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We’ve been spending a lot of time at the pool this summer and I need some new pool toys.
I’m considering this treasure hunt pool game from Melissa & Doug. This set includes six sinking treasures and a floating treasure chest. Have your kids race to slot the treasure into the chest or try one of the other included game suggestions. Made from sturdy plastic and fade-resistant colors, this will be a favorite for summers to come.
Melissa & Doug’s Sunny Patch Undersea Treasure Hunt Pool Game is $13.89 at Target and also available at Amazon.
Sales of note for 9.10.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; up to 50% off everything else
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off wear-to-work styles; extra 30% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – 40-60% off everything; extra 60% off clearance
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Extra 40% off sale styles
- Talbots – BOGO 50% everything, includes markdowns
- Target – Car-seat trade-in event through 9/28 — bring in an old car seat to get a 20% discount on other baby/toddler stuff.
- Zappos – 26,000+ 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 – Birthday sale, 40-50% off & extra 20% off select styles
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off all baby; up to 40% off all Halloween
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Extra 30% off sale styles
- Old Navy – 40% off everything
- Target – BOGO 25% off select haircare, up to 25% off floor care items; up to 30% off indoor furniture up to 20% off TVs
All the backpacks says
Help me solve my organizing problem. When we come into the house, we’re coming in through the garage, through a very small passthrough laundry room, straight into the living room. My kids (and DH) have gotten into a habit of dumping their backpacks and work bags behind the living room couch. It drives me batty because it’s in my line of sight when I’m working in the kitchen and walking across that strip of floor 1000x per day. The laundry room is small and configured in a way that it’s very hard to make a drop zone in there. I have tried, and it’s never stuck. Coats aren’t an issue; they get hung up on hooks in the garage but my people don’t like putting their bags on said hooks because they almost always need something from their bags in the evening.
I guess I’m looking for:
a) maybe a storage solution for behind the couch, knowing that habits are hard to break and maybe I should meet them where they’re at.
b) advice for re-training these people, again, to take their bags to their rooms, knowing that I will turn into a nag and I am the only person bothered by this dumping ground.
anonamommy says
Is your laundry side by side or stacked? If side by side, would you have the ability to stack them, and create a drop zone in that extra space? Alternatively, could you get one of those storage ottomans for behind the couch and train them to put their bags inside it, and close it so at least it’s out of your sight? (This would not work in my house, the bags would end up on top of the ottoman, but maybe your house is different.)
Cb says
Some sort of long, open box? I’m almost imagining like a trunk or teacrate? I think it does need to be open though otherwise they will just pile their bags on top of it.
EB0220 says
Yes, I was thinking the same thing. This is generally my storage solution for my family who drops their stuff everywhere.
Anonymous says
Console/sofa table with a top shelf substantially higher than a bottom shelf. A basket for each individual who needs it on the bottom shelf for their bag, etc.
Anonymous says
We have a console table behind the couch that has a shelf near the bottom. Maybe that would work? Either people could put them in cube storage baskets on that shelf, or directly on the shelf.
AwayEmily says
We have a console table behind our couch that has a shelf near the bottom. Maybe that would work? Either people could put them in cube storage baskets on that shelf, or directly on the shelf.
Anonymous says
It’s not ideal but we have a large wicker basket in the living room for school bags, because people do need to access them in the evening (everyone does homework in the adjoining dining room).
DLC says
My kids have bins in their rooms for backpacks. They’re the plastic stackable warehouse bins you get from the Uline catalogue. The kids don’t always put the bags up there right away, but with enough reminding the bags get up there at some point in the evening, usually it’s a condition for dinner.
Alternatively, another thing we did for a while was putting a coat tree in the foyer for backpacks. That actually worked pretty for the kids (Husband is a different story). But then came winter and we needed the coat tree for coats, hence now the bins in the bedroom. Might not work for behind the couch, but is there a corner of the living room where it could fit?
chchchchoices says
What would you pick? Part-time at a mid-size law firm (meaning 1300 billables) in a transactional practice or a full-time (9-5) in house role (where comp/hours worked turns out to be about the same)
Context: 2 kiddos under 5, older one is high needs, so flexibility with daytime therapy/appointments is necessary.
