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I’ve been seeing a lot of this type of chain lately, and I really love it. I think it’s a nice blend of being delicate but also interesting. You can wear it on its own, but I also think it highlights a charm really well. It could be a really fun layering piece, and I’ve seen people layering different sizes of these same types of “open link” chains. I am usually not one for trendy jewelry, and this seems like it may be a trend; however, since it is also just a simple chain it may become a classic. The necklace is $45 from the Etsy seller somethinggoldjwl and is available in rose gold, yellow gold, and sterling silver. Rose Gold Chain Link Necklace This post contains affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchasesmade through links in this post. For more details see here.Thank you so much for your support!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
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- 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
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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
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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?
KD says
Anyone here meeting billable requirements and handling all or most drop-offs and pick-ups from daycare? I was making the working mom thing work when my husband did drop off; his schedule has changed such that I’m doing both now. I’m having trouble billing enough hours in between! If you’ve done this successfully, please give me some advice!!
Anonymous says
Can you bill from home in the mornings while he gives the kids breakfast etc? DH and I had to work out a two week schedule of pick up and drop offs so that we can each go in early or stay late on certain days, we couldn’t make it work over a one week rotation.
anon says
What is your billable requirement?
Buddy Holly says
That sounds very tough. Is there any room in the budget to outsource one or the other with a part-time nanny or household manager type person that could take on some tasks (like a college student)? Could one of the daycare staff pick up or drop off your kids as a side gig, or is there a nearby workplace where you might be able to find a connection to someone that could do pick ups or drop offs as a side gig?
Anonymous says
+1. I could not make hours work while doing daycare drop-off, so I convinced my husband to take it on. But if he wasn’t able to do it, we would have seriously considered a nanny.
ElisaR says
i’m not a lawyer but I find it difficult to do drop off and pick up for my 2 kids. If I had a billing requirement I know I couldn’t do it. Now that my kids are 2 and 3 I see the upside of having a nanny. The whole meal prep and loading/unloading tiny humans in and out of the house each day is a lot of time spent on my part.
IHeartBacon says
What are your billable hour requirements and what time are you getting into the office and what time do you leave? I don’t think it’s physically possible just counting the hours that exist between the time you arrive at work and the time you leave even if you actually billed every second of those hours. For example, if you arrive at work at 9 and have to leave by 4, that’s only 7 hours. Even if you billed every second of 7 hours, that’s only 1820 for the year. You have accept that you’ll probably need to bill an hour in the evening after your kid goes to bed, or you can put in a 5 hour block on Saturday or Sunday. If you did this and billed an extra 5 hours a week, that’s 260 more hours a year.
Anon says
Billing is a struggle for me even doing just one or the other. I also find that on days when I have to do both drop off and pickup I’m incredibly drained.
My hat goes off to single parents who make it work because it really is a lot.
Anonymous says
I need to work early morning and/or evenings from home most days to make it work. Or hubby will take kiddo out for a half day on the weekend while I work from home.
Another anon says
I find it near to impossible to get my hours in on that sort of schedule unless I’m billing out of the office as well (weekends, evenings), and I’m on a reduced schedule.
As someone pointed out above, you’ll have to do the math, time in the office x efficiency (which in my practice and seniority is the killer), and then factor in non-billable surprises on top of the efficiency.
So you’d have to commit to either working from home a few nights/weekends, or staying later 2-3 nights a week. Another option if daycare is close and work is farther is work from home a few days a week.
Pogo says
Honestly I think you need to figure out a way for you to only do one (drop off or pickup). If I had to do both consistently it simply wouldn’t work, and I don’t even bill – I just often have meetings from 7:30 a.m. – 5pm. If your kid is an early riser and you have one of those daycares that opens at 6am, I’d say you could drop them off as close to 6 as possible but that just sounds AWFUL. Echoing above to try and hire someone like a college student to do pickup and get kiddo started on the evening routine, or go w/ a nanny. The only way we make it work is husband does 100% of dropoffs unless he’s travelling. When he’s travelling we have military precision in our morning routine and are out the door by like 7:10. When I’m travelling I don’t know what he does, but he survives.
So Anon says
I am no longer in the billable world and my kids are a bit older, but maybe my set-up can help. Here is my schedule: I put my kids on the bus every morning, and I do pick-up the two days per week that I work from home. The other three days, I have help from 3:30-7. I generally use two of those nights to work later into the evening and the other to run errands. The days that I work from home, I have zero commute time (otherwise its 45 minutes each way) and I pick them up from the bus at 3:40. I will get them a snack and work for another hour while they are home and then, depending on what is going on, I will work in the evening as well.
