If your kids like solving puzzles, here’s a fun logic game for them.
My oldest got this Three Little Piggies game when she was a toddler. Even then, she would try to figure out how to keep her piggies safe from the wolf. The game comes with 48 challenges where you position the pigs and wolf around a grid and try to protect the pigs by fitting the puzzle-shaped homes around them. The game also includes a storybook — my youngest isn’t quite up to playing the actual game but uses the pieces to act out the story (although in his version, the wolf enthusiastically eats all the pigs).
Smartgames’ Three Little Piggies Game is $26.99 at Target.
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Sales of Note…
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off full-price tops and sweaters; up to 40% off all sale styles
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything; extra 15% off purchase
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- J.Crew Factory – Up to 50% off everything; up to 50% off clearance; extra 15% off orders $100+; extra 20% off orders $125+
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Talbots – 30% off entire purchase
- Zappos – 24,000+ 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 – 40% off your purchase
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Hanna Andersson – 100s of new markdowns; up to 30% off Easter
- Carter’s – Swim 50% off; up to 50% off sandals; up to 50% off spring break deals
- buybuyBaby – Major clearance markdowns
HSAL says
My oldest has gotten really hard on her shoes, so I need to get away from Target/Carter’s/random Amazon brand. Any brands that hold up well for near-daily wear, and are still “cute” enough for a first grade girl? I used to love StrideRite for her but they have almost nothing in her size, and I’m reluctant to start spending $50+ on shoes without knowing if they’ll actually hold up.
Mary Moo Cow says
My rising 2nd grader liked Sketchers (especially the light up ones) last year. She wears New Balance for school (uniform) and wore them every day for the entire school year, and they are in decent shape. She wears only Crocs sandals in the summer, and those, surprisingly, have held up really well, too. Crocs website is having a summer sale, including some clogs.
Boston Legal Eagle says
+1 for Sketchers. My rising 1st grader is also really hard on shoes (they all end up with ripped toes/bottoms), and so far his Sketchers have held up. They have a pretty huge selection, at least at the store near us.
anonM says
I had horrible luck with carter’s. I got keen shoes for the kids, which hold up well. My friend also handed down some tsukishoshi shoes, and even as hand-me-downs they look great and are holding up well. Mostly sneakers, but some are pretty unique (check out TOKYO Youth Shoes (Lavender/Purple)) that I would guess a 1st grader would like? (IDK though, mine are 2 and 4 so I get to pick still for the most part, haha!).
TheElms says
My 3 year old wears tsukishoshi sneakers as her everyday sneakers and they are holding up really well. They are washable but I haven’t tried that yet. I just spot clean them in the sink. Every other brand we’ve tried (Nike, NB, Sketchers and maybe a couple others don’t make it past 6 weeks generally). She’s been wearing her current sneakers since May and may actually outgrow them before I have to replace them from wear and tear!)
More Sleep Would Be Nice says
You may have already tried this, but I snagged some SRs on Zapp*s for <$30.
anon says
Yep, I filter by what’s on sale there and then pick SR or Saucony in a good color.
AwayEmily says
Following…our soon-to-be-first-grader wears Saucony Jazz and they hold up reasonably well (though, like yours, she’s started to get harder on them recently). We also still haven’t taught her to tie her shoes, which limits her options as well.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Unrelated to shoes, but we have rising first graders AwayEmily! I can’t believe it! Somehow this feels like a bigger milestone than K last year? Maybe because he real has opinions now…
AwayEmily says
Agreed! I don’t know if you’ve noticed this also, but mine has turned into such a independent person lately, maybe partly because her outdoor summer camp is such an intense social world — she has in-jokes with fellow campers, she sings songs I’ve never heard of, she is trying out different types of humor. It’s all happening so fast.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Yes, exactly. He’s a real person now. Logically I knew that would happen, but it’s still crazy to think that it’s happening before my eyes, and one day he’ll be a teenager! (the weekend days are still long though…)
Clementine says
Mom of rising first grader here and SAME!
anon says
Skechers and New Balance have worked well for us at this age. Nike and Adidas were not impressive and looked worn out and busted within a few weeks.
