Here’s a pretty pink jacket that takes tweed into summer.
This jacket from Ann Taylor has a raw-edge finish, relaxed open front, and bracelet sleeves. Since it seems to hit right around the hips, add a simple shell tucked into your favorite high-waist trousers. This summer office look is both heat friendly (simply lose the jacket) and A/C friendly. And, if things get unexpectedly sweaty, this jacket is machine washable.
The Cutaway Jacket in Fringe Tweed is $179 (but check for frequent sales) and is available in sizes 00–18 as well as petites.
Looking for other washable workwear? See all of our recent recommendations for washable clothes for work, or check out our roundup of the best brands for washable workwear.
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Sales of Note…
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – 2,100+ new markdowns!
- Ann Taylor – Extra 50% off all sale styles
- Banana Republic Factory – 40% off everything; extra 30% off orders $100+
- Eloquii – $39 select styles; 50% off select styles
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- J.Crew Factory – Up to 60% off everything; 50% off women’s dresses; extra 60% off clearance
- Loft – 60% off sale styles
- Lands’ End – Up to 40% off your order
- Talbots – Semi-Annual Red Door Sale: Extra 50% off markdowns
- Zappos – 26,000+ sale items (for women)! Check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kid shoe brands on sale.
Kid/Family Sales
- J.Crew – 25-40% off kids’ styles; extra 50% off select sale
- Lands’ End – Up to 40% off your order
- Hanna Andersson – 30% off all kids’ & baby clothing; PJs on sale from $25; up to 75% off clearance
- Carter’s – Rule the School Sale: Up to 50% off; up to 40% off baby essentials
- Old Navy – 50% off back-to-school styles; 30% off your order, even clearance
- Target – Backpacks from $7.99; toddler & kids’ uniforms on sale from $5
- Pottery Barn Baby – Summer sale: up to 50% off
- Nordstrom – Limited time sales on brands like Maxi-Cosi and Bugaboo.
- Strolleria – Free infant seat car adapter with any Thule stroller; 30% off all Peg-Perego gear in our exclusive Incanto Collection
AIMS says
I really like this!
Anonymous says
I’ve been eying it for a long time and haven’t pulled the trigger. I recently ordered some other blazers from Ann Taylor and sent them all back. Typically I love their clothes, but I couldn’t believe how ill-fitting they were. It was disappointing. I suspect it was part of the oversized blazer trend, but that just doesn’t suit my shape or style. And it wasn’t well-represented on the website.
Anonymous says
I liked this until I saw it was from Ann Taylor. The cuts are weird and boxy and the quality is poor. So different from the AT clothes I wore at the beginning of my career.
Anon says
How much do you all weigh child temperament when making decisions about child care?
My 2 year old has been in daycare since she was an infant. It’s a great daycare, I have no concerns about their care. But as she gets older, her personality is becoming more apparent and she’s more verbal/able to explain her preferences. And now I’m wondering if daycare (especially the long days) are the best fit for her temperament.
Just kind of vaguely pondering at this point. What have you done?
Cb says
Waitlists are so long that T started at 1 and there he stayed. We were luckily it was a great fit – a hippy dippy forest nursery – but we also didn’t have any other options. We did stick with 4 days until he was 3 though, working a compressed schedule with a halfday off for each of us.
Anon says
I don’t think a 2 year old has enough frame of reference to really have a preference. If she’s miserable, then sure, look into why and consider other options if you have them. But I wouldn’t rock the boat if she seems happy and you’re happy with the care.
That said, what alternative do you have in mind? A nanny? Staying home?
Anon says
I took temperament seriously into consideration for my first child for the “preschool” years (child ages 3.5 – 5), and did not for my second child. I regret not moving my second to a school better suited to his personality. I had my first at a very traditional Montessori school, and we moved her after a year at age 4 because she was having a hard time with the structure of a Montessori program. She thrived and was much better suited to a play-based preschool that allowed for dress up, pretend play, tons of imaginative and creative art, etc. My son, who loves structure and logic and rules, should have gone to the Montessori school. He was overwhelmed in the play based preschool, and would have loved the order of a Montessori classroom. Honestly, I kept my son at the play based center because it was more convenient to my house and easier to only have one drop off. But, he was really, really unhappy there, and as he has gotten older, I have come to appreciate how much a sensory overload it must have been for him.
To be very clear, both “preschools” offered daycare hours, but did not offer infant care. I live in a VHCOL in a city where most adults work, so we are lucky to have a HUGE variety of programs available to us.
