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This is a professional and affordable look by the Prologue line at Target. This skirt, especially in the navy version with pinstripes, seems like a great option for the very reasonable price of $24.99. I like the how the wrap is asymmetrical and hangs a little bit lower in the front, and that there’s a tie on the waist. The oversized pocket on the other side does a nice job of balancing it out. Maybe it’s just the photograph on the website, but the pinstriped version seems to hide the fact that more “affordable” fabrics were used, as compared to the black. The skirt also comes in a plus-sized version, but I’m disappointed to say that it is only available in black and is more expensive at $27.99. Striped A-Line Wrap Skirt This post contains affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made 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
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything; extra 20% off purchase
- 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
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Spring Mid-Season Sale: Up to 50% off 100s of styles
- Nordstrom: Free 2-day shipping for a limited time (eligible items)
- Talbots – Spring Sale: 40% off + extra 15% off all markdowns; 30% off new T by Talbots
- Zappos – 29,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
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
- Old Navy – 30% off your purchase; up to 75% off clearance
- Target – Car Seat Trade-In Event (ends 4/27); BOGO 25% off select skincare products; up to 40% off indoor furniture; up to 20% off laptops & printers
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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?
Dropping milk and soy??? says
Brought my baby in for her eight week appointment and she pooped while we were there. Doctor thought her poop looked mucusy and suggested I give up milk and soy.
But how??? Need suggestions on resources for what I can eat and any tips. Also is this one of those things I can do a 95 percent good job on? Baby hasn’t been fussy or colicky and is growing well, so I’m not sure what the right level of concern is. Also should have asked at doctor but this came up right at end and it took until we’d left for how difficult it would be to sink in! Thanks for sharing any experience you’ve had!
Anonymous says
I would call back and ask more questions. Doctors are notoriously cavalier about telling nursing moms to eliminate entire categories of food from their diets, even when the need isn’t clear.
Anonymous says
If your baby has a true dairy/soy allergy and you want to continue b-feeding, I think you have to go 100% in on this. 95% doesn’t really work with food intolerances. That said, a lot of healthy babies occasionally have mucus-y poop. Unless this is a regular occurrence or there’s blood in the poop I would be inclined to continue my regular diet.
Cb says
I don’t know, I’d monitor her nappies for a week or two and see if it might be a one off if there are no other signs. My son has signs of an intolerance (they don’t test here) and spit up really frequently and had bad baby acne which went away when I cut the dairy and soy. I found it really hard to keep myself nourished without any dairy although now that I’ve given it up, it gives me a stomach ache when I inadvertently eat it.
Anon says
Doctors LOVE to do this now. I think it’s one more way to make new moms miserable. Based on my experience, it usually isn’t even the milk or the soy.
It also isn’t something you can do 95% on; at the same time it is also SUPER hard because soy is in everything nowdays. Go back to your doctor and push back hard on this – especially baby is otherwise doing well. Get more tests, etc.
Anon says
Yeah, I was shocked by how cavalierly some of my friends were given this advice by doctors. Especially for vegetarians, those are major food groups and it can be really hard to completely avoid them. I’m very glad my doctor never saw my baby’s poop!
Anon says
This. If I had a nickel for all the times I was told (by everyone other than my ped who evaluated symptoms and thought that wasn’t the culprit) that kiddo’s colic was just caused by dairy and soy….
anne-on says
I’d push back hard. My child WAS allergic to eggs and dairy, and I had a very very difficult time keeping weight on while nursing and eliminating those things, I can only imagine how much more difficult it’d have been to eliminate soy, that is in everything. Unless baby is very fussy after nursing (almost colicky), spitting up regularly, or has blood in their stool I’d ignore this advice. If you’re really worried, go see an allergist, they can easily do a blood test and test the blood for allergens.
IMHO nursing is hard enough, telling a new mom ‘oh just eliminate dairy and soy’ like it’s no big deal is HARD when you’re trying to feed yourself and baby!
GCA says
I dealt with a true milk protein intolerance (mucusy poop, blood streaks in poop, fussiness, gas) with kid 2 and agree with all of the above. Baby was growing well but had the above symptoms. I went totally soy and dairy free and you do have to do it 100%. At 4ish months I reintroduced soy with no issues. Since 6 months we’ve been supplementing with a hypoallergenic formula based on cow’s milk, no issues.
If you’re concerned, I would do the following (IANAdoctor but on these things you’ll find doctors hold a range of opinions):
– Monitor for a week, track what you’re eating, track any symptoms. (This is how I made the case to our ped that I thought baby had a sensitivity.)
– Either eliminate soy and dairy completely for 3-4 weeks, as it can take that long to leave your system, or eliminate dairy completely for the same time. Keep tracking what you can. Data is good! If symptoms don’t resolve, try cutting out soy. If symptoms still don’t resolve, see a doctor. I know others here have dealt with more serious/ broader sensitivities and true allergies, too.
GCA says
PS someone gave me a piece of advice early on – Whole30 recipes use no soy or dairy and are typically quite high in protein.
Anonymous says
My oldest has a milk protein allergy. I went dairy free for 6 months but based on what I’ve learned from our new allergist, that may have worsened the problem. Generally, the newer advice for allergy is to maintain the amount in the breastfeeding diet that the baby will tolerate. I would not suggest skin prick testing or blood testing as both can have false positives.
This explains the difference between allergy and intolerance. If the only symptoms are digestive, it is more likely to be an intolerance – https://www.caringforkids.cps.ca/handouts/food_allergies_and_intolerances
Not all dairy will cause the same reactions so doing only a partial change in your diet may work to address intolerance related digestive issues. For example, baked milk proteins (e.g. butter in cookies or milk in muffins) are more easily tolerated. This milk ladder gives some ideas of which things are more easily tolerated. https://allergynorthwest.nhs.uk/resources/allergy-leaflets/cows-milk-reintroduction-milk-ladder/
I would reduce dairy to 3 servings a day and use more processed forms like cheese or yoghurt (step 4 on the ladder) over drinking milk which is the least processed form (step 5 on the ladder).