My advice is to get creative. Find a college student who can do pick-up and get your kids dinner a couple of times per week. With little kids, I think it is a luxury that is really worth it to be able to work late a few times per week. It not only allows you to stay on top of work, but it takes a bit of pressure away from the feeling that you are always running behind and on someone else’s clock.
Anon says
Echoing that I know a lot of people in a similar boat near me hire a “morning person”to do mornings and drop off, so you don’t have to go full on nanny. Although that may be more applicable for when they are in school and need to go somewhere. When they are still in daycare phase and don’t “need” to go somewhere, a nanny may just make more sense than dealing with two care giving entities.
Anonanonanon says
Not in a job that bills, but I will say I could not make it work if I had to do both dropoff and pickup for my kids! I’m only sharing this to reaffirm that you’re not just missing something or just failing to figure it out… I don’t think there are enough hours in the day. Agree with others, if your husband truly can’t do one or the other I think you’ll need to hire help or find a setup with longer hours.
Coach Laura says
KD, I agree that it won’t be easy or very workable to do both.
Kat posted a list of top 2019 posts and one was a week in the life post about a DC lawyer who hires students from local universities to pick up her kids at school and start dinner four days a week, three hours a day. She has hints on how to find them and how to organize it. Good ideas there. https://corporettemoms.com/federal-government-attorney-work-life-balance-washington-dc/
Coach Laura says
In moderation for the link, I think.
KD, I agree that it won’t be easy or very workable to do both.
Kat posted a list of top 2019 posts and one was a week in the life post about a DC lawyer who hires students from local universities to pick up her kids at school and start dinner four days a week, three hours a day. She has hints on how to find them and how to organize it. Good ideas there.
Anon says
just an fyi, if anyone purchased Contigo kids water bottles over the summer (which i did per recs from this site), there was a recall on certain ones. the little spout came off ours and one of my twins almost choked on it, so before that actually happens to your kid, check to see if you are part of the recall
Butter says
Talk to me about your bed setups when you transitioned your littles out of the crib. My almost 4-year old is ready to move out of his crib, but is past the toddler bed stage. His room is small, so I’d like to stick with a twin if possible, but am drowning in decision fatigue about what kind of bed to get. Anything you love? Hate? Would recommend?
Anne says
We’re happy with the ikea twin and mattress – I sprung for the more expensive bed slats instead of none or the cheaper ones and am glad we did. I also highly recommend paying for delivery and using taskmaster to set it up. It’s still a really affordable option with basically no work on your end.
Jeffiner says
We got a Donco low loft bed from Amazon, with the desk, dresser, and bookshelf. It added a lot of storage to our daughter’s room. We built a little “cave” under the bed with a sleeping bag and all of her stuffed animals. There is the potential for her to hit the ceiling fan if she jumps on the bed, we didn’t realize that until after we set it up.
GCA says
We also got a junior loft bed (watch the mattress height with the rail, and watch the ceiling height as well!). The big kid has been in this since 3.5 – we have a hard and fast rule about no standing up on the bed, it’s too easy to tip over the rail that way. Our kids will share a room once we move, so we’re putting a mattress on the floor for the baby.
Anonymous says
We got a midlevel bed on amazon, mattress from costco. Our kids share a room so we bought a bunk bed and just set up the top bunk for now- it’s nice because it already comes with the guardrails. I’m already glad we didn’t go too expensive for either of them now that i’ve seen how much they love jumping on the bed. Also glad it’s pretty low to the ground because she can climb in by herself, and has also fallen out a few times.
Anonymous says
Bsunge bed from ikea – nice snuggly nook at the headboard that has been popular with my kids who all transitioned around age 4. Put it against a wall on one side and used a rolled up towel under the fitted sheet. It’s low to the ground but no issues with falling out.
Beth @ Parent Lightly says
Those are cute! Do they fit a twin sized mattress or do you have to get the mattress from Ikea?
Anonymous says
I have an ikea one but that’s just convinence. The Ikea twin size mattresses are regular twin mattresses. I think only the crib mattresses are a different size from standard?
Anonymous says
Just go to ikea and buy a twin bed! This isn’t a momentous decision you need to research and stress about.
mascot says
+1. If you only have room for a twin, that’s what you do. But, if you can swing a full size, it’s nice for bedtime snuggles and book reading.
