring break. Looking for recommendations on how to spend last 7 hours in San Diego between hotel check out and boarding flight. We will not have a car but will have our luggage. I’m thinking of one of the smaller attractions in Balboa Park (ie, not the zoo) or the Maritime Museum. Do any of these places have lockers for our luggage? And how about good kid friendly places to eat nearby where we won’t feel rushed?
It’s Friday, so let’s start up the thread where we share the cute/awesome things our kids did this week!
1) 9-year-old had a snow day yesterday. While DH was out scooping the driveway, the kiddo vacuumed the whole basement without being prompted. I was floored, no pun intended. Parents of little kids: take heart, they become helpful eventually!
2) My preschooler is in a hard-core doll phase, and it’s so adorable. Every morning, she changes Baby out of pajamas and puts her in a new outfit for school. She also is a swadling pro and has blankets set up as nap mats all over her bedroom for the babies. I absolutely melted when she sweetly told me that she’s going to be a mommy like me someday. :)
How bad is it to bow out of a work conference because you don’t want to leave your kid? My job is not travel heavy, but I normally go to an annual conference. My colleagues would love to go, but I “get” to because it’s related to the business unit I work for (my colleagues do similar work for other units). Last year I was newly back from leave, and DH was on paternity leave and he and the baby came with me. This year he can’t come because of work commitments (none of the grandparents are available either). My daughter is still nursing, and I’m afraid that if I leave her for the week my milk supply will completely dry up, even if I pump. She’s way more efficient than the pump at this point and the last time I pumped was months ago and I got basically nothing out. I’m also really sad about being away from her for a week, even though that may be ridiculous. She’s old enough to be sad when I leave, but not old enough to really enjoy seeing me on Skype I don’t think. Can I just…ask not to go? I may get mommy-tracked, but I’m ok with that. Raises and opportunities for advancement are pretty limited to begin with and I’m not really motivated by money.
How do you take care of yourself when you are taking care of someone else? The last year has just been brutal for my family. 2 people very close to my husband died suddenly before Christmas. (One friend, one close family member, both unexpected, less than 3 weeks apart.) Our toddler has been sick a ton and is having some developmental issues that I have been trying to navigate. DH and I have both been on-and-off sick for more than 6 months. His workload blew up and it’s taking everything he has, emotionally and physically, to just keep his head above water and try to stay rested and healthy.
I’ve been carrying the water for our family as he works through his grief and workload, but I feel myself fraying and I don’t know how to focus on myself. I’ve signed up for grocery delivery and hired a housekeeper who will do laundry, but even those tasks require attention. (The mental load is real, y’all.) When I have a spare hour I usually end up just staring at my phone or going to bed early. Taking a day off feels wasteful because what would I even do with myself? We don’t have a ton of extra money for something like a spa day. I know this won’t last forever but realistically it’s at least several more months and that feels unsustainable for me.
Suggestions or even just commiseration welcome.
My feet grew half a size while I was pregnant; it’s been four months since I gave birth and I’ve gone down a quarter (UGH). I’m going to need some new shoes for summer but I don’t want to shell out real money if my feet are going to keep shrinking. I know they might not go back to their original size, but is there a time by which I can reasonably expect them to have settled into whatever is going to be their new normal? (Does it depend on when I get back into working out regularly?)
So I finally received salary bump info on my recent promotion and my company is pro-rating my salary increase because I was on maternity last year for four months (all unpaid except three weeks). My husband was baffled as to why they would pro-rate a raise for a year in which I am taking no maternity leave and I have no answer. The patriarchy? I’m too tired to fight it and it doesn’t seem worth it but I’m sad/mad.
The 13mo appears to have dropped his AM daycare nap. He just refuses to sleep there (tho still will take it at home). Reassurance that this will be okay? He does seem to be mostly making up the sleep in his afternoon nap and/or at night, but it means that he’s often awake for ~7 hours between waking up and napping, which seems like so long for a baby! (my first dropped hers at around 17 months)
Question from a first time mom-to-be to all of you experienced moms out there (especially if you worked in biglaw during pregnancy) – during pregnancy did you have periods of time where you constantly waffled between feeling like “I’m pregnant, not an invalid, please don’t treat me differently, I can still do all of the things.” and “I’m pregnant, and right now pregnancy is kicking my butt, please cut me some slack right now because at the moment I feel (pick one of) exhausted/nauseous/stupid for being forgetful/like I’m going to cry at any moment and I’m not sure why?” I had a relatively easy first and second trimesters, but this third one just started and feels like I’m running into a brick wall (exhausted, unable to focus, and very forgetful). I think the first two trimesters lulled both me and my practice group (all men) that my pregnancy was an easy one and that nothing needed to change (which I’ve appreciated not being treated different and I felt completely fine). I also didn’t really start showing until like the last two weeks, so it was easy to pretend that I was just the same old me. I guess I’m seeking commiseration and also advice – how do you handle needing to be treated differently because something really is different, but also only for those times where you’re actually going through the rough moment? As in, today is horrible, but it might be different on Monday, so if I’m feeling fine on Monday, please treat me normally on Monday?
As I was getting dressed this morning, I couldn’t find matching socks and for about 30 seconds I truly considered wearing completely non-matching ones (yes, to the office) in the hopes that no one would notice.
Yes, that’s pretty much where I am this week folks. Standards are low. Anyone with me?
Has anyone pumped at the Capital Hilton in DC during a conference or event? Can you tell me what the accommodations were like? I have reached out to the hotel and the event organizers and been given vague assurances that “something” will be available for me, which makes me highly suspicious that I will end up in a server closet (which has happened before).
My four year old has been throwing daily tantrums this week. We have a new baby coming in five weeks, but we haven’t increased talking about it although I have been perhaps carrying her less? First, has anyone else had frequent tantrums with a four year old? It seems like she should be able to calm herself down at this age and she still can’t. I know some tantrums are normal, but daily feels like a lot. And second, think we can attribute this to new baby coming, or am I just looking for excuses for her?