Knope says
THIS THIS. Pediatrician non-specialists give terrible advice on this. If you are actually worried, I’d consult an allergist. If you’re not, I’d ignore the ped.
GCA says
Good point about allergies vs intolerance. I’m also planning to use the milk ladder to do a food challenge and then reintroduce dairy gradually if baby has outgrown her sensitivity.
Legally Brunette says
I can’t speak to eliminating soy, but I eliminated dairy for about a year when nursing. The amount of spit up my baby had was insane, and I noticed a significant improvement after going dairy-free. It took a month to see an improvement.
I’m also vegetarian, so I was expecting it to be really hard but it surprisingly was not. Caveat is that I’m Indian and eat mostly Indian food at home, which very easily can be made vegan. My doctor said that eggs were fine, so I also ate a lot of eggs (and beans and lentils) for protein. If we went out for pizza, I just had a tomato pie with veggies. I also discovered Hail Merry vegan cakes, which are about the best dessert ever. Good luck.
Anon says
If it took a month to see any improvement, there’s a pretty good chance your kid just naturally grew up out of spitting up – many babies do around 4-6 months. Spitting isn’t a typical symptom of dairy intolerance, especially if your kid is a happy spitter.
anon says
Yeah, I’d push back and ask more questions and/or maybe get a second opinion. Doctors don’t seem to understand the lifestyle implication of a drastic diet change. I was once saying how upset my tummy gets and my pcp just casually mentioned that I should give up gluten. Uh…what? That’s a complete lifestyle change. She also gave no advice or resources on how to do actually do that. I complained to that office about it later.
anon says
Just yes to everything everyone else said. It is incredibly, incredibly cavalier to tell someone to cut out dairy and soy based on one sort-of mucus-y diaper. Someone who asks you to make that sacrifice so lightly is not someone I’d want in my corner. I would consider switching pediatricians. My daughter regularly had blood in her stool and my pediatric group was still very hesitant to have me give up foods. I did dairy and soy free for a few months but never saw 100% elimination of the blood. I finally decided to switch to nutramigen formula and it was a great decision for my baby and for me. My kid is now 17 months are basically eats only dairy – they usually grow out of the allergy. I’d monitor for a couple weeks and get a second opinion before making drastic dietary changes.
Anon says
My suggestion, if it is needed, would be to switch to a formula for kids with allergies rather than having to change your whole diet. Baby already got a lot of breast feeding benefits.
That said, I’m gluten and dairy free by necessity and while dietary changes are hard in the beginning, there are a lot of great options out there now.
Anonymous says
I definitely would not cut out both dairy and soy at once.
My second baby has a dairy intollerance, but we didn’t confirm that until he was having 6-8 green poops a day at 3 months and his weight really slowed down at the same time. He is now 11 months and on a hypoallergenic formula and doing great (I stopped bf at 9 months). I saw a huge improvement in his poop within 1 week of being dairy free.
From what I have read, if you have symptoms which are concerning (which it isn’t clear to me that you do), the recommendation is to cut out dairy first and then cut out soy if you see no imrpovement after 7+ days. As others have said it an be a lot harder to cut soy than dairy- soy is in so many packaged foods. I actually didn’t find it that hard to cut dairy- there are so many non dairy options these days.
Anonamom says
I saw these kinds of recommendations a TON in fb due date groups. There are a couple tough weeks for gas there at the beginning that are completely natural. I personally think the “positive” results of eliminating dairy and soy are more closely correlated to the maturing of baby’s digestive system over those early weeks of time and not from the elimination of anything. By the time the milk and soy supposedly completely leaves the system, your baby is weeks older and the digestive system is that much more mature. It leaves everyone feeling like the milk and soy did it, when baby really just grew out of it. There are real and true exceptions, but I’m not on board that it applies to most people.
Anon says
Yes! Colic is very common from 3 weeks to 3 months. It doesn’t mean there’s a food allergy or intolerance. I had a baby who would fuss every evenings for hours for the first couple months of her life (admittedly, after the fussing she went to sleep and slept for a really long stretch so it wasn’t that bad). SO MANY friends told me I had to cut out this food or that food. Fussiness/colic is normal! It’s part of being a newborn. And I would much rather spend a couple of hours a day rocking a fussy baby than give up cheese, but maybe that’s just me.
Anonymous says
It’s just another way to heap shame and blame on moms. If your baby is colicky or fussy, it must be your fault, and you should just go on a super-restrictive elimination diet to fix it. No one wants to admit that it’s developmentally normal for babies to cry.
Anon says
My kiddo had colic and I would characterize it as more than just a fussy baby – she screamed inconsolably 8+ hours a day for 5 straight months. That being said, it was certainly not the dairy and soy causing it but oh did everyone tell me it was what I was eating – if I followed everyone’s advice I would have been limited to water.
Anonymous says
Mine didn’t have colic but did scream for two or three hours straight every single night. It got a lot easier to bear when I accepted that it was just a normal developmental thing and I didn’t need to “fix” it and make her stop screaming. I would just walk around the house with her saying “you need to yell! You are so mad” and singing silly songs so made up about her screaming. Much easier and no less effective than starving myself and making myself miserable with guilt. After a few weeks the screaming died down and she moved on to cluster feeding.
Anonymous says
I just want to echo everyone else on this- I thought a lot of my babies poops looked mucous-y, and my doctor wasn’t concerned at all, because she had absolutely no other symptoms. I say get another opinion before you do anything drastic.
Anonymous says
Has anyone read either of “Mommy Burnout” by Sherry Ziegler or “Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle” by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski? Don’t want to read both if one will help.
rakma says
I read Mommy Burnout but did not find it helpful. It’s got a lot of stories about burnout, but I didn’t find enough concrete suggestions to be helpful.
anon says
I started the Nagoski book, but it was a DNF (did not finish) for me.
HS Graduation Gift? says
I got a graduation announcement for my boss’ son. What do the young folks want for graduation gifts these days? I don’t think he’d appreciate the monogrammed towels and bath caddy I got for my own graduation 18 years ago.
Anonymous says
My go-to is a gift certificate to their campus bookstore. A bit more personal than cash, but basically cash, which all 18-year-olds would appreciate, I think.