JTM says
We transitioned from the crib to a full size bed with inflatable rails which was a great idea – when our daughter wants one of us to lay with her and cuddle in bed, we aren’t all squished in a toddler or twin bed. The inflatable rails kept her in the bed in the early days and now she doesn’t even need them, but we still keep them under the sheets for safety.
Emily S. says
We bought a twin with the idea that it would be a transitional bed, and I wish we had just gone straight to the full size. An adult cannot comfortably sit on it and read stories at bed time. We bought a frame from PBK and entry level mattress from Sleepy’s, and it is not a great mattress. You get what you pay for, truly. We’re going to upgrade her to a full bed next summer (at age 5) and give the twin with a new mattress to little sister (who will be almost 3).
Anonymous says
We kept our son in his converted crib until he was, um, 6 because we are lazy. When we came back from vacation he started asking why his bed was so hard (newborn mattress!), so we got ourselves together. He really wanted a bunk bed. So we got him one from Wayfair. I kind of wish I had held firm to my preference for a twin with trundle, as the bunk bed takes up a lot of visual space, and making the top bunk is a PITA. But he loves it. He will sleep in a twin until he goes to college as far as I am concerned – there’s plenty of room in one for any average adult sleeping alone.
Beth @ Parent Lightly says
We just bought a twin mattress (Tuft and Needle) and put it on the ground. We call it Montessori Style!
Anonymous says
I had never heard of a toddler bed (still don’t see the point!) so we just used s regular wooden twin bed – mine from childhood actually – with a twin mattress. Stuck a bolster pillow under the sheet on the side of the bed till kiddo figured out how not to roll out. For second kid we will undoubtedly just buy an inexpensive wooden platform twin bed.
shortperson says
we have the gallery wing twin from crate and kids because we dont have room for a chair in there as well. i can sit w both kids and lean against the comfy headboard. we also got the trundle for sleepovers (mom for now, friends one day)
Anon says
How do you ladies divvy up forced PTO due to random daycare closures? Currently, DH is a contractor which means if he stays home he doesn’t bring cash. Therefore, I have been the person to stay home for all closures for the last 8 months. DH will be moving into an FTE position at the same company and I’d like to make sure I don’t just end up being it forever as the default. He has a much longer commute and I generally have more flexibility (i.e. can clock in at home after bed-time). What should I propose?
Buble says
When you say “random” closures, do you mean scheduled but not aligned with work holidays, or truly without advance notice? I hire a babysitter for the days that daycare is closed but DH and I have to work (or would have to take PTO to stay home).
Pogo says
We work it out on a day by day basis because it depends on who has meetings on-site that they can’t miss. We sometimes switch off mid-day (when commute should be minimal – even my DH who spends 70 min on the road during rush hour can get home in 25 when it’s 1pm). If it’s truly equal impact between the two of you, you could switch off every other sick day.
Caveat that my kid, when he is sick enough to be kept home, is a sad lump who requires minimal oversight beyond being tucked in with a blanket, having his favorite show turned on, and being cajoled into sipping water. So I usually don’t actually take PTO but I understand that is not the case for most people.
Anonymous says
I think there are a lot of factors to weigh- who has more PTO? Who makes the most logistical sense? Who has the busier day? For my husband and I, we both have pretty equal amounts of PTO so that’s not a factor. When I was nursing, I was always the one. Now it’s mostly based on what the day’s schedules looks like- sometimes he can move things easier than I can, and vice versa. We’ve also done the switch half-way through the day as well. This all depends of course on your husband taking your career as seriously as his own though- I’ve definitely met some guys that would always think their schedules win by default.
FVNC says
This may be a case where fair is not the same as equal. My husband currently has no flexibility in his schedule, but I work from home with the ability to pretty much control my schedule. So, when daycare or school are closed due to weather or a child can’t attend because of illness, I have to cover. To help with that burden, my husband does a lot of the “emotional labor” work for our kids. In the past, my husband has had more flexibility, and we split hands-on care more evenly. If we had equal levels of flexibility, then I think as Pogo says it would depend on the particular day and who has meetings or work that can’t be pushed to nap time or after hours.
Anonymous says
So we aren’t in a big metro so don’t have a long commute to consider, but we usually each take a half day for random closures and illnesses. Both of us will work from home in the early morning and/or evening to make up some of the time if necessary. Who takes when is generally based on who has meetings at what time. Every once in a while, we’ll need to do every other. For closures where we have advance notice, one or both of us usually plans to use a vacation day. But kiddo’s daycare usually closely follows the holiday schedule of DH’s employer (the largest employer in our town), so that is rarely an issue.