Anon says
This is really helpful. My son (2.5) is also very easily overstimulated and I’ve wondered if I need to change schools for him. He complains about school: “too many friends” (which is similar to how he says “too many ppl” when we go anywhere with a “crowd”) and is miserable before drop off, but seems happy when I pick him up.
Like you, two drop offs in opposite directions would truly be a headache and near impossible.
Anon says
This probably doesn’t help — but my son is 10, and I still regret not pulling him. We would only have had 2 drop offs for a year, and while more driving would have been involved, we would have had fewer sensory meltdowns on a daily basis.
Anonymous says
We do more than most in elementary school related to our small town’s only after care program. Kiddo hates it, and for the short time we tried it, I could totally see why. So we’ve worked through that with WFH and sitters after school for now. At 2 I would have been more hesitant, because they change so quickly. What feels right today changes in a few months. I’d probably leave her where she is at until this has been a clear concern for 9-12 consecutive months. And even then, if I really liked the place, I’d probably try to do something like Cb suggested where you flex your schedules a bit to help. Maybe each pick her up early once a week and then WFH if that is an option so she can get some extra rest.
Anonymous says
I don’t think there are many kids who can’t handle day care at all, but I do think different programs are suited to different kids. I have a very intense, verbal child who is overwhelmed by too much time with other kids but absolutely thrived in a high-quality play-based day care program with small classes, very experienced teachers, a relatively calm environment, and hours of outdoor time each day. That same child was completely exhausted and stressed out by the corporate chain day care center where she attended private K. It was loud, hot, and unruly and caused total sensory overload. My kid would also never have survived the Montessori preschool I looked at because it was somehow simultaneously too rigid and too permissive.
Anon says
Ha – your last sentence sums up my daughter’s experience in Montessori so well. She was constantly being “redirected” from building houses with the math blocks, and I swear the head teacher said to me 3 out of 5 pick ups that my kid promised to “try harder tomorrow.”
But, also, they let the kids just roam free on the play ground, and when some of the older kids from the mixed age group were being unkind to my kid, the only response from the school was “we just let the kids figure it out. it’s good for their development.”
That said, my son would have loved being told what to do with the blocks and the focus on practical life skills, so not hating on Montessori – but I will absolutely disagree with anyone who says it’s a good fit for “all” kids.
Anonymous says
I’m sure my child would prefer to stay at home with me, but we need money to buy food so she goes to day care.
More Sleep Would Be Nice says
This. Outside of any neurodivergence or health needs (e.g. my BFF had to pull her toddler out of preschool/daycare because he is immunocompromised due to a genetic health condition) – this is where I fall.
Anonymous says
Two-year-olds are not capable of making informed decisions about child care. That’s why they have parents. Most two-year-olds would prefer to spend the day eating sugary cereal while simultaneously watching TV and digging in the dirt.
What you need to pay attention to is her mood and behavior more than what she says. If she is a cranky mess every day for months on end, that’s a signal that something might not be working for her.
Anonymous says
My now-second grader was in Catholic school during the two pandemic years because both parents have jobs that are not compatible with WFH and needed her to be in school in person. She was in a small class with kids she knew well and she loved it. But after the public schools were back to full time in person, we switched her to a much larger public school. She went from a class of 12 where she knew everyone very well (and all girls) to an ICT class of 32 with 4 adults and about half the kids with some sort of special need or learning disability (mostly ADHD). It was a rough transition and she still hates it. But at the end of the day, as parents we realized that the religion aspect of catholic school was not for our family and did what we think was best for her in the long run.
Anonymous says
Oh, wow. Did you have to opt her into the ICT class or did they just stick her there?
Anonymous says
No, they randomly assign kids without an IEP in a class with kids who have an IEP. No one is supposed to know who the kids with IEPs are but sometimes it’s obvious, like the 2 kids who have 1:1 aides. Overall I actually think it’s a good thing for her to be in an ICT class, because she shows some ADHD-like traits (but nothing serious enough that the school is willing to refer her for evaluation), and I think the additional techniques they focus on in class for the ADHD kids help her as well. I’ve seen a massive improvement this year in her being able to keep track of her stuff and homework and books, though I’m sure some of that is age. Most of the kids with IEPs have ADHD or other learning issues but function fine in a classroom with a little extra support — none of the kids have severe intellectual or learning disabilities. The 2 kids with the aides have behavioral issues that are under control with the help of the aides, and it’s all the kind of thing that in my generation would have been “boys will be boys” or suspension, but is now actually being addressed, which I think is great. And of course 4 adults to 32 kids is a better ratio than 1 adult for 32 kids. It’s just that it’s a LOT of people in one room, which is so different from what she was used to, and I think sometimes overwhelming for her.