Anonymous says
Yeah I normally go with a Target gift card and a nice card, but maybe not for your boss’s son? I feel like the traditional padfolio/pen/picture frame gift is out of style now.
rosie says
Do you have a close relationship to your boss’s son? I would give a congratulatory card with maybe a $25 Amazon or Target gc if you want to do a gift as well. This is close to the “don’t gift up” category for me. Curious if others agree or if I’m off base here.
anon says
I would do something similar.
But seriously, why??? Are you close with the boss’s son? Like do your families hang out on the weekend? If not, that’s so weird.
Redux says
Yeah, I am with you on the gifting-up here. This strikes me as super inappropriate unless you have a relationship with the family outside of work.
Anon says
I would do an Amazon or Target gift card.
Eek says
I always do cash for graduations, though now I’m second guessing myself based on the other comments!
Em says
Same. I went to two parties last weekend and they both got $50 checks.
Anonymous says
I do Target or University book store gift cards for grads I don’t know super well. Sometimes I add in something small related to their school if I can find it (like a small stuffed mascot).
Anonymous says
I would not send any gift.
Anon says
I disagree, a grad announcement is basically an invoice for a gift. I think it was tacky of the boss to send the grad announcement, but given that he did, she should get a gift. $25 gift card is fine.
Anonymous says
No that’s not how it works. You can’t just invoice someone for a gift. If I hadn’t met this kid I would not send a gift and not give it a second thought.
Suomynona says
Then call me extremely rude, because I do not send gifts to everyone I get a grad announcement from. If I go to the party, yes. If I can’t make it, you get a place of honor on the fridge.
Kart says
Cash or an Amazon gift card is the only answer here. Agree with those saying that a grad “announcement” is basically a cash grab, but that doesn’t mean you have to participate.
OP says
Thanks for the input! My co-worker got an announcement, too. We’re a small unit in a larger office and I’d say we’re pretty close to each other. I’ve met his son a few times. I know his dad is genuinely enormously proud and simply wanted to share the his son’s graduation, not ask for gifts. But I think graduating from the school he did, with the grades he did, is an achievement worth marking with a token gift.
Anon says
We live in a city and don’t have a car and are visiting friends in California. We are planning on bringing our uppababy Mesa car seat which we put in Uber’s in the city when we take them. It doesn’t require a base but someone mentioned to me that laws vary by state on car seats. Do we need to bring the base for the car seat or can we use it the same way we do in ubers (locking the seatbelt to secure)?
Anon says
Californian here. I’m 99% sure you can use the seatbelt to secure your Mesa and don’t need to bring the base.
Anonymous says
I am by no means an expert but have a nerdy interest in car seat safety. I have never heard of any kind of law about base/no base installation. The base only exists for ease of use. It is perfectly safe to install without a base.
Anon says
Thank you!
Anon says
+1. I’ve never heard of a state law requiring the base. The base is for convenience, not safety.
anon says
Agree. The ONLY seat that requires the base is the weirdo Nuna Pippa Lite. Absurd idea on their part but whatever.
Katy says
We traveled to California with our infant. In San Fran we used Uber and did not use the base with Mesa, as i didn’t want to lug it around, obviously. BUT the airline allowed us to check the base with the car seat (attached) so we brought it for convenience for the rental car portion.
As an aside, on a separate trip to my parent’s, i traveled with Mesa car seat / Vista stroller base (didn’t bother with any other “seats” for the Vista as i was traveling alone). The airline allowed me to bring the base as an additional “component” of the stroller / car seat that i gate checked when i got on the plane. (They gave me 3 gate check labels). I probably wouldn’t have bothered if it wasn’t a direct flight.
Anoner says
Two questions: 1. Any recs for products to use on my shoulders/back for acne that are pregnancy friendly. The warm weather is making me self conscious.
2. Any recs for books about listening to your parents for a 2 year old? Thanks!
Anon says
I didn’t use any acne products when I was pregnant (and goodness did it show), but if you’re not already doing this, even non-pregnant, if you have long hair, don’t let it sit with conditioner in it on your skin. I typically wash my hair first, comb through conditioner and twist it into a bun, finish the rest of my shower, then take it down and rinse it last, being careful to keep it off my back and shoulders as I do so and then I hold it up with my hand until I can wrap it in a towel as I get out. Made a world of difference in my back and shoulder acne.
Boston Legal Eagle says
I had really bad chest and back acne with my first and I used the line of Belli products – body wash, face wash and spot treatment. It seemed to help a little. It’s available on amazon.
No recs on the books – if you can figure out how to get toddlers to listen, let me know!
Anoner says
Haha thank you both!
Anonymous says
LOLOL at the book. I’ve had 3 2 y/os. A book about listening to your parents would work as well as the book about hurting the f up ;). Solidarity!
Car seat? says
I need to switch my son over front his infant seat to a convertible car seat. Any recommendations? Safety is the number one priority, and I’m willing to pay more for better safety ratings. He’s an only child at this point so fitting multiple seats in the backseat isn’t a factor.
Car seat? says
Oops, I meant *from* not front. He will still be rear facing as he’s not even 1.
ifiknew says
We have the britax boulevard which was the highest rated safety wise about a year ago when we bought it. We will probably do the same for kid 2, although there are things I don’t like about it – it’s hard to clean when the kid throws up (i suspect that’s all car seats), the straps get twisted sometimes, it’s wider than some others. Overall, not bad though.
rosie says
I looked at reviews on Baby Gear Lab and picked the Britax Marathon w/anti-rebound bar. It’s been fine so far — seems comfortable enough for kiddo & I liked the features. But we’ll probably need to get a new car seat if we want to rear face my kid for longer — at 2, she’s off the chart for height, and I don’t know if the Marathon is great for extended-rf with a taller kid. So, if your kid is taller & extended rf is important to you (seems like more and more research is coming out on this), pay attention to height limit for rf.
HSAL says
So they all meet the same safety standards (more $ does not equal safer), but what you’re looking for would be extended rear-facing seat with high height/weight limits. I also like no-rethread. I’ve been really happy with our Britax Advocate and Chicco NextFit. We also have a couple of Clek Fllos that are good for extended rear-facing, but I don’t like the install on those quite as well. I’ve also seen a lot of recommendations on car seat forums for the Graco Extend to Fit.