Emily S. says
Echoing to say, it depends. My DH is a freelancer but frequently has commitments to onsite meetings so his flexibility is often in name only. I started a new job when I was pregnant with our first child, so maternity leave wiped out my PTO. For the first 3 years, DH was the default to stay home, but for the past year, now that I have ample PTO and sick leave, I usually stay home or try to grab a few hours of work from home while DH stays home. (My WFH usually has to be approved in advance, tho, so it is not always feasible.) For random planned closures (like teacher work days), we might both take off or look ahead to who has commitments and who prefers to stay home. For unpredictable weather closures or illness, we play it by ear.
Anonymous says
We alternate days. But it might be that I stay home for two in a row, then he stays home for two in a row depending on when they fall. We also factor in sick days and who has had to stay home then. Sometimes with do half days but it sounds like that would not work with your commute.
AwayEmily says
For those of you with kids who share a room…any thoughts on better vs worse times/ages to start the sharing? Right now our kids are almost-4 and almost-2. The 4yo is in her own bedroom and the 2yo sleeps in a crib in the guest room. I really want to move them in together for a variety of reasons, but they both have irregular enough sleep (2yo likes to wake up in the middle of the night, yell, and then go back to sleep; 4yo is in a VERY prolonged process of nap-dropping and so has unpredictable bedtimes) that I am hesitant to do it right now. But maybe there is no good time and we just need to take the plunge?
Buble says
How soundly do your kids sleep? Ours shared a room starting around ages 2 and 4, and generally when one wakes up and gets up, they don’t wake the other. Likewise, they don’t seem to have trouble falling asleep while the other is in the room and still awake. Maybe if you just try it out you’ll find that your concerns aren’t really an issue.
Anonymous says
With the older two, we started before they were young enough to realize that having separate rooms is an option, and the youngest moved into the shared room around age 2. He wakes up and yells in the middle of the night sometimes, it rarely wakes either of the others up. The bigger problem with room sharing is when they don’t want to go to sleep at bedtime, and will “sneak” to play with each other. This is a mutual thing, usually. Sometimes the oldest (who is in 1st grade and doesn’t get a nap) gets frustrated that the younger two are not letting him get to sleep, but often he’s tired enough that he passes out amidst the giggling. Or, I park myself on the couch in their room with my kindle as a quiet enforcer.
If you definitely want them in a shared room, just do it now. I don’t think it gets easier if you wait until they’re older; they just get more opinionated.
AwayEmily says
thanks, this is helpful. Probably the right answer is indeed “just go for it.”
Anon says
We moved our 2 month old baby in with her (then) 21 month old brother, and haven’t looked back (now 4 and 5 and still in the same room, with bunk beds). Our eldest to be fair was always a rockstar sleeper, but still our youngest obviously wasn’t sleeping through the night at the time and I was worried about it. Everyone kept telling me I’d be amazed what the older one would sleep through and they were right.
Agreed with the other poster that sometimes the biggest issue (now) is them giggling and playing past lights out, but honestly it’s so cute I often don’t care, within reason.
Anonymous says
For various reasons, what was going to be Christmas Eve dinner is now going to be Christmas Eve lunch. Any ideas for a light but fancy-ish Christmas Eve supper? Something fun enough to be Christmasy but light enough for people who had a big lunch.
AwayEmily says
Spiral-cut ham and little rolls!
Anonymous says
While living in Texas my family embraced the Mexican tradition of tamales on Christmas Eve. If you don’t eat a lot, they are light. We always buy them from Mexican restaurants or grocery stores (in my neighborhood in Brooklyn they are $1.50 each, so very affordable).
Anonymous says
My apologies, on further research it appears this is a pan-Latin tradition. Cultural appropriation fail on my part.
SC says
Tradition in my family is oyster stew, if you have access to fresh oysters. It would also be good with the spiral cut ham and little rolls mentioned above.
Last year, DH and I made cheese, charcuterie, and good bread our Christmas dinner.
anne-on says
A cheese board and charcuterie plus good bread is my go-to “Husband is away” dinner. Silly man does not think fruit/veggies/cheese/bread = dinner.
Anon says
I would do french onion soup (smells so good simmering all afternoon) with broiled cheese toasts on top and a massive charcuterie board.
Anonymous says
Shrimp!
Anonymous says
Homemade soup or heavy appetizers.