Nursing/Postpartum Tuesday: Strain Treater Spray
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Kids are messy, especially babies and toddlers. Use this stain remover to get rid of stubborn food, spit-up, and diaper-related stains.
This powerful and fast acting stain remover works on most fabrics: clothes, carpets, and even stuffies. The water-based stain remover is EPA Safer Choice Certified, so it’s free of numerous chemicals, fragrances, and dyes. As with any stain remover, simply remove any excess residue, spray, and wash as usual.
Miss Mouth’s Messy Eater stain treatment is available at Amazon for under $30.
Psst: Looking for info about nursing clothes for working moms or tips for pumping at the office? We’ve got them both…
Sales of note for 3/2:
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off the Weekend Collection + extra 30% off sale + 30% off your purchase with extra 15% off $200+
- Banana Republic Factory – 40% off + extra 20% off
- Brooks Brothers – Up to 70% off clearance + 25% off select jewelry
- Express – 30%-70% off everything + $69 all Editor pants, jeans, and chinos
- J.Crew Factory – Up to 60% off everything + extra 70% off clearance + 40%-50% off the Weekend Shop
- Lo & Sons – End of winter sale, up to 50% off — reader favorites include this laptop tote, this backpack, and this crossbody
- M.M.LaFleur – Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Nordstrom – 4,000 new markdowns for women!
- Talbots – 25% off entire purchase
This might be too late for a big old doozy of a question that is probably going to go sideways quickly, but whatever.
I’ve heard for years about the dangers of parents coaching their kids, and getting too invested in their kid’s outcome/success. However, I’m in the thick of it with a 6th grade 12 year old ball player. We participate in his (travel and rec) teams socially, but we don’t get tied up about how he plays. Neither my husband nor I bring up his game – except to praise really good effort and talk about how much fun we had being there – on the drive home.
And, here’s the thing, at least at age 12, our way does not seem to be working. The kids with parents (mostly dads) who are either coaching or are super, super intense seem to be performing better than my kid. Arguably, they are all attending the same practices and games, but it’s like the kids with intense parents are performing in a different caliber.
I sit with many of their wives on the sidelines, and whenever the kid messes up, I hear “Oh we’ll hear about this [from the dad, usually] on the way home.” But aren’t we not supposed to do that??? My son LOVES playing, and is already really hard on himself when he messes up. Hlaf the time, I feel like I’m working with him to help him move on from mistakes. But I’m having one of those “am I doing it wrong?” spiral – is this one of those things where the pendulum swung too far, and we should be more intense? His desire to play and improve is self-driven, and he is already doing all the same things as other kids. Is this an element we should be adding as well?
Can you provide a timeline of your morning and evening routine for your kids, especially early elementary? Here’s our usual weekday schedule:
5 pm Pick up 5 YO (kindergarten) from aftercare and 3 YO form daycare. Snack on way home. Plays inside or, now with better weather, outside on the swingset while DH makes dinner and I commute home.
5:45 dinner. 5 YO and 3YO each have to wash hands and a dinner job (set out napkins/silverware/or plates). Most of dinner is chatting about our day or trying to convince 3 YO to sit and eat.
6:05 5 YO and 3 YO have to clear their plate, cup, silverware, and napkin.
6:10 – 6:50 Play time while parents clean from dinner and do chores like laundry. We’re working on encouraging more independent play – we used to play/entertain more. We have an open floor plan that opens to the backyard, so now we stay nearby to engage occasionally but we aren’t directly playing together.
6:50 5 YO and 3 YO tidy playroom with parent help.
7 pm Start bed routine – teeth, pjs. Usually takes 20 minutes to whine/negotiate/wrangle, especially with the 3 YO.
7:20 Read one book (parents alternate each night so each kid gets one-on-one parent time), usually a book we’ve read before.
7:45 lights out. Snuggle together until 8.
I feel like I ought to be reading more with my Kindergartener, and working on things his report card say “need improvement,” but with working full time, I just don’t have the energy and he doesn’t have the interest after aftercare to do anything academic. I also feel like I’m not helping him learn to throw a baseball or play soccer like other kids. Basically, I feel like I’m not building the skills he needs to work on at this age other than helping with the house. On the other hand, I feel very confident that he knows he is well-loved and supported and has good emotional regulation for his age.
I am on my third day of feeling general melancholy and like something is missing in my life. I’m hoping it’s hormonal (though I don’t know because my cycle is irregular). I have a great life with two kids, a fulfilling job, and a fantastic partner, though I wish it were a little fuller and more exciting – could be hitting a lull after the school break/vacation. Besides leaning into it with melancholic music and comfort food, what else can I do?
I have noticed that I become overstimulated and then cranky when it gets too loud at my house (most often the culprit is kid noise). I have been influenced on Loop Engage earplugs to help muffle some of that noise but still stay aware of what’s going on. Has anyone tried these and have feedback?
Just a vent, not a thing to be fixed. I’m so lucky that my sister’s job brings her to my city about once every 10 to 14 days. I love having her — she usually tries to stay overnight, so she can see my kids and we can hang out and chat after the kids go to bed.
However, we do not have a dedicated guest space, and it always takes me longer than I expect to do a quick change of the bed/de-kidify the bathroom she uses. I would kill to have a dedicated guest space for her. I love having her, and I always try to make the space nice because I love her (not bc she asks or demands it or judges me) — but oy, if only I had a spare million or three to buy a home in our area that would have a space for her that isn’t subject to the daily abuse of 3 active kids….
My husband has two cousins getting married this summer, both a 2-hr plane ride away from us, and they’ve both specified no kids at their weddings (we have a 2 year old and a 6 year old). So my husband is planning to go alone to the weddings. However, his mom is really disappointed and thinks we should schlep the whole family to at least one of the weekends so everyone can hang out and meet our kids. MIL is one of five so there are lots of aunts/uncles/cousins that the kids have only met a couple of times. Am I being a grinch by not wanting to do this?
At which age do you feel comfortable sending your child to a public bathroom alone?
While traveling recently, DH sent our 8 year old son to the bathroom alone in busy airports and restaurants. He had the opportunity to go with our son, but thought it would build our son’s confidence to go alone. To be fair, our son felt really grown up to go alone.
I’m worried about pervs. If it’s just me and my son, I send him alone and stand right outside, if it’s a busy place, but DH was so casual about it. So, how do you handle public bathrooms with kids?
If you used a play pen, how long did you use it? I need one to contain my newly mobile baby and trying to figure out how much is worth spending on it.
Parenting win – I was doing a Pelaton strength training workout when my 6-yr old asked to watch. Now, he has commandeered my 2lb dumbbells and regularly asks me to put on strength training videos so he can do Mommy workouts.
I’m beginning to suffer from sleep anxiety overnight related to my toddler’s wake ups that wake me up. I’m not someone who can fall back asleep easily and lately he’s been doing random brief cry outs and then falling back asleep promptly himself, leaving me to be awake for hours. Now I’m anticipating this each night and feeling on edge before it even starts. I do need to leave the monitor on because of our house layout (won’t be able to hear if he truly needs me unless he’s screaming the house down). Any suggestions for dealing with this? My husband and I alternate nights with who is “on” already but we still hear a lot of the noise.