Anon says
They all meet the same *minimum* safety standards but that doesn’t mean they’re all equally safe. That said, there are a lot of different safety rankings out there, so determining what’s safest is not trivial.
HSAL says
Fair, but my take is that beyond the minimums they’re all tested to, what’s most important is your car and the install. If you can’t get a good installation in your car, it doesn’t matter if the seat is theoretically “safer.” I highly recommend checking out Car Seats for the Littles. Their facebook page is exhausting but there’s a ton of good information on their website.
Anon says
We went from the Chicco Key Fit 30 to the Chicco Nextfit Zip Air. The zip is critical for us (I did not have zip in the infant bucket), as my kiddo gets carsick (large part of why we moved to forward facing at 18 months with ped’s recommendation). Given that I still even now have to wash the car seat usually 2-3x a month, the zip and machine washability was worth every penny. I can also attest that it’s pretty easy to install, given how frequently we have to take it out to wash all the crevices under the pad. The air model (really just textured seat padding as far as I can tell) ostensibly keeps kiddo cooler, but she still gets pretty warm in her seat. She runs hot, just like her mama.
Pogo says
+1 We liked the Key Fit 30 and so we went with the NextFit Zip. I intend to keep him RF for as long as possible.
ifiknew says
talk to me about this zip function, does this mean it’s easier to wash the car seat?? I cannot stand how miserable it is to wash the fabric on the britax boulevard and the straps have all these grooves that get nasty if the kid throws up and I’m using qtips trying to get everything but ugh.
Anon says
If she only hits the fabric, it takes only a few seconds to unzip the seat liner and you don’t have to take the seat out of the car to wrestle it off. We have started putting a large bib on over the straps for longer trips to help protect them with moderate success. The straps still need to be wiped by hand – I find damp wiping with soapy water, followed by a chlorox wipe and then if they still smell I will wipe with vinegar and set outside in the sun for a few hours. But being able to unzip the seat liner and toss it in the washing machine on gentle (then air dry) saves me so much time.
Pogo says
You can’t wash the straps, but you can zip off the entire fabric top part without taking the seat out.
Anonymous says
I seriously wish we had paid more for a zip off car seat cover. This is my number one advice to new parents. The infant seat wasn’t a big deal because we didn’t have a refluxy baby, but our convertible car seat is all crumbs and stains all the time. And new parents will say “just don’t give snacks in the car!” But I have an insatiable child (who is thin!) that apparently needs fed every 1.5hrs
CPA Lady says
I really love my Diono radian rxt. It has a really long expiration date and is very tall so you can keep rear facing longer. It converts to a booster seat. I put my kid in it at age 6 months (she was a huge baby) and she’s been in it ever since, and I think she’ll be fine in it until she doesn’t need a carseat any more.
Pretty Primadonna says
+1. Our DD is 98th percentile for height, and we knew we wanted to keep her rear-facing for as long as possible. The Diono Radian rxt helps with that, plus fits nicely in my coupe.
Lawyermom says
I work auto accidents and after a bunch of research I chose the britax boulevard. We live in the south so I got the cool flow version.
Anon says
How big is your kid? We have a Britax Advocate with the anti-rebound bar (which a friend who cares about carseasts more than I do told me was an important safety feature for rear-facing). We’ve been really happy with it – easy to install, comfortable for kid, etc. BUT our tall, very long-torsoed 16 month old is very close to outgrowing it rear-facing! I’m very unhappy about it – I don’t really want to switch to forward-facing before 2, but I also don’t want to buy THREE new convertible carseats (mom’s car, dad’s car, nanny’s car) – we’re talking over $1,000 here! It’s very frustrating and I wish I’d sought out convertible carseat recommendations specifically for tall kids. I would have gotten the Clek Foof, which is supposed to be good for tall kids.
Anon says
the safest seat on the market is the Clek Foonf. that being said, I do not own one because it did not fit well in our car. We have the Clek Fllo in one car and the Peg Perego in another. I wanted anti-rebound bars.
drpepperesq says
I really like our Nuna Rava! we got it as a very generous 1st birthday gift from the in laws, so i might have made a less expensive but still safe choice if i were paying myself, but if you’re considering it then just wanted to add that i vote for it.
CCLA says
We have two Ravas, soon to be four when the youngest moves out of her bucket seat since we keep one for each kid in each car. Love the easy secure belt install, the cover comes off to wash, fits rear-facing in our smaller car (a 3 series – not tiny but not huge, and some other seats like the Cleks that we checked out didn’t fit well). I really can’t say enough good things – huge fan here.
Anon says
We have the Britax Marathon and I’ve been really happy with it.
anon says
I like the Chicco NextFit Zip. Install is easy as carseats go, which is a key factor for safety—no carseat is very safe if it hasn’t been installed correctly. My son was able to rear face in it until 4.5.
I believe Britax is made/owned by the same company as the Bob. I refuse to buy their products after their reported shady behavior with the Bob wheel recall. I don’t trust them to disclose/fix safety problems.
westernisland says
We used one of the less expensive Britax convertible seats for our kids. My daughter outgrew it in height and weight well before my son did. If you have a taller child, you may want to look at a different brand. Also, our particular model did not have machine washable covers but I machine washed them anyway on delicate and let them air dry and never had any issues.
Anonymous says
I just want to chime in about extended RF and seats. I’m totally for RF as long as possible (#1 made it to age 3, #2 made it to age 4.5, and #3 is going strong at close to 3). So if you’re interested in extended RF, don’t just think about whether your kid is tall, but whether their torso is long. None of mine are tall, but #1 has a very long torso and thus outgrew both infant seat and convertible RF long before they were “supposed to” based on height and weight. That said, we’ve been really happy with the mid-range Britax for along time. The least expensive ones are too small (easily outgrown) and the more expensive ones weren’t worth the $ to us (and they were extremely bulky).
I also want to throw out that if you are even thinking about another kid in the next 2-3 years and you want to keep RF as long as possible, you might not want to drop hundreds on the biggest, bulkiest seat now, lest you need to get something slightly slimmer to fit a second seat and leave some room in the back.
