Weekend & Family Friday: Soap & Bath Bomb STEM Craft Kit
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My daughter is almost six, and since she was old enough to link presents with Christmas, we’ve had her make her own gifts: handmade cards, handprint/footprint art, and decorated cookies.
Like many parents-turned-teachers, I bought lots of “educational” supplies and kits back in the spring. Although most are gathering dust, she begged us to open up her soap making kit one rainy weekend. I was impressed: The kit goes beyond just making soap and explains the science and chemistry behind it (very educational and with the times).
She got to decorate her lab with the included stickers, and as a bonus, she’s made almost enough soap to give to everyone for the holidays. Now, the kit doesn’t come with that much glycerin, so if you want to make more than a few tiny hotel-sized bars, you have to buy more (Amazon to the rescue). We even made some larger bars with some Disney-themed silicone molds I had. We haven’t tried making bath bombs yet, but it’s going to be a long winter.
The kit is $29.95 at Nordstrom. Soap & Bath Bomb STEM Craft Kit
Sales of note for 4/24/25
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – 7,710 new markdowns for women!
- Ann Taylor – Friends of Ann Event: 30% off your entire purchase, including 100s of new arrivals
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 25% off
- Eloquii – Spring Clearance: Up to 75% off + extra 50-60% off sale
- J.Crew – Mid-Season Sale: Up to 60% off sale styles + up to 50% off summer-ready styles
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 50% off clearance + extra 15% off $100 + extra 20% off $125
- M.M.LaFleur – 3 pieces for $198. Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Friends & Family Event: 30% off entire purchase, includes markdowns
And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!!
- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
- I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
- I’m thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?
- I’m now a SAHM and my husband needs to step up…
- How can I change my thinking to better recognize some of my husband’s contributions as important, like organizing the shed?
- What are your tips to having a good weekend with kids, especially with little kids? Do you have a set routine or plan?
I know it’s late in the day but was wondering if anyone could offer advice about choosing a 529 – our state allows tax deductions for contribution to any plan so there are a lot to choose from. I’m trying figure out what makes one plan better or not and I just cannot get a handle on it. If i look at something like Vanguard’s 529 plan based out of Nevada, it has not great performance ratings but surely that is due to the economy? Or if I look at West Virginia’s, it’s very highly rated but nobody seems to be selecting it. I know the answer is to just pick one but wanted to see if anyone had any sage advice. I have read the posts on this blog about 529s. :)
I realize this is very child specific but nonetheless would love some ideas to start with since for various reasons we are not going to go to a shoe store. My 5 year old is very very very particular about the feeling of shoes (as was I, as a child and now). We usually have one pair of sneakers, one pair of crocs or sandals, and one pair of boots. At this point he will barely agree to wear sneakers because he can’t get them just right. We’ve tried a few brands over the last year and now that he’s ready for the next size — what sneakers do your kids find the most comfortable?? He wore new balance for three years without issue but they are now causing tantrums, as are adidas. Can’t yet tie shoes (Xmas break project?), has enormous feet. What comfy sneakers do your kids love?
Y’all, I need a little emotional support/advice. My almost-6-month-old has sprouted two teeth, and with that, is now occasionally biting during nursing in the daytime. This morning, he bit me so hard that I expected to see blood when I got him unlatched. I’ve read all the stuff online on how to stop baby from biting, but the truth is that it hurt so much that I’m scared to nurse him. I guess I’m just looking for some support/affirmation that I’m not a terrible person for considering weaning because of this – it feels like every website’s advice is basically to grin and bear it while you work through a process of training your child out of biting but I am not sure I can do that. Up to now I loved nursing – and he doesn’t bite at night because he’s more focused, so maybe I could keep those sessions but fully convert to bottles for the daytime (he already gets a bottle from the nanny at lunch so that I can get a longer block of work in).
The featured item today reminded me that I have a question for moms of girls. My 5 year old is asking for bubble baths. I have a terrible association with them because as a kid I would play in a bubble bath for an hour and then within days have a raging UTI (repeat every 4-5 months). Are there any brands that are gentler on little bodies, or any other ways to avoid UTIs in a child? Thanks!
