Washable Workwear Wednesday: Smart Wide Straight Pants
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Need to upgrade your fall work wardrobe on a budget? I always turn to Uniqlo for stylish, well-made basics like these wide trousers.
These tailored pants have a mid-rise waist and a straight silhouette that isn’t too voluminous. The smooth, stretchy fabric works with other workwear staples you already have, like crisp cotton shirts and smart blazers.
Uniqlo’s Smart Wide Straight Pants are $49.90 and come in sizes XXS-XXL (Uniqlo can also tailor your purchases for free or a small fee, depending on the item). They’re available in four colors.
Looking for other washable workwear? See all of our recent recommendations for washable clothes for work, or check out our roundup of the best brands for washable workwear.
I need a sanity check on whether this is my anxiety talking or whether I should investigate more. (Very possible it’s the former). My daughter is in first grade and I think hits grade level standards for reading – her school hasn’t flagged anything. But it seems really challenging for her in the passages/texts her school sends to read at home and I’m not sure if that’s normal or not – I was one of those kids who just picked up reading from exposure and don’t have any specific memories of learning to read.
Some additional context is that I was warned to look out for dyslexia because she had/has speech articulation issues, so it’s on my mind for that reason as well.
Things that I’m wondering if they’re red flags or which could be totally normal, idk:
1) she regularly looks at the first letter of the word and then guesses wildly.
2) she forgets words we just talked about.
3) she finds the whole process really frustrating.
4) she still reverses letters and numbers when writing sometimes, especially S but I’ve noticed her checking herself on b/d and c.
Looking for input on a GT program at a very good public school/ranked one of the top 3 public elementary in the state (3 hours per day or so of pull out for reading/math/science) vs an academically rigorous (ranked top 20 in the country) for my third grader that has no Gifted and talented program at the primary level. My third grader is happy with his school but not necessarily challenged at all. debating switching him to his older sisters school next academic year. 4th grade is an entry year. She just started in middle school (which has honors classes etc) so it’s hard for me to tell how it works for primary. We will eventually switch but the question is 4th vs 6th. He’s pretty introverted / may have a hard time making friends so that’s an argument for switching him earlier.
Where do people shop for jewelry online that days? Looking for a daily wear bracelet – price about $150-$300.
I need to vent about something anonymously, because I know this is a first world problem and is very spoiled. My parents are super even between their kids and what they contribute to us. My in-laws, I guess not so much and are way more traditional than I realized until recently. They paid for their two daughters’ weddings and now are hosting big baby showers. They did not do the same for their son, my husband. They are so loving generally, but these big family milestone events really make me feel sad and like they value our marriage and our kids much less than they do those of my SILs’ (and these are big events – I’d guess they’ve spent ~$50-60K each per SIL vs. no contribution to the same life events for us). This is on my mind because one of the baby showers is this weekend and it just kind of stings to be heading to a big bash for my SIL that makes it seem like this is the first grandkid worthy of celebrating even though I already gave them two!
My 10YO is being very melodramatic about school (we’re in week 2); he finds his math teacher boring and this has spiraled into “he hates school,” tears, screaming, calling the math teacher an a-hole (not to his face lol, at home), like losing his mind. I know this is all anxiety behavior but my boomer-raised inner child wants to tell him to suck it up and deal. I’ve basically told him to try his best to keep an open mind and just make it through each day for the next two weeks, and then we can reassess if there’s a real problem and we need to meet with the school, get a tutor, etc. But any other tips on how to survive? I just know tonight will be another full blown melt down.
I don’t know if any moms of older kids can relate, but I am missing aspects of what life was like as a parent even a few years ago. My youngest kid is now in middle school, and the oldest is in high school and driving. With the weather suddenly cooling off, I see all these families biking together, going to the park, etc. And I really, really loved that stage and miss doing those things with my kids. Even though I love who they are now, and in many ways, I’m better suited to parenting tweens and teens. I just feel wistful in the fall. No more Halloween costumes, no more “pumpkin walks” (literally walks where we counted how many pumpkins we saw on people’s porches), no more jumping in piles of leaves. The middle schooler would still bike with me; the high schooler would look at me like I’d lost my mind!
I will NOT tell moms of little ones to enjoy every minute, because believe me, I fully remember how hard it was. But, I’m feeling nostalgic and a little sad, and just needed to get it out of my head.
Tips for getting someone out of your head? There is a generally popular mom in my neighborhood who just really rubs me the wrong way- I think she is overbearing and cliquey. I spend way too much time dwelling on the things she says to me and others.