FVNC says
DC-area folks: we’ll be visiting friends in NOVA this weekend and are considering going to the National Harbor and the Capital Wheel. On a scale of “expect standard crowds” to “insane, do not attempt,” any thoughts on whether this would be a good outing for 4 adults, 2 kids ages 2 and 5?
Anon says
I would not do it, personally but I think I have a lower tolerance for crowds and lines than many people.
Anon says
I would go for insane, do not attempt, but I too don’t like crowds and lines. That being said, as far as I can tell a lot of people are heading out of town for the long weekend, so maybe it won’t be so bad? I would think for most tourists, the downtown museums and memorials are the big draws.
Spirograph says
Caveat that I rarely go to National Harbor during the daytime unless it’s for a conference, but I agree it might not be too bad. Like anon said, it’s likely to be mostly tourists this weekend, and National Harbor isn’t as easy to get (at least without a car) to or as big of a draw as all the downtown museums and memorials. You might be alright.
Anon says
I live in one of the older neighborhoods right beside National Harbor. I wouldn’t expect crowds…because I’ve never seen National Harbor crowded. The outlet mall is another story and will be insane – the parking lot is way too small for even a regular weekday, never mind a holiday weekend.
National Harbor is just a corporate development like you’d find anywhere else in America, so I wouldn’t put it on your Must Do list. The restaurants are mostly so-so (Succotash is pretty good, but not worth the $$$) and the shops are things like Brighton purses and expensive olive oil stores (I’ll never understand those). The Capitol Wheel is fun, but you can only see the skyline if the weather is cooperating (it’s supposed to be nice this weekend, but might be hazy). They do have the mock Air Force One parked there that you can tour, but it’s really corporate-y, too, and I think pretty expensive. And anything you do over there, you’ll have to pay for parking.
Things I’d recommend instead: Mount Vernon (so good); Oxon Hill Children’s Farm (they have wagon rides for kids on Saturday mornings); National Colonial Farm at Piscataway (across the river from Mount Vernon on the Maryland side – has a number of heritage animals for little ones to see, plus they can run around, and there’s a darling ice cream & hamburger stand on the way there called B&Js); and there’s mini golf at Cameron Run Park off Eisenhower in Alexandria. Enjoy your stay!
FVNC says
Thanks for this (and everyone else’s!) feedback! Unfortunately we already mentioned the Ferris wheel to our 5 yr old and she’s super excited, so I think we’re stuck with it! Love the idea of the farms and/or Mt Vernon for additional activities.
Anon says
The Oxon Hill farm is just minutes away from the Ferris wheel, then! Have fun!
Anonymous says
I would say expect crowds but have not been there during a holiday. Also my MO is getting to place the minute they open to avoid crowds, and it works pretty well. We’re going strawberry picking at butlers this Saturday and we’ll definitely be there at opening
Inlaws says
Looking to vent a bit, maybe get some advice. I’m 8 months pregnant and have a 23 month old, so life is pretty hectic right now. Does anyone else have in-laws who say they want to be “helpful” but aren’t actually? For example, my in-laws asked (on Tuesday evening) if they could come and stay overnight on Thursday as they want to take my toddler shopping to pick out a birthday present. They asked if we wanted them to cook us dinner that night. I said we would be happy to order in, whatever is easiest. They said, we’ll cook. Then they gave me a grocery list of items to get for them to cook the dinner. Neither of them works currently. Both my husband and I work full time. I rush to leave the office at 5pm to get home with my toddler by 6 and feed him and do bath/bedtime routine. By the time that’s finished, I’m exhausted. This scenario is pretty typical of all their offers of “help” – it generally ends up being more work for me. Is this something worth addressing directly with them? They keep saying they want to come up all the time during my maternity leave to “help” and I’m kind of dreading it . . .
Anon says
Good grief, draw some boundaries!!!! “It would be lovely if you cooked dinner, but I don’t have time to go to the grocery store today. If you’ll need ingredients we don’t have on hand and don’t have time to go to the store, I’ll order in.”
Anonymous says
Ok pause though.
Can we stay Thursday night?
Pause- think- Hmmm, on a work night, I won’t have much time, I know they are stressful.
Respond- sorry overnight Thursday doesn’t work for us!
Them- can we cook you dinner
You- sure! (Panic, you forgot to pause)
Them- here’s a grocery list
You- PAUSE. Think. “Sorry, I won’t have time to go grocery shopping for you. Let’s order out instead.”
Trying to address this as some big issue is pointless and won’t work. You need to focus on what you can change, and that is your actions and responses.
anon says
I have a similar situation, where the in-laws are really helpful in some ways (watching and entertaining kids), but create more work in other ways (I feel like I’m “hosting”). Meals are always an issue and one way we have tried to smooth them over is to tell MIL what to make when she offers to cook and make sure it is super simple. So DH will tell his mom that Tuesday is grilled cheese night and either we’ll have the necessary ingredients or she will walk to the store to get the stuff. We still have to oooh and ahhh a thousand times, to show her we’re happy and grateful, but it relieves some of the daily grind of dinner.
Anon says
Agree to push back with the suggestions above – I think pausing is really helpful because half of the time I’m not listening and just reflexively agree to things I wouldn’t necessarily agree to if I stopped to think about it. In the current instance though, grocery delivery may be your friend if you don’t want to upset the apple cart today. You could get an instacart delivered after bedtime (just put a sticky note over the doorbell).
My (local) inlaws are similarly unhelpful – them offering to come over and “help” means them telling you how to do the things you had hoped they would do while they try to watch our kid (unsuccessfully)l, so as my husband is prone to saying it’s like having 3 children instead of 1. I find it best if I give them concrete tasks out of my line of sight like please take the toddler for a walk, or go play with her in the backyard, or please wash these dishes or take out trash post-dinner, etc. I can typically tell my FIL has been over when I come home to find my garage rearranged (although he typically empties all the trash, so win some, lose some). I can typically tell my MIL has been over when my entire house smells like lysol because she decided to wipe down everything (mind you we have bi-weekly housekeepers and I wipe up pretty regularly and we typically only use strong cleaners in the bathroom). My parents are much more helpful, so despite the fact that they are 2 hour drive away, I feel like we see them more.