GCA says
Hmm. What patterns or behaviors is she showing that give you concern about the right fit? What does she say or do that might indicate the current setup is not a good fit?
Anon says
2 seems really really young to give a child’s preferences any weight. I agree with someone else who said we let our child quit aftercare when it was clearly not working for her, but she was 5.5, not 2 and we could manage without aftercare. We couldn’t have managed without daycare and a nanny was not in the budget so we didn’t really have a choice about daycare.
Mary Moo Cow says
A bit for infant/preschool care but more for elementary school. And then went with what was easier, more convenient for parents, what worked best for the family. We did a combo of part-time daycare and grandparent care for both kids from infants through toddlers, even though one kid would have loved full time daycare for the socialization. Family care was important to us so that won. Little Sister would have done equally well staying at her preschool for pre-K, but Big Sister was already at the elementary school, so both went to the same school because for our sake, as long as we can get away with it, we need one drop off and one pick up. Right now, one kid would probably love aftercare at school but other kid would have sensory overload and it would be too long of a day; we need one pick up and one afternoon schedule, so neither kid goes to aftercare. For summer, one kid would love multiple day long camps and the other would do well with about one week of camp a month, so one camp a month it is. They are rising 3rd and 1st grade, so I expect them to be more vocal about childcare and that we’ll have to make more compromises in the next few years.
Anonymous says
Just wondering, is it one kid that always gets less when they’d want more? I understand family needs but even at this age, if one kid always has to follow the other kid’s needs, they may notice.
Anon says
I noticed that too. I’m also a little confused about the camps. Wanting kids on the same aftercare schedule makes sense, but what’s the harm in letting the kid who wants more camp do more camp? Other than the added cost, but it would still be cheaper than both kids doing full-time camp, which seems like it was an option.
Anonymous says
Yeah, this is a recipe for resentment, especially if the older one is being held back by the younger one. Ask me how I know.
Bette says
Another data point from a different perspective – we thought about switching from daycare to a nanny for logistical reasons related to our jobs but our two year old is such a huge extrovert that we did not switch. He loves playing with his friends every day and we thought he’d really struggle being home alone with the nanny.
Anon says
+1 million! We never contemplated switching away from daycare and one of the big reasons is that our child is so extroverted. There are definitely kids who absolutely thrive in daycare, and I don’t agree with the implication that all kids would be better off staying home if their families could afford nannies. My child is in elementary school now and we pay for both unnecessary aftercare and an unnecessary gym membership with childcare just so she can get more play time with other kids… that’s how intense her extroversion is! She really needed that 40 hour/week daycare environment. A nanny or SAHM taking her to a few classes would not have been enough.
Anon says
I think pretty much every kid wouod benefit from more unstructured time at home and less time at school or daycare, but the realities of work schedules and cost of living create some limits to meeting that. I do end my work day earlier and do a lot of late night work to make this happen with the downside being I’m always exhausted and have no time for hobbies.
I’d focus more on finding a type of daycare that suits your kid well, to the extent you have various options you can afford.
Anon says
“Unstructured time” and “time at home” are not synonyms. Agree that young children generally benefit from more unstructured play time, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that time should be at home. There are extroverted kids who really thrive on being around other kids and would be lonely and miserable at home – I have one of those kids.
busybee says
Anyone have a vehicle that can fit 3 rear-facing car seats? And what configuration do you use? I’m trying to not have to crawl to the back to buckle a kid in, so I’m thinking 3 across in a row would be easier but open to suggestions. Kids will be 2, newborn, newborn.
Anonymous says
That’s going to be very close to impossible. Can the twins ride in a box on top of the car Mitt Romney style?
Anonymous says
It’s not easier. We had this in our second car for a bit and it was a PITA. Honestly minivan with captains chairs in the second row is the answer here. Remove the storage thingy from between the front driver/passenger seats and then you can walk from the front to the back.
Clek Fllo were our beloved seats for 3 under 3. Then Graco Tranzitions as forward facing to booster seats.