Anon says
DD’s under armour shoes have held up and look cool I think
Rita says
Nikes. You get what you pay for. And they have really cute styles for girls now, and plenty available on Amazon.
Anonymous says
Stride rite, new balance, saucony. New balance hold up the best for us. Do you live near a city? We go to a kids shoe store and it’s the best. We have only done “real” brands of shoes because as my mom says, “you only get one pair of feet”.
anonM says
Another shoe question, but for the Bogs lovers out there. We are in the midwest, and have a large yard, so I want to get quality rain boots. Already have winter boots for next year. Would you recommend the regular bog rain boots or the insulated boots for fall/spring?
Anonymous says
Not what you asked, but we are also in the Midwest, and I recommend Kamik snowbusters. The insulating liner is removable, so they can be used for fall/spring too. We typically size up for winter and then take the liner out for the following spring/fall and they’re fine. Somtimes they still fit with the liner for the next winter, and sometimes not. Just depends how much kiddo’s feet grew.
Anon says
I have a pair of Kamik rainboots that have held up well and are really comfortable. I really love that their sustainability program. They’ll provide a pre-paid shipping label to return worn boots and they’ll recycle them.
Anon says
My kids wear the insulated boots year round (the soft ones). I’ve tried other types including the regular rain boots but they will not put them on.
Anonymous says
+1. Mine doesn’t like the feel of regular rain boots.
I may see if she’ll try Kamik this year – she’s refused them in the past I think because she thinks they feel heavier than Bogs.
Anon says
This is mostly a vent but I’ll take advice if anyone has it… I posted a couple months ago about my 4 year old having a very hard time with drop off at school. We’ve tried a bunch of things: sending a stuffy or special notes, more time and physical contact with us at home (including sleeping in our bed), talking to her about it, early pickups with special things to look forward to, etc and nothing seems to be helping. The last couple of weeks the teachers have had to literally pry her off of us kicking and screaming and once she actually ripped my shirt trying to clutch me. They’ve told us she doesn’t settle down and stop crying for more than an hour after we leave. So it’s pretty extreme, it’s not just a little weepiness that she gets over as soon as we’re out the door. At pickup she is always happy and often doesn’t want to go home. It’s hard to see her like this, and also the teachers are getting really frustrated with us. They’ve implied that our home situation is to blame, suggesting that the problems started because my husband went out of town for several weeks for work (I don’t think this is actually true but even if it were – it was a work trip that wasn’t exactly optional…it’s not like he was gallivanting around the Bahamas with his buddies) and now they’re hinting that other stuff at home is to blame. They’re telling us that because she’s in a mixed age classroom and they have a new group of 3 year olds and kids who are new to school they need the 4 year olds who have previous school experience to step up and be more mature, which seems like a way of saying they need the older kids to take less of their attention. I totally get why they’re frustrated with it (because I am too! This is so baffling after 3+ years of incredibly easy drop-offs, even weird parking lot hand-offs during the height of Covid) but I also sort of feel like they could be more empathetic and part of me wonders if their “buck up and deal with it” attitude is making the problem worse.
Cb says
Gosh, that’s really hard. And I’d hate blaming the work trip! Is there anything different in the morning routine? Is it possible that a teacher was harsh or shouted at her when she was having a hard time early on?
NYCer says
I’m sorry, no real advice, but this must be so frustrating! Did she move to a new classroom or new teachers when the drop off issues started, or did it really just start out of the blue?
Anon says
Nope, same teachers same class same friends when this started back in May. This week she has a bunch of new kids in her class (same room and teachers though) and one of her besties went off to K, so I get why things are hard now. But I have no idea what started it. It’s truly so bizarre.
AwayEmily says
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this, it sounds really hard and frustrating, and that’s super annoying about the teachers blaming your husband’s work trip. Parents travel ALL THE TIME without it having long-term impacts on drop-offs, c’mon.