Boston Legal Eagle says
My parents actually help us – they typically come over for a few hours on the weekend, watch one or both kids while we do what we want/need to. They sometimes bring us food if we request it and other than major holidays where we offer to host and cook for them, we are not expected to play hosts to them when they come over. The most annoying thing my dad sometimes does is to offer some “helpful” advice on parenting, but my mom is pretty good at tempering him on this.
My in-laws on the other hand (more so my FIL – they’re divorced) expect to be hosted more when they visit us, which is frustrating to me, but my husband deals with this entirely. He’ll cook for them, entertain them, suggest activities and I just sit back. I have my thoughts on how he can push back, but they’re his parents and I know their dynamic is more personal to him. I can just control my own actions, and I don’t play host or otherwise change my actions to accommodate them. I’m probably not the DIL they expected/hoped for, but oh well. I’m not really seeking their approval.
If you’re comfortable, can you let your DH deal with them? I wouldn’t go out of my way to go to the grocery store or change your nighttime routine unless it will actually help you. My MIL’s recent visit was actually more helpful than usual, as she helped out in putting our toddler to bed which freed up our night.
Anonymous says
Bringing food is a good point. Maybe you could do takeout but ask MIL to bring a dessert and salad with her? My MIL actually really likes to bring stuff with her. She feels like she is helping (because she is) but then gets to spend time with kiddo instead of cooking when she arrives.
If you’re really worried about offending, I think you can blame pregnancy. Tell her you thought you’d make it to the store, but are feeling poorly today. Give her the option of going to the store herself or having you order takeout.
Kart says
Yeah, I mean, in the scenario you describe, I think I would have just said, “Oh shoot, I actually won’t have time to get to the store this week, so we’ll just go ahead and order in.” Then they can either offer to pick up the groceries, too, or you get to just order in.
blueberries says
Great advice from everyone re boundaries. Newborn and toddler and recovering from childbirth can be so hard. I’d think now about what you’d find helpful (and only what you’d find helpful) and have your husband communicate that to his parents soon so you’re not juggling their requests + everything else.
In the months after the birth, you’re the one who will just have had major surgery/pushed out a human from you uterus, your toddler will have had her life upended, and your baby will be brand new. Your kids need you to set strong limits, even if that means waiting to see kindly grandparents or only seeing them for a couple of hours now and then.
anon says
I agree that you have to set boundaries, but I would also like to add that sometimes they just won’t be helpful, and it’s OK to push back. My in-laws used to want to come over and make dinner while DH was out of town, and then I would have to do all the dishes. As compared to take-out, that was not helpful. But it’s not like I could say, oh, you do the dishes now.
Pogo says
I realize this is a very privileged issue to have, but I’m having issues with flakiness in service providers and wondering when to look for someone new. In the span of a few weeks I’ve had my house cleaner, massage therapist, and aesthetician all flake out on me. The massage and housecleaner just stopped responding to my texts or phone calls, to the point I felt compelled to ask around to make sure they were still OK. The women at the salon who does my wax just keeps rescheduling on me, but at least responds to texts.
Is this common with service professionals, especially now that so much is done with texting? Or should I be looking for new people? I’d just like to be able to book an appointment and count on it actually happening, especially given that I often have to rearrange work and child care to get these things done.
Anonymous says
That’s annoying. No advice but I find people SO much more flaky today because of texting/cell phones and I think it’s a common sentiment.
Anonymous says
This. I think people are quicker to cancel because they can do so without having to actually speak to someone.
Kart says
I’d look for new people — I’ve never had someone at my salon — hair, nails, or waxing — cancel on me. My housekeeper has cancelled maybe three or four times in five years, due to true emergencies. Part of what you’re paying for is the convenience and assurance that they will show up. Not showing up = not doing what you’re paying them for. It’s totally legitimate to decide that’s unacceptable and look elsewhere.
Anonymous says
+1
Anon says
That sounds abnormally flaky to me. My housecleaner has no showed a couple of times in 3 years and I was pretty upset about it both times (this is a service, not an individual and they didn’t claim any kind of emergency). I don’t think I’ve ever had a salon cancel on me.
anne-on says
I’m firmly on team ‘service people don’t get to flake repeatedly’ and they 100% do not get to ‘ghost’ on you. My cleaners (7 years) have asked to reschedule a handful of times, and are always responsive via text. Look – I also realize they’re not going to always respond to me ASAP if they’re working, but if they aren’t responding, cut ties and find someone else. These people are small business owners, right? If this is how they’re treating customers they aren’t going to have good customers for very long.
Emily S. says
We had the same situation with the housekeeper. After the second no-call no-show, I called, emailed, and texted, over a week and got no response. DH called, emailed, texted, messaged, and left a comment on her FB page in one hour and she responded that her staffer quit and she would get us the key back… no offer to continue cleaning our house. I had already decided we would hire someone else, but that put me over the edge. In your situation, I would have no compunction about finding new providers and telling the former providers you’re leaving because you’re not happy with the service. For me, there are too many decent options to put up with poor customer service.
CPA Lady says
I think these folks are doing you a service — they are giving you an opportunity to be upfront with their replacements about what your expectations are.
I had to replace my first house cleaner and when I was hiring the next one, she came in and I told her exactly what my expectations are and why I had to replace the former person (flakiness, cutting corers, doing a worse and worse job over time). The new house cleaner has been fantastic and has had none of the same issues as the last person. I think going into it with a very clear understanding between the two of us helped immensely. She also knows that I am completely willing to replace someone who is not doing their job.
anon says
This is great advice.
Also, OP, ever so gently, are you paying/tipping enough for the market you are in? To be clear, I do not tip my housekeepers (I use a woman who brings one to three people with her) because it does not seem to be expected in my area (I’ve asked friends of various wealth levels). I do tip my other service providers 20%, even if they “own” their own business. I think it’s just what is expected and I therefore get good service.
Regardless, I’d have zero qualms changing providers in your shoes! Being flaky is not acceptable for appointment-based services, on either party’s behalf.