Anonymous says
+1. For us, three across is just a recipe for fighting/crying/even more chaos than normal. If you have the option, get a minivan and put 2 y/o in the back. They will become adept at climbing in very quickly (you’ll still have to buckle them obvi). Also twins are awesome and even though you might feel like “what have we done” for a long time (years maybe)…the older sibling will be such a special relationship for them. Congratulations!
Anon says
I had a 2 year old and newborn twins. I bought an Odyssey. It’s great – sliding doors are amazing, and 5 people have a lot of stuff to haul when you go on trips (sure, you can get 3 across in a Subaru but can you also fit 5 suitcases and a double stroller?) For the newborn years we did toddler in a captains chair, an infant bucket seat in the captains chair, and a bucket seat on the back bench (the Odyssey’s sliding ‘magic seats’ made this work). When we switched over to convertible seats the twins were both on the back bench and we removed one captain seat (it snaps in and out easily). This makes it easy for adults to get in to easily buckle all kids.
Anon says
Yeay twins! I could do 3 rear facing in my Subaru with doonas and the Graco slim fit. I think the doonas have a slimmer fit than most infant buckets, and you can put the Graco slim fit in the middle (Graco SlimFit3 LX 3-in-1 Narrow All-in-One Convertible Car Seat) or the Diono slim would also work rear facing. I would do twins on the outside, and bigger kid in the middle. Your 2 year old is fairly close to being able to at least get their top buckle done on their own, which reduces your shuffle.
Anon says
For the captain’s chairs v. bench seat issue, our SUV has captain’s chairs, and I actually hated the configuration when my twins were 2-3 and my older child was 4-6. The older child was constantly climbing over the rear facing twin seats to get in the back, and I could NOT get back there to help at all. Like, I just didn’t see the third row for about 2 years. The twins actually got switched to forward facing a little sooner than I would have liked b/c everyone was so tired of climbing over the rear facing toddler seats. I think my ideal configuration would have been a minivan where one of the seats closest to the door was stow and go. I don’t know if this exists, but I wished it did for two long years. I would have put the twins next to each other, and still had a way to easily access the back.
TheElms says
Follow the car mom on Instagram. She tries out a lot of cars with car seats. She just did a review of the Volvo XC90 with a bench seat and it fit 3 across. A friend has a VW Atlas and it fits 3 across. You’ll need to use narrower seats – some are all the Cleks, the Graco Slimfit3 LX, Graco Transitions (for your 2 year old if they are forward facing). You could do a Graco Slimfit3 LX for the 2 year old behind the driver and then infant buckets in the middle and behind the passenger.
TheElms says
The Car Seat Lady also has listings of narrow seats and you can book a consultation with her to discuss your car and what seats will work where.
Anon says
Check out The Car Mom on insta and youtube. No affiliation. She currently has 3 (4 years, 2 years, newborn) and just recently turned the 4 year old forward. She drives an expedition but tests out 3 seats in lots of cars.
anon says
Another vote for the car mom, if you’re not on insta she has longer videos on you tube. We don’t have twins but got a minivan when I was pregnant with #3 and it’s been great. We love the magic slide that the Odyssey has. When I had a rear facing kid in the 3rd row I would just open the trunk and buckle from there.
Team minivan says
Another vote for Honda Odyssey
anon says
I have friends who successfully did this in a VW Atlas, I think with 2 Nuna Ravas.
Reading Question says
Wanted to know your thoughts; My son is 6yo, in Kindergarten, and is trouble blending sounds to read words. He know what each letter sounds like but can’t make them flow. The teachers can’t seem to ascertain whether this is a focus challenge or a reading challenge or a combination. Have you ever experienced this? Would you recommend having him evaluated, and for what? This is my first encounter with this sort of thing and would love to hear.
Anon says
Are his teachers recommending he be evaluated? My understanding is that this is developmentally normal in K, and most kids will pick up blending by the middle of first grade.
Anonymous says
Tl;dr – this isn’t something I would worry about. If you have the capacity, you could work on reading with him a little bit each day. At his kindergarten teacher’s request, I have been working on reading with my oldest (6, rising first grader) for six months now. We do a reading lesson together about 3 nights a week. My goal is to work on phonics too but we usually only have time for the lesson. Even after six months, he has trouble with blending consonants and “ow” or “ar” and keeping sh/ch/th straight. I’m not worried. He’s getting better with practice but it takes a lot of practice and consistency.
Anon says
This seems completely normal for a kindergartner to me.
Anonymous says
This is completely developmentally appropriate.