Please help! My daughter (age 7) has tendencies toward vanity and “keeping up with the joneses.” I know this is normal for little kids, but I think she is beyond the range of normal. It’s getting to the point where she has a meltdown multiple times a day. Either because she can’t put together the perfect outfit (e.g., I’m not around to style her hair, or her favorite tights are in the wash) and so she doesn’t want to go to school at all…or because she sees a kid at school with some new piece of crap and is furious that we won’t immediately buy it for her…or something else on that spectrum.
I admit that this behavior pushes very specific buttons for me because my birth family has a number of members with vain, keeping-up-with-the-joneses mentalities that have been a challenge for the rest of us. I’m also generally “working on” keeping a calm tone with her even when I am screaming on the inside, by which I mean that I scream and then feel bad about it. I have therefore been trying to defer to my partner on how to handle these hot-button issues…but he is also at his wit’s end after this morning’s drama.
Having discussed between us, we do plan on making her pick out her outfits the night before (to avoid schoolday meltdowns). I was also thinking of giving her an allowance (she is a surprisingly helpful kid for her age and assists us with cleanup, laundry and food prep) and basically telling her that if she wants something, she now has a path to earn it. Do these sound like good ideas? Any other suggestions? Truly, I felt I could have strangled her this morning, and I would like to stop having that feeling about my own child!!!
Kat, you’ve got some really obnoxious political ads going on to the right of the page right now (I’m in GA). Any way to limit these? I know you need ad income, but I thought you could limit what types of ads displayed.
Sort of silly question that seems like it should be simple: how do I stop breastfeeding? I never would’ve expected it but I’m still nursing my 17 mo only in the morning and at night. With my first, I exclusively pumped and went through a whole schedule to wean after 6 months but unexpectedly am still going with it this time. He’s getting increasingly unruly about it (wants it but sort fights it) but also is always asking when it isn’t even time (walks up to me and lifts up my shirt). Do I just stop? Any tips on communicating it? I feel sad when he asks but think it’s time.
TFW you discover that the cat has hitched a ride in the bottom of the stroller when you are already three blocks from home and just turning the corner to daycare. Then a little tuxedo face pops out like “are we there yet?”
So that’s how today is going to go, I guess.
If anyone’s still looking for holiday gifts, the Melissa and Doug 3-in-1 tabletop easel was a huge hit with my almost 3 year old last night!
Q for those who do presents as part of their Hanukkah celebrations – how do you fit it all in on a weeknight? We picked DD up at daycare half an hour earlier than normal yesterday, but we still barely had time to eat dinner, light candles and open presents before it was time to get ready for bed and of course she was understandably bummed that she couldn’t play with any of her new toys for more than a couple minutes. And it’s not like we could promise she could play with them tomorrow, because she had to go to school all day the next day. This was the first year she really “gets” presents and it was kind of stressful and unfun because of the rush and how quickly we had to take her new toys away from her. A first world problem, I know, but I’m having serious jealousy right now over everyone who gets to spend Christmas lounging around in PJs and watching kids play with new presents all day. We have two weeks off work and school at Christmas, but of course it rarely aligns with Hanukkah. I’m sort of tempted to just unilaterally reschedule Hanukkah for the Christmas break next year…
Another what-would-you-do vaccine question: my husband and I are currently trying to have a baby. He works in critical care at a large academic hospital and personally treats many of COVID patients. He is in the priority group at his hospital to get the vaccine, potentially as soon as a week or two after approval. (Obviously timing and priority groups could change). We’ve been debating, and I’d love any thoughts if you were in my shoes, on whether he should get the vaccine and we carry on as normal, he opts out for now until after I’m pregnant/ideally through first trimester, or if he gets it but we hold off on trying for a few cycles.
(Medical input has largely been supportive of any of these but not sure what we personally think is best given both his continuing care of covid cases and concerns about minimizing potential pregnancy risks.)