FVNC says
I guess the obvious question is — would the in-house role provide the flexibility you need? If so, I’d choose that one. If it’s a truly 9-5, you must be available at all times during those core hours, then I think you have your answer and need to accept the law firm role.
(Full disclosure: I’m definitely biased because I have a great, if at times a little boring, in-house job that pays well and provides me tons of flexibility. But, I’ve worked for my company for 12 yrs so have built up credibility that probably affords some of that flexibility. In-house depts can be widely variable so you just have to know what you’d be getting.)
EDAnon says
I agree that flexibility is highly department specific in-house. I am not a lawyer but my experience with them (married to one) is that daytime flexibility is more commonly accepted at firms.
So Anon says
I’m in house as well and agree that flexibility is company specific. My company is very open about flexibility and focusing on the outcome and not the process. That being said, I have found that there is a middle ground and sweet spot for flexibility: too junior and you don’t have the authority/credibility to be as flexible, and too senior and your day gets filled with meetings with other senior people making it tough to be flexible.
Anon says
Mid-size law firm assuming hybrid is a thing (or at least no face-time requirement, but it is easier to slip out unnoticed for appointments (that just look like a conference call on my schedule) from home of course) and your team understands your situation. For context, I am a transactional lawyer in Big Law and I still find that I have a lot of flexibility to make daytime appointments (my own and my daughter’s) provided that people know my schedule in advance and that I am generally available otherwise. Most of my colleagues also have children or other interests and needs, so we make it a point to cover for each other and work around conflicts. I would worry more about an in-house role that (from what I have heard) generally have less flexibility around PTO and more of an expectation of butt in seat.
NYCer says
+1. Also, 1300 is a pretty low threshold, so you likely would not feel much hours pressure.
Anon says
You may not care about any of this, but for the mid-size law firm– How is work distributed? What opportunities are there for advancement or going back to full-time? Will your part-time schedule make you unable to take on certain projects?
I am at a mid-size law firm in litigation, and while I have a lot of flexibility, I have found it difficult to take on more senior projects due to the amount of travel involved, which I am not willing to do with young kids.
J says
In house, 100%. With that billable hour requirement, you’ll end up working 9-5 every day anyway. Plus with billable hours, you never really get to take vacation or holidays or anything else – you’re just pushing off your billable hour requirement to another day. Plus in house has opportunity for growth and comp increases that I feel like law firms do not, and the opportunity to leverage the role into a higher-comp in house role with comparable hours as you gain more experience/seniority. At the law firm, you only make more if you work more.
Anon says
My kids swim school has this toy and they love it. I would never buy it for home because then it would spoil one of the swim class incentives!
I am not feeling well today – very tired. I traveled last week and have Covid tested every day and it’s been negative. I am probably just tired from travel, little kids, etc. I am scheduled to run a 10k tomorrow. I really want to do to. I am a 5k person and this is my first time running six miles. Is there some kind of magic so I can feel up to it tomorrow?
GCA says
Good luck! Get lots of sleep tonight, hydrate with extra electrolytes today, and eat more carbs than you think you’ll need – it will help you power through the 10K. Also, where are you in your monthly cycle? Running always feels a bit more sluggish and I overheat more easily in the last week or so before my period.
Anon says
I always used to eat a pint of Ben & Jerry’s the night before a long run.
i run a lot says
You got this!
No magic but I definitely focus on electrolytes. Best thing I would do: 8 oz of coconut water + 8 oz of water + 1/8 tsp salt + a splash of tart cherry juice, lime juice, or anything else that hides the taste of the coconut a bit. I would drink that today and the same thing tomorrow, finishing it about an hour before the race. Assuming where ever you are is hot, electrolytes are super important.
Have fun!
Anon says
What outdoor toys did you get he most mileage out of? Cozy coupe? Sandbox? Water table? We are in NY/NJ where it has been so HOT.
We are moving to a new place and without daycare for a week. My parents are coming to help “watch” 20 month old while we unpack. We are moving from an apartment to a home with a backyard so have NO outdoor toys. I am willing to buy some backyard toys to keep him occupied.