Anonymous says
This sounds like something the school schools be evaluating if they are concerned. What does the teacher say?
Reading Question OP says
They flagged it as something they will keep an eye on but did not come to me asking for an eval
Out of touch millennial says
My SIL is taking s*xy pics of my 14-year old niece, and niece is posting them on IG. Think wearing a wet bikini walking out of a lake, etc. Obviously this is none of my business and I will say nothing. I love niece’s confidence and support her expressing herself however she wants. But these photos are making me cringe, and SIL’s support of them is surprising to me. I am back on social media after a long break – did this become normal since I’ve been gone?
Anonymous says
I don’t think it’s normal in all circles. I look at my teen’s social media and don’t see a lot of that type of stuff. The vast majority of the toxic stuff I see is bragging about grades and test scores. Of course she could be hiding something but I don’t think it’s terribly likely. She knows exactly what happens to those pictures and the idea grosses her out. She has also been raised in a household with old-school ’80s feminist values rather than the version of “feminism” that’s currently being sold to young girls that insists that pandering to the male gaze is a form of empowerment.
I will say that one of her good friends does tend to dress and pose in a way that looks more provocative in photos than it does in real life. More than once I’ve been there when a group photo was taken and been a bit surprised by how it came out. If I were this girl’s parent I’d be pointing that out to her. Knowing the girl I am pretty sure it’s half intentional and half clueless.
Anon says
Interesting – I thought 80’s feminism was more focused on White women being “equal” to men, and in general a lot more weird image things (so much dieting to be “skinny”!)
While I don’t think these types of pics are age appropriate, I do find the brand of feminism younger womxn identify with to be more inclusive, and not pandering to boys. Now…social media…is a different beast all together.
The male gaze sucks.
anon says
I would be very uncomfortable with this as well. Body confidence is great and should be encouraged, but your niece is still a child and putting s#xy pics online is not a choice I would make. And call me a prude, but encouraging s#xy pics and clothing before someone can fully understand what that even means makes me very, very uncomfortable. I actually don’t find that empowering.
GCA says
I would be more concerned about the posting online than the taking photos, tbh. Taking photos, being confident, expressing oneself – great! But posting said photos online puts the teen (who is a CHILD!) out there as an object for someone else’s approval. (I’ve just been listening to the recent coverage of psychologist Jean Twenge’s latest book and all its data about teens and social media – https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/04/25/1171773181/social-media-teens-mental-health )
Anonymous says
We are friends on social media with my husband’s younger cousins (15-18 years old) and they all post photos like this. I agree on it making me cringe, but I don’t think it’s our place to say anything. We did tell the one going to college to never post pictures with alcohol before legal drinking age, but that’s about it.
Anonymous says
I have a 7 year old Harry Potter Superfan with a bday coming up. Anyone have any great HP items she might love?
We already have a blanket, a wizard robe and wand, a charm bracelet, the Gryffindor ensemble for her American Girl doll and several HP Lego sets. We also have all the books including Fantastic Beasts, Cursed Child, etc.
Anon says
A trip to Wizarding World of Harry Potter if it’s in the budget! (Cue someone saying experience gifts aren’t “real gifts” but my kid has always loved experiences, as long as they’re focused on her interests and what she wants to do.)
Anonymous says
OP here- we are going next year when all of my kids are tall enough to ride the rides :). And also, I love her dearly but not $10k family trip to orlando for your bday dearly.
OOO says
You can get prints of inspirational quotes from the HP books for her bedroom on Etsy
Anon says
my employer (a private university) finally enacted a paid parental leave policy! 12-14 weeks of 100% pay for birthing parents, and 6 weeks paid for non birthing parents. previously it was just 80% of salary through STD for 6-8 weeks and the rest unpaid.
EDAnon says
That’s awesome!
Vicky Austin says
Those of you with nannies who do some light housekeeping for you, what types of things do you ask them to do? I’m realizing how unfamiliar I am with this dynamic as the child of teachers whose mom stayed at home for some years, and my husband’s background is similar. I keep thinking I could ask her to do X and then thinking “no, I can’t ask her to do that.” Help me get over this weird hangup with some specific possibilities?
Anon says
I think this is really something that should be negotiated upfront as part of the hiring process. If you didn’t discuss it when you hired her, I think you start by having a conversation, not just asking her to do certain tasks.