You may have already tried something similar so please ignore if so, but one thing that worked when my 4yo was struggling with dropoffs (admittedly at a lower level than yours) was to lean into it. We talked about how I used to cry at dropoff as well and it was normal/healthy, designated a special “crying spot” on a chair for him to sit on when I left, and every day I told him to cry as long as he needed to until his body felt okay. And (on our instruction) the teachers would just ignore him, for the most part, except for saying something like “yup, get as much crying out as you want.” This is definitely a know your kid thing, maybe it wouldn’t work at all for yours, but it seemed to help with ours.
Anon says
Thanks, I think our 4 year olds have similar personalities from what you’ve written I’ll think about doing something like this.
AwayEmily says
As part of this approach, I would sometimes conversationally say on the way to school something like “do you think today is going to be a REALLY BIG crying day or just a medium crying day?” Basically, trying to normalize it as much as possible so it was less of a Scary Thing.
Boston Legal Eagle says
I like this. Maybe she just needs to get her crying out, and there’s really nothing the teachers need to do to stop it. Especially since she’s so happy at drop off. Hopefully they can work with you on this.
anon says
Why does she say that she gets so upset?
Anon says
Just missing us, wanting to be with us instead of at school. She says she likes school but it’s more fun with us. When we explain we have to work and can’t play with her or do anything fun, she says “it’s ok I’ll just watch TV all day and not make any noise.”
Anonymous says
Do you work at home and does she know that? Would it help if she thought you were going to your office, court, etc. and she knew she couldn’t come with you? Did this start when she was home with you for some period of time?
Anon says
I do work at home but my husband works in an office regularly and she does the same thing with him. In general she is home with us or a grandparent more than most kids in full time daycare, but no sudden change that precipitated this.
Pogo says
ugh, im so sorry. Sometimes my 5yo does this too, though luckily we’ve gotten past the screaming and needing to be pried off me at dropoff thing. But he still often says he’ll just stay home and play quietly.
My only other suggestion – is she getting enough sleep? Mine is extremely sensitive to sleep and if he has just 1-2 days of bad sleep, it takes weeks to get back on track and in the meantime we experience this type of behavior, though manifesting mostly at bedtime (when he is his most tired) but when he was younger like your 4yo we saw it in the morning as well.
I’m sorry you’re dealing with this.
SC says
It sounds like this transition is really hard for her, and now it’s grown into a whole dramatic, stressful thing where she’s really overwhelmed in the mornings. My son has difficulties with transitions and with anxiety in general, though we haven’t had this particular issue.
– Talk about it being difficult to change from one activity/set of people to another. Identify the transition as the issue. Acknowledge the feelings she’s having, and say it’s OK to be sad. Ask the teacher to give her a quiet space where she can calm down in the mornings.
– Reduce physical affection from mom and dad in the mornings. Give lots of cuddles in the evenings, but stick to the routine in the mornings. (Of course, a hug and kiss good morning and as the process of saying goodbye is fine, but prolonged morning snuggles may make things harder.)
– Reduce sensory input overall in the mornings. She may be getting overwhelmed. Make sure your routine is solid and calm. Try not playing music in the car. When she gets to the classroom, make sure the door isn’t crowded with teacher and other kids, and that she has a place she can go to calm down.
– Give the dropoff extra time, and encourage her to be in control once you park the car. Let her unbuckle her car seat, climb out of the car herself, walk up to the door of daycare. Don’t carry her in. You may need a temporary rewards system to get her out.
Anon says
Thanks! So thankfully we have zero issues getting her into the school building (this is a relief because she’s really big for her age and I can barely carry her). She practically skipped into school this morning and happily showed me the table where her water bottle goes. The drama just starts when we say goodbye (or when we leave if we don’t make a big deal about goodbyes).
Anonymous says
The fact that she doesn’t start crying until you leave makes it even more the school’s issue and not yours to deal with! I would push back and ask the school what they are doing and how they can change their approach.