I was hoping to buy a used water table but they get snatched up so quickly these days that maybe I just need to buy a new one.
AwayEmily says
I think a water table is worth it, even my 4 and 6yo still play with ours sometimes. We have a Target “splash pad” that the kids have been digging this summer.
Anonymous says
Someone gave us a free/used water table that my 2 year old plays with constantly. Splash pad also gets a lot of use. Cozy coupe less so.
Suburb says
My toddler recently got a cozy coupe and I kind of hate it. Water table (or even a bunch of plastic bins of water) is much better.
Anon says
We’re in an apartment (also NY/NJ area), but have a small yard. It’s more work to set up, but a sandbox is our most used outdoor “toy”. Followed by splash pad (oof it’s been hot!!).
Anon says
We heavily use the sandbox, water table, big metal trucks, gardening tools, wagon, little ride on bikes of various forms.
Mary Moo Cow says
Another vote for the splash pad. Do you have a tree you could hang a bucket swing from? A huge hit with my neighborhood kids that I would never commit to for my own backyard was the Step 2 Ride on/RollerCoaster. Always a line for that in neighbor’s backyard!
Anon says
Thanks everyone for the recs!
Daycare has that rollercoaster and it is a huge hit with my kiddo too. Maybe I can find a used one…
Anon says
Most used outdoor toys for us are bubble machine, sidewalk chalk, the swingset, a kids plastic picnic table with umbrella, all the sport balls, shovels for digging and now at 5 the bike. We got good mileage out of the water table from 2-4 though, but she has definitely outgrown it now and prefers the inflatable pool (we have like a 5×8 one so adults can sit in too) and kids sprinkler (a turtle with wiggly tubes coming out of his back). While I as a kid definitely played in lawn sprinklers, our first kids party was a flop because all the kids were terrified of the lawn sprinkler, so definitely invest in a kids sprinkler.
DLC says
Water table, or sprinkler/hose is great for the summer. Also balls. A mud kitchen (really a play kitchen that lives outside) or even just pots and pans and spatulas and spoons (adult size from Goodwill or play size.) if you want an inexpensive option, we just use a storage bun filled with water.
Also- make sure there is some kind of shade. We don’t have many trees in out backyard and it gets really unpleasant when the sun is high. We finally got a fancy cantilever patio umbrella and I can’t wait for it to get there.
Anon says
I am always the outlier here, but the water table rarely got used by my boys and always seemed dirty and full of spiders (it was also cumbersome to store in a shed/garage) and it was not worth it for us.
The cozy coupe, on the other hand, was a huge hit with all my toddlers. Outdoor trucks and a pile of dirt has also been fun, as well as some sort of push toy (cart, lawnmower, etc)
AwayEmily says
+1 on the push cart. Our water table gets filled with spiders too! For me it’s a drawback; for my kids it’s a bonus (shudder).
Anon says
I cover the water table with a round firepit cover which helps keep the dark and the spiders out of it!
J says
+1 on the water table basically being a mildew breeding ground. My kids weren’t really into it.
anonM says
Kid tool set. Both kids use it so much to “fix” their playhouse, the garden, really anything.
anonny says
Agree with everyone here, I’ll add a small playhouse or plastic slide are also hits. We love water table + baby pool (hard plastic $10 kind) and for a DIY water table check out busy toddler – you don’t need a fancy one IMO. If you don’t mind hauling it in/out a sensory table (like rice) outside is great too.
ElisaR says
a little late in the day, but the cheapest and most used outside toy around that age for us was PAINTBRUSHES. big ones, skinny ones, fill a bucket with water and let them go at it. Also popular: spray bottles. I got my son 3 for his 3rd birthday and he was PSYCHED. also, my kids loved and used the water table quite a bit. for years.
anonM says
Yes! And paint brush rollers, the cheap foam ones. They can “repaint” the playhouse or whatever.
J says
My kids LOVED the Step 2 roller coaster for years, even after they were way too big for it. It’s fun because you can ride the cart around off the track, obviously ride it on the track, climb on the track, etc. And you can use it in a relatively small space, compared to a cozy coupe or scooter where you need more open flat space for it to really be fun.