Vicky Austin says
Well, I did! We agreed when she was hired that we might ask her to do a couple other things from time to time. She ran a load of baby laundry for me last week, today I asked her to take some chicken out of the freezer. That kind of thing. Just looking for more ideas – and ideas of what would be out of line, like mopping as someone said below!
Anonymous says
Our second and third were twins and we quickly realized we needed a nanny. We got an amazing one who was young, full of energy and hardworking. I included “light housework” as part of the hiring process but practically here’s what that looked like. She arrived at 10AM, fed the twins and put them down for a nap. She was responsible for cleaning bottles (I did not ask her to wash our breakfast dishes). She swept and mopped downstairs (this took 1-2 hours). She would then fold the clean laundry and put in a basket for me to put away, if she had time. Twins were usually up by then and they’d have a snack, play/go for a walk/go to the park. Then she fed them bottle/dinner (they were weaning when she started: table food was something I prepped), and cleaned up their high chairs. By then older kid, DH and I were home and we started our dinner routine and she went home. I basically asked what she would be willing to do and she told me. I never asked her to fold laundry; she just kind of did it. I often reminded her to let me know if any of it was too much: toward the end when the twins were napping less she wasn’t able to do as many chores and that was fine. Basically, you both have to be flexible and keep the conversation open.
Anon says
Whoa, I would not consider regular mopping to be “light housekeeping.” To me, light housekeeping is more like cleaning up messes the kid makes while you’re on duty and maybe folding clean laundry or emptying the dishwasher.
Anonymous says
I honestly think my nanny took pity on me and did this stuff to help me and my partner out because she could see we were exhausted. The first two years of my twins’ lives felt like I was being drowned slowly.
Anon says
She sounds awesome, and I totally understand why you were drowning with two twins and a toddler! Wasn’t trying to criticize you, I was just surprised she would agree to do that, but it’s great.
Anon says
we included light housekeeping as pertaining to the child or i should say children as we had twins as part of the housekeeping process, but it very quickly evolved into a bit more than that as kid schedules changed. she washed all bottles, prepped bottles, did baby laundry, including sheets and towels and changed baby sheets. she emptied dishwasher, often took out the trash, she also swiffered the floors, though i never really asked her to do that. when she started with us we were in a two bedroom apartment. now we are in a much larger house and the kids are in school part time, so she does other stuff too, like washes dishes/pots&pans from the night before, cuts all of our fruits/veggies at the beginning of the week, makes kid lunches, folds towels/sheets, does occasional errands, sweeps the floor, vacuums, sometimes i’ll ask her to cook pasta or rice or something, etc. i also had a weird hang up at the beginning and in some ways it is a bit of a weird power dynamic because i was and still am so dependent on her to care for my kids and didn’t want to ask her to do too much so she’d be unhappy and quit or something.
Anon says
wanted to add that what is considered to be “light housekeeping” seems to vary a lot depending on who you’ve hired. i personally never expected half this stuff, but we kind of lucked out and our wonderful nanny has now been with us for almost 5 years and i am just hoping she isn’t unhappy when our twins start kindergarten and she won’t have as much time with them because she has always been great at taking them to the park, the library, museum, etc.
Anon says
I agree with the light housekeeping as it pertains to the kid(s). I basically asked my nanny to return the house to generally the same state by evening as it was in the morning. This has meant running the dishwasher and unloading as needed, wiping counters, cleaning up projects, putting toys in the general direction of away (tossed in or near a basket), taking out trash if it’s full, wiping crumbs from countertops. She also does most of the toddler’s laundry and prepares his lunch and dinner.
SC says
My former nanny did some light housework. She had grown up as oldest of 10 children, and she was very good at incorporating light housework into the routine of caring for the baby. In the mornings, while baby ate breakfast in his high chair, she unloaded the dishwasher and put breakfast dishes in the dishwasher and wiped down the counters. She took him for a walk in the stroller every morning after breakfast and was willing to run errands within walking distance on her way to or from the playground (dry cleaning, post office, Walgreens, grocery store for 1-3 things). She did a load of laundry–maybe half baby laundry and half ours–and folded it most days. She prepped and cleaned bottles and cleaned up the baby’s room. We were ordering a combination of meal kits and CSA boxes at the time, and she unpacked and put away the deliveries. She swept or swiffered around the area baby ate as he got older and messier, but she didn’t sweep or mop the entire apartment.
We had housekeepers come once a week to clean the bathroom, sweep and mop, dust, really clean the kitchen. My house has never been cleaner than it was that year.