Pogo says
oh wow yeah. When we had this issue, I had to pry him out of his carseat and hand him kicking and screaming to the director (who is an absolute SAINT). So weird that she doesn’t start til the goodbyes! School should step up with some distraction techniques or a calming activity for her in this time – like a quiet corner she can cuddle with stuffy and cry if she needs to, without being “disruptive”. As busytoddler would say, being 4 is fine.
But I stand by my earlier suggestion to look at sleep as well.
Walnut says
I wonder if you can drop off in the lobby and have someone else walk to the classroom? Our dropoff issues ran the gamut, but magically during covid when we dropped off outside the front door, everything went a million times smoother.
Anon says
She is definitely more emotional when sleep-deprived but unfortunately this has been happening every day for the last 3ish months, and she’s had plenty of nights of good sleep in there so I don’t think sleep is the issue. I do appreciate you and everyone else trying to troubleshoot though!
Anonymous says
I don’t understand why teachers think parents can solve behavioral issues that happen in the classroom. Isn’t that the teachers’ job?
GCA says
Suggesting that the work trip was to blame is entirely unproductive and unhelpful on the teachers’ part. I would turn it around and ask them, ‘well, what do you suggest we should try going forward? You’re the childcare professional here, you have lots of experience with different children and families. What else would you try?’
Aside from leaning into the big feelings, you could try to get in early, give the dropoff extra time, and have the teachers distract her with an Important Big-Kid Job: setting up for an activity, helping prep morning snack, pick the music, etc.
I distinctly remember being 4 and absolutely wailing when my parents left for work (I was home with my grandparents) despite knowing rationally that they would come back that evening. When you’re 4 you just don’t have any control over your feelings.
Anon says
One of them actually suggested my husband should travel less. He doesn’t even travel that much to begin with. I think their fixation on this is so weird!
SC says
Omg, I would be absolutely livid. You need their services because you and your husband have jobs. Many jobs require travel. That’s really not their call to make.
GCA says
+1. Many people travel for work. Many families deal with work travel. I don’t know if the teachers are weirdly tone-deaf or maybe just naive about how non-childcare industries work, but they really need to be helping your family find a solution that works for your particular child and the classroom! The alternative is…what? taking this line of reasoning to its absurd logical conclusion – husband quits his job and stays home and your family leaves the center?
Rita says
Honestly there may be something going on at school that you’re not aware of and your child can’t articulate. My children always went to daycare NO problem, but one of my daughters suddenly started getting really clingy with me at dropoff. I sort of brushed her off and had her go in when she was expressing she didn’t want to. She later got a pretty serious injury in the classroom, as did some other children, indicating the teachers were neglectful and not keeping control in the classroom. I also later found out that her teacher was “patting her back” REALLY hard at naptime, to make her go to sleep. And finally, the teacher ended up calling us with a really inappropriate, racially-tinged complaint about our child’s comments about a new teacher.
Bottom line, your child may be reacting to something that is going on in that classroom, even if she says she likes school. Consider whether a classroom/teacher change is possible, or switching daycares. I have never thought that it is normal or “just anxiety” for a child to be screaming and grabbing their parents at daycare dropoff. The school should be creating an environment that is sufficiently positive, nurturing, and fun that the child doesn’t feel that way.
Anon says
That thought has crossed my mind, but it started suddenly after almost a year of being very happy in this classroom and with these same teachers. We have never observed anything concerning at school, and she’s always very happy at pickup and often not even especially interested in going home (although leaving school is not the all-out battle it was a couple years ago). In general the issue seems to be about her more than about school. She is also suddenly having issues going to my parents’ house (and she ADORES them) and I assume would be having similar issues being dropped off at activities, but we haven’t done any activities the last few months because of a combination of Covid and summer. She is supposed to start Sunday school in a couple weeks and I’m assuming she may get kicked out of that, because they’re not going to have the same tolerance for screaming that full time daycare teachers have. Sigh. She is a very anxious kid in general but separation anxiety has never been a problem until now.