I’m sitting at my desk today desperate to go home and lay down. I like my job, I don’t work long hours, I outsource as many household tasks and chores as possible (regular cleaner, some prepared meals, grocery delivery, true 50-50 spouse), yet I still feel depleted. I’m not sure if I’m burnt out, depressed, anaemic, or just a more tired and less resilient person than average…but HOW do working moms do it…day after day after day…
I have a 3-year old who just started kindergarten as the youngest in the cohort and it’s been a rough transition. Mornings and drop offs (done by spouse) and pick ups are both fraught – full of emotions and challenging behaviours. I only have a couple hours of energy left by time I get home and once the dinner prep, lunch box packing, clean up, bath and bedtime routine is over I have no desire to do anything for myself or with my spouse. Is this just… how it is? Or what am I doing wrong? :( I just have this sense everyday of “this is too much” – yet, compared to others…it doesn’t seem like I’m doing any more than the average working mom. Others even work longer hours, have more kids, worse commute etc.
I work in the Canadian federal government and survived a massive round of layoffs earlier this year. My team of 10 is now 2. I don’t take as much leave as I should. I also don’t have a hobby at the moment (besides reading) or anything much to look forward to. I’m on SSRIs and apparently ferritin is ok. I go to bed at a reasonable hour. I eat well. How do I make this feel more manageable and less like a constant struggle?
Spinoff of the location/lifestyle discussion: how do you decide whether to move or renovate? We are approaching the empty nest years and are trying to figure out what to do. Our house does not meet our needs in many ways–too many small rooms, tiny closets, not enough counter space in the kitchen. It’s also poorly constructed and badly in need of a lot of work to make it salable and even more to make it nice to live in. We have talked for a while about moving once we aren’t tied down to neighborhood schools, but a home that has all or even most of what we want doesn’t seem to exist in our metro area. We have also considered moving cities, but we really like our city and can’t think of anywhere we’d rather be right now.
We could stay in this house, which to offset its negatives does have many aspects we can’t find together anywhere else (pleasant leafy neighborhood safe for long walks, two-car garage that opens into the house, walkable to a few useful businesses) and spend a lot of time and effort and money on a full reno including kitchen, baths, adding insulated storage in an attic-type space, painting all interior walls, replacing all flooring, and possibly replacing siding and interior doors. Or we could pay all the transaction costs of moving to buy a house that has some things we want but don’t currently have, and doesn’t have other things we have now.
Either way, we are facing probably $60K of work to keep the house from falling down and rotting before we can sell it. My position is that if we do the work and stay then we will know that the house is in good shape and won’t have to do many large maintenance or repair projects for quite a while. If we buy a house it could very well turn out to have foundation issues, need a roof in five years, etc., and then we’ll basically be paying to fix up two houses instead of just one.
My husband and I both feel that a fresh start in a different home would be energizing. But we just aren’t inspired by anything that’s available, or even theoretically available but not currently on the market, and moving would end up costing us just as much as renovating or possibly more because our neighborhood has appreciated much more slowly than others so comparable houses that were the same price as ours 10 years ago now cost far more. We would be selling this house to get away from it, not to go to something we liked better. That doesn’t seem destined to go well. I think we should accept that we can’t do better, stay put, and renovate, but my husband is resistant even though he can’t identify exactly where we would try to buy. What would you do?
How do you handle it when one spouse has a higher s3x drive than the other?
My husband will say things like “I just want to grab you” or “I want you to sit on my face” or try to passionately make out in the kitchen while I’m like, packing lunches.
I’ve told him that nobody wants to be grabbed, but he thinks that surely all women want to be hounded by their husbands and I should be happy about it because he thinks I’m so hot.
So often a totally innocuous thing gets a s3xual undertone and it’s a real turn off for me. Like I’ll be reading a book in bed and he’ll sit next to me fondling my bre@sts under my shirt. He thinks that’s foreplay, I think it’s annoying.
This morning he got all morose because: I was getting ready for work and he saw me n@ked and was disappointed we couldn’t do anything (we have 3 kids under 5, all home at the time), and I had a train to catch.
I think it’s unreasonable to expect some sort of passionate hot s3x life and frankly I’m fine with doing it like once a week, but clearly he has different thoughts.
What are your expectations for handling family meet-ups involving toddlers when the families have different screen time rules? Each family defaults to their own rules? Everyone agrees to no screens during certain “together times,” like a meal out with everyone? Default to the house rules for whoever is hosting?
Just wanted to put in a plug for the idea of changing your environment because of the effect it can have on your habits. We were really struggling with where we lived before with not really being able to access safe recreation options for us and our child easily and some people were saying to us that you just need to try harder, you need to find a way to make it work, things like that, but we moved and everything has instantly been better. Sometimes it really is the environment. Now we’re the family that does a quick park run because it’s two minutes away by foot. Now I take my son for little bike rides after dinner because the trail is RIGHT THERE. Now I walk in the mornings on my WFH days because it’s pleasant and safe instead of dangerously trafficky and loud. I wasn’t lazy or being negative before; I just needed a change of scenery to put my natural inclinations into action safely. I’m excited for how much we have increased our son’s outside time without even really trying.