Pogo says
Thanks for the gut check. I certainly don’t feel bad about hiring new people, but wanted to make sure this really was excessive flakiness. I also agree the texting makes it so easy to cancel – that’s probably part of it.
Pack and play says
I keep trying to ask this, but getting stuck so here it goes again-
Has anyone had problems with their pack and play sleeping surface not being flat or firm? We bought ours brand new and I didn’t notice the problem until we moved it out of the bassinet position. It’s so odd. I wanted to use it as a travel crib but I’m not sure it’s safe for sleep as it is.
Anonymous says
Are you using all of the various straps and snaps to secure the mattress underneath the PnP? It doesn’t get flat and firm until it is totally secured.
HSAL says
Oooh, I need to check on this too – we have the same issue but I haven’t worried about it because we don’t use it for sleeping. Ours definitely isn’t secured on the bottom.
Pogo says
Yes, there are four little corner thingies that the mattress needs to be under – then it goes taut and flat.
Pack and play says
Ohhh I will check! Thanks!
Anon says
Ours was always a little lumpy. i don’t think it has to be perfectly firm. The main risk is suffocation, so you want to avoid something like a Dock A Tot or lots of loose blankets that could get on your baby’s face and smother them. A PNP mattress is thin, so even if it’s not perfectly flat, it’s not going to be a hazard. I wouldn’t worry about it unless your baby seems uncomfortable in it.
Anon says
Also if your kid is able to roll both directions, the risk goes WAY down. With our ped’s approval, we started putting our daughter on her tummy at that age because she would scream bloody murder if we tried to put her on her back.
Pack and play says
Ours is reeeally not flat – parts of it rise up when he rolls around. It definitely looks hazardous to me, even for an older baby.
Anonymous says
Yeah, this means it’s not secured. There are little straps on the underside of the mattress that have to be fed through slots in the bottom of the PnP and fastened underneath.
Anonymous says
The firmness can’t really be changed, but the flatness does vary. Ours goes unused for long stretches and then it’s hard to get it really flat on the folds. And I never knew there were corner stays (I really don’t think mine has that). But we’ve never had any reason to be concerned about it. We don’t put anything in except a fitted sheet (which granted doesn’t always stay, but we use 100% cotton ones so they are breathable), and the baby so we never worried about suffocation.
Anonymous says
Any ideas for entertaining a one year old on a 3 hour flight? Will be in her own seat. I know this has been discussed before, but I feel like a lot of those suggestions were for older toddlers.
Anon says
I’ve flown a lot with my 15 month old. I’ve been surprised by how much she can already sit still for a movie (she watched the entire Toy Story beginning to end on a flight to Europe and seemed wildly entertained by it, even without sound) but I think for a 3 hour flight you don’t even need screens unless you want to be more hands-off. She’ll probably just be content to watch other people and play with random objects. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t even pack anything except snacks and a back-up outfit. Planes and the people on them are just so fascinating for kids that age.
anon says
just did this with our twins who did not have their own seats. they are currently very into playing with tupperware, rings, and ripped pieces of paper. the week leading up to the trip i hid the tuperware containers that currently live in their toy bin so they would be excited to see them and filled them with some rings and ripped pieces of paper. they thought they were fun to shake with the stuff inside (and not too noisy) and then took the stuff out to play with. they also like looking at themselves in the mirror and puffs one by one. one of them would happily play with my phone even though i never let him play with it. i don’t think he gets what the phone does, but really likes the case, so i gave the case. was much better than i anticipated
Pogo says
Are you still nursing? Nursing was the best way to keep LO calm on flights prior to weaning. Mine was also on two naps at that age, so it’s likely that with a 3-hour flight you’ll get a nap for at least part of it. I’d plan to use the bucket seat in kiddo’s seat and try to get them to nap in there if possible – at that age, just the white noise of the plane usually put him out.
Anonymous says
Have you flown with her before? Our daughter sleeps on every flight because of the white noise. I would do a bunch of snacks, pulling all the tissues out of a box (bring a plastic bag to collect them), books, show pics/videos of herself on your phone (this entertained my daughter way before shows did), and try to schedule a nap in there. If she likes a carrier I’d put her in the baby carrier to sleep and then sit down with the carrier on (after take off, they can be sticklers about kids in carriers during take off).
AnotherAnon says
Hopefully you will have a different experience, but my kiddo was particularly difficult to travel with at this age. He was fussy and fidgety and didn’t want to focus on any activity for more than 2 minutes. What helped: lots of liquids – milk, bm, water, whatever you give normally. Snacks. Screen time, but that only got us so far. Maybe try coloring books? All the easy toys that people swear by didn’t work for us – no stuffing tissues in toilet paper rolls or munching cheerios for hours (but you should definitely try that). I mostly just held him, gave him milk on take off an tried to get him to sleep. I also gave him benadryl once (8 hours into a 12 hour air travel debacle) to try to get him to sleep. I’m not saying you should do this; just being honest. Sorry this isn’t a rosy picture but maybe it will be easy for you! Now at 2 my LO is way more fun to travel with, partly because he has more entertainment options and partly because he actually gets that we’re going somewhere and not just stuck in 3 feet of space for multiple hours on end.
Anonymous says
OP here. Thanks for the range of experiences and suggestions! She has been on multiple plane trips, but the last was around 7 months so she mostly slept or was content looking around or feeling different textures on soft toys. Now she wants to move ALL.THE.TIME. so I’m imagining it will be quite different. She likes to shake things that make noise and take things out of boxes, so tupperware sounds perfect!
Anon says
A flight attendant mom once showed me that the little bags of pretzels make great rattles. My kid also LOVES the plastic safety briefing card. I don’t know why, but every time we fly she goes positively nuts when she sees it. Our last flight she actually had a meltdown at the end when we had to get off the plane and leave the safety briefing card behind.
shortperson says
yes. on my last flight my 18 month old studied it in depth and kept announcing (loudly) airplane swimming! airplane swimming!
also my fave one year old airplane toy is a roll of masking tape.
anon says
A roll of blue tape works for us (apparently sticking it on my nose is hilarious), but I also let DD crawl up and down the aisle when we went to Hawaii. That was great (until she found a goldfish on the floor that was clearly not ours).