Anonymous says
I would give Sunday School a chance because 1) It’s only an hour. 2) The volunteers are used to having to put up with A LOT. (My daughter refuses to go to Sunday School because of the amount of chaos that is tolerated in those classrooms, ha.)
Anon says
Yeah we plan to! Just not optimistic it will go smoothly, ha.
Anon says
That sounds so hard. Hugs. The book The Invisible String really helped us a lot. What about matching family bracelets that everyone can look at when they miss each other?
Anonymous says
I may be too late for you to see this, but I had a very hard time with drop offs in first grade. My teacher suggested to my parents that instead of walking me the whole way to school/my classroom, they walk me to a friend’s house and the friend and I could walk together (no parents—this was safe and appropriate in the neighborhood). As I remember it, changing the point of separation from school to elsewhere immediately and totally solved the issue, and since you have no issues getting her out of the car, I’m wondering if you could do something similar—maybe coordinate with another family to meet in the parking lot and have the two kids go inside together? Maybe have her go in with the other kid and their parent? Workable specifics will obviously depend on your circumstances and logistics, but the crux of the idea is changing the location at which you say goodbye to be away from the classroom or school, as applicable/possible.
Anonymous says
What I think is really going on here is that the teachers know they should be able to handle this. To prevent *you* from complaining about the issue and demanding that they fix it, they’ve gone on the offensive and tried to make it your problem. Don’t fall for this ploy.
Cb says
Waiting for the bus to get into town for my last nursery pickup – staff is taking bets on who cries. 2 have cried thus far, and I’m definitely going to, I’ve also got £5 on my husband.
So grateful for this amazing start in life, and wishing every kid had teachers and an environment like this in their early years.
Cb says
And longtime blog commenters will remember we had an ORDEAL starting at this nursery. They are super hippy and wouldn’t let him start til he was happy, so he screamed the place down for weeks while I cried upstairs in the staff room.
More Sleep Would Be Nice says
I remember his “buggy nap” phase, and thought they were so cool to do that with him. What a bittersweet ending to a great chapter! My older son is redshirted for K this year, so will continue following your family’s journey with interest.
Cb says
Oh my goodness! The buggy nap. Karen, the school admin, would get all her errands done with T in tow, snoozing in his baby jogger. All the kids seem to nap in buggies there, not sure anyone uses the cribs. They like to sleep outside.
Anon says
Aww I’ve been following since before you started nursing. Congrats to you and T and best wishes for this next chapter!!
Anon says
*nursery not nursing. Although probably that too haha
Boston Legal Eagle says
Good luck to your son! On my older son’s last day of daycare, all of his friends gave him a big group hug and that made me more proud than anything else, to know that he formed such strong connections. That’s really all I want for my kids, to be kind, good people, and find others who are the same. It’s making me tear up now!
AwayEmily says
Aw, that’s so sweet. Our daycare does a “goodbye circle” when a kid leaves where everyone stands up and says something they like about the departing kid.
Pogo says
I’m tearing up just reading this! For us it’s not quite as bittersweet as little bro will start at our nursery/preschool in a year or so, meaning I will get to see him go through the same progression of teachers/classrooms. But I do remember that he started here as a little not quite 3yo, in diapers, in the deepest COVID summer of 2020. What a wild ride it’s been, now he’s skipping off to kindergarten (aka “the seesaw playground school”). I will be forever grateful to the director and that first teacher of his who was so nurturing and kind during a time when he was away from his beloved caregiver & two best buds for the longest time since he was an infant.
This school got him to yellow belt in taekwondo, and taught him enough Spanish that he regularly requests the Encanto soundtrack en espanol! It’s been a journey.
Mary Moo Cow says
Your gratitude is so touching. I felt (still feel!) the same way about our daycare. I loved our daycare, and I cried on the last day. I’ve turned into a zealous advocate for it to pass on the goodness. Good luck to you all on the first days of the new adventure!
Anonymous says
Feeling you! And I’ve followed his nursery journey for years. Today is my younger kid’s last day at the preschool/daycare we’ve been at since 2016 through multiple kids 😭. Hard choice to move elsewhere as covid staffing challenges have caused the hours to shorten permanently. So many feelings!
Cb says
I forgot that Friday is a skeleton crew so only 3 goodbyes but they were good ones and I only teared up a little. One teacher snuck him a little present, another whispered that he’d always be her favourite, and the director thanked me for continually being a positive voice in the parent community and always willing to advocate for the nursery staff with the powers that be (it’s a public centre, run by the local authority) were always really appreciated.
at home summer camp? says
My siblings + nieces / nephews + parents are all renting Airbnbs in the woods for a summer vacation next week. There will be 5 kids ages 2-4 (and one infant who will mostly be in a carrier). I’m trying to come up with a makeshift summer camp schedule to keep the kids occupied and with some structure so it’s not total chaos (just mild chaos which is unavoidable!). Any ideas for schedule or fun activities we can do in a backyard that don’t require purchasing a lot of gear?
Anonymous says
I couldn’t handle being stuck at a vacation home all day, especially with little kids! I would plan some sort of outing every morning: hike, nature center, museum, playing in the creek, kayaking, etc. Then home for lunch, nap or rest time, outdoor play, dinner, quiet indoor activities, bedtime.
Anon says
Yea that’s what I would do too. Outing every morning, lunch and nap/rest time at home, an hour or two to play, out to dinner.
Anonymous says
What is this “quiet indoor activities” with a large group of cousins?!?????!!!!
Anonymous says
Ha, fair point. I was thinking coloring, Candy Land, story time.
Anonymous says
Scavenger hunt with pictures rather than words. Leaf, bug, stick, rock, etc. If you have a clipboard they can use, great. If not, no worries. There are some good printables for this on Pinterest. Also an obstacle course with stuff that is already there. Again, check out Pinterest. If there is a hose, a sprinkler can get a lot of mileage and is pretty small to pack. If you’re will to supervise, just walking through the woods will provide a lot of fun, too! If there is a picnic table or similar, coloring and snacks and all that outside instead of inside will be novel and exciting. A fun gift (but totally understandable if you don’t want to buy them!) would be kids binoculars.
ElisaR says
man my kids love clipboards. and spray bottles. and giant paintbrushes. random items that are safe and entertaining for them.
Pogo says
Have them all bring their bikes or scooters and let them ride around outside as much as possible.
Bring lots of Duplos. Those are always a win on vacation for us for the ‘quiet inside time’.
Anon says
Is there a body of water or hiking trails nearby? Maybe half the parents take the kids out after breakfast to do nature-y things, then home for lunch, maybe some board games, and then head out on a second adventure in the mid-afternoon.
I am about to embark on a beach vacation with my parents, siblings, and seven kids under age 8 and that’s roughly our plan. The dads get up with the older kids and head to the beach, the moms/babies hang around at the house for morning naps, then we join at the beach later. It makes it easy that we can walk to the beach so don’t have to do the whole car rigamarole – the dads take the kids and just go once they start getting antsy in the morning, and the morning outdoor time sets a good tone for the day
DLC says
If you can get Sun paper, making Sun Prints from stuff kids collect in nature is a lot of fun. It would make a nice morning activity to go for a walk to collect stuff then make prints from it when you get home.
Easy baking like making Rice Krispie Treats. I like to mix everything together and then hand the kids a chunk and let them make sculptures.
Lots of picnics!
AwayEmily says
Following with interest! We are leaving tomorrow for a week in the Adirondacks with our 4yo, 6yo, and a baby. Based partly on our last year’s experience doing this, I’m planning on packing lots of books (I find grandparents especially love reading-to-kids time and it gives parents a break), some unused Kiwi Crates, a bunch of puzzles, Legos, and lots of art supplies. Last year it rained for 6/7 days we were there and so this year I’m going to be prepared!