Quail says
Walking up and down the aisles. Transferring ice cubes from plastic cup to plastic cup turned out to be a real hit.
Screen time was not at all helpful until much closer to 2, and then not really for any useful length of time until after 3. The only exception was pictures/videos of himself or of family members on my phone, and that occupied about 3 minutes before we moved on from that.
More Sleep Would Be Nice says
+1 to the cups!
Yesterday, I flew solo with DS. He’s been on 15 flights total, all as a lap child, and a good chunk have been just me and him. He’s 18 months. The tough thing is, every few months we fly, DS has changed so it’s a new strategy every time. I am looking forward to the day we can plonk him in front of a tablet…
What’s key for me is lowering expectations and focusing on just getting through the flight.
This time, I didn’t wear him (haven’t mastered the back carry on ergo) and instead checked our small roller back (which is so blasphemous to me, even when free – I just hate checking bags). However, the checked bag allowed us to board last, which was great. I gate checked our stroller. The flight was not during his nap time so it was a combination of moving, watching stuff on the tablet/phone with and sometimes without headphones (but nothing for more than 5-10 minutes), reading books, eating ALL the snacks (seriously all but one of the squeeze packets I packed were gone after a 3 hour flight), walking up and down aisles (sorry other passengers, I tried), and playing with the two balls I packed. I did pack pipecleaners (limited interest) and colorful pompoms that he could stack back into the container which were a favorite.
Another great hit was the in-flight magazine. There was an ad with dogs that was re-visited often.
Good Luck!
Patty Mayonnaise says
A friend gave us advice not to let the kid know they could walk on the plane (do be sure to carry them on/off) – and that was great for this age! Also post-it’s of different colors/sizes/shapes provided hours of entertainment and weren’t too messy. Good luck!
Can you stay-cation with a toddler? says
Please give me all your stay-cation recommendations! How do you make a long weekend relaxing and fun when you have a toddler? For budget and time reasons, husband and I will be staying in the city for the long weekend, but I want to make it feel special for us since he gets so few days off.
We’ve also decided that we are doing no TV/movies and no mindless internet-ing to hopefully keep it relaxing. Books (me) and video games (him) are ok though. We have a 18-month old who likes to wake up at 5am so it won’t exactly be a spa-like atmosphere though…
Anon says
Cook a big lazy brunch at home (we typically do eggs, waffles and bacon) in your PJs and let your 18 month old help pour out measuring cups, stir, etc. So much more relaxing to me than trying to get everyone out the door in time for a reservation. I also typically like to get in either pool time or a relaxing visit to somewhere with outdoor space kiddo can run and not constantly be told no (like a winery or a park picnic with shaded seating for adults). If you have outdoor space and a grill, maybe plan on a night of BBQing and eating outside while toddler runs around and expends energy. The key for me is to have no more than one big activity per day and set no time expectations around it, so if toddler wants to dawdle, OK great, we’ll take another round of snacks, drinks, whatever.
CCLA says
I’d take Saturday or Sunday and go somewhere local but fun, could be free. In our area, this would be something like a morning beach outing or a trip to the botanical gardens, or a hike depending on age and personality of toddler, maybe get breakfast while out. I would want to keep Monday as a recovery low key day, probably trade off with DH to take a long bath with a drink and a book, which I realize is stereotypical but is something I find really helps me feel like I’ve taken time to relax. Also naps. If you or DH enjoy cooking, after kiddo goes to sleep try cooking something new together, or a favorite more involved recipe that you don’t often turn to, with some music on, enjoying the process rather than trying to multitask and just get dinner on the table. I also really like late afternoon neighborhood walks on those low key weekends. Hope you get some relaxation and enjoyment!
Anon says
Our go-to lazy relaxing weekend routine is family breakfast at a casual neighborhood place (we bring our toddler in her footie pajamas because it’s the weekend and it’s barely 8 AM and who cares), followed by a neighborhood stroll and a stop at the farmer’s market. In the afternoon, DH and I will trade off baby duty for 1-2 hours so we can each have some time alone. Also, if the weather is nice, we’ll go to the park and do a picnic of snacks and fruit (aka easy toddler fingerfood) while our 17-month old runs around.
Anon says
Does anyone know if there are companies that make play dresses with built in onesie bottoms in sizes beyond 24 months? Primary has a dress like this and I LOVE it but it stops at 24 months and unfortunately our tall 14 month old is already outgrowing that size. I would love to find something like this in 2T because the snaps are very convenient for diaper changes and obviously she won’t be potty-trained any time soon.
Anon says
Mom to a 4T wearing 22 month old here. Hanna makes onesies up to size 90 (3T), so you might check there. Other than that I agree it’s definitely hard to find. We’ve taken to adding tumble shorts under her 4T dresses in an effort to keep her diaper on – it’s one more step for us to notice before she runs around bare (and she’s not ready to be potty-trained yet).
Anon says
Carter’s has “Sunsuits” up to size 24 months. And Old Navy has Rompers in 2T with snap bottoms.
Anonymous says
Not what you asked, but maybe try some cute rompers? Those usually snap at the bottom still in bigger sizes – usually 2T or 3T.
shortperson says
i would try etsy. perhaps special order from someone.
Questions about mom-oriented recruiters says
Late post, may re-post on the main page. But I’m moving forward in a job application process…. through one of those new-ish “Mom” recruiting companies, seeking to match parents who’re looking to get back to work with flexible hours and commute with companies who are willing to offer these but…. now I have so many more questions. Like how is this legal, if job postings are not supposed to be separated by sex (gender) or age, and if this is a HUGE benefit to the company/employer because they may be more likely to offer lower salaries or benefits, assuming applicants can and will take those?
What are your thoughts? Any one with any more or less experience with these companies? Would love hear your take, no matter what.
Thank you. (FWIW I am not currently employed, I’d love a more flexible position, but also would love higher pay, better management than my previous job, etc…. also would love NOT to hear about my manager’s vasectomy if I tell him I’m pregnant again.(I am not planning on getting pregnant again, but this actually happened.))