I would also scope out any local playgrounds so you have some options for easy trips.
anonM says
water beads (can give them whatever pots/pans/utensils you already have for them to scoop, strain, pour the beads). Some little construction trucks and shovels for playing in dirt/sand. Kinetic sand is fun and would be fun on vacation to stick outside so clean up is easy. Color wonder coloring kits. Kid scissors and glue to let them “craft” leaves, sticks, etc. Other than that I’d encourage outdoor play as much as possible. My personal 2 cents is don’t try to expect yourself to play camp counselor all week. If you don’t know airbnb layout, grab a baby gate so maybeeee you can sit down on vacation a little :)
Anon says
I wouldn’t plan formal activities. The kids will entertain each other (especially the older ones) and if you try to schedule activities you may meet a lot of resistance. Maybe my kids are unusually lazy, but when they’re with peers they just want to play.
Spirograph says
This. I agree that a hike/nature walk, canoeing, etc that gets you out of the house would be good. Plan a few of those, but otherwise let things flow. Bring a couple outdoor toys and some coloring books, let each kid bring one toy, and let them entertain each other.
Anon says
Bubbles. Shovel to dig holes. Water squirters. Finger / body paint. premade cookie dough and a couple ‘toppings’ for decorations. Pop tubes. Flashlights or headlamps for nightime activities … finding crawdads and frogs, etc.
HSAL says
Oh, love these ideas. I think a group of 2-4 year olds might be too young for some of them, but I’m saving them for my 5/7s next year.
Anon says
Kiddle pool and water play. And yes a morning outing
Anonymous says
We love scavenger hikes keyed to the local environment or the specific trail. You can find downloadable ones on line, and there are books available for some national parks.
Anonymous says
I have three lunches to make this year instead of one, so I bought six lunch kits, thanks to someone’s suggestion on this board a while back. I know it isn’t super environmentally friendly, but we’re on year 3 of the original lunch kit, so I’m hoping they will all last. It’s been so nice to pop the used ones in the dishwasher and make tomorrow’s lunches the night before, instead of scrambling to make lunches during the morning rush. Do you have any hacks you especially loved learning from this board?
Anonymous says
How is it 1) a genius hack to buy two of something that spends half its life in the dishwasher (doesn’t everyone do that?) and 2) environmentally unfriendly to buy exactly how many you need of that item?
Anonymous says
Right!
anonM says
UGH why bother commenting with something like this? She didn’t say it was genius, she said it was a suggestion.
Mary Moo Cow says
Buy a small laminator for home. I can’t believe how many school projects, ID cards, documents, fun projects, etc. I’ve laminated. My new kick is to pick up paper bookmarks at the library and laminate them at home. It gets my burgeoning chapter book reader very excited to have her own bookmarks.
TheElms says
Thanksgiving plans advice please — we are joining my step-mom’s family for Thanksgiving in their home town. It is a 13 hour drive w/o stops or a 4-5 hour flight with a connection (there used to be direct flights but those don’t seem to have come back post-Covid) so we’ll have to figure that out as well. But for now accommodation advice: 2 adults, a 3.5 year old and a then 9 month old can either share 1 bedroom in the giant rental house where most people are staying or we can get a couple hotel rooms in a hotel about 15 minutes away from the rental house. I think the obvious answer is get the hotel rooms, the big drawback to that is someone will likely need to go back to the hotel once or twice a day for the 9 month old to nap (or I guess we could haul the pack n play back and forth every day). 3 year old currently naps but I’m thinking she may not soon because she has started fighting naps. Anything else I’m missing? We travelled with our 3 year old pre-Covid but no trips other than to grandma’s house since Covid and no trips with 2 kids yet.
Anon says
I’d definitely go with hotel rooms but you probably don’t need two rooms? I only have one kid but I know lots of people who put two adults and two young kids in one hotel room. You can get two beds and the 3 year old can either have their own bed or share with one parent, and then you can set up a small portable crib for the baby. I think it’s only when your family gets to 5 or even 6 people that you need more than one hotel room.
Clementine says
I would vote hotel room but would ask stepmom’s family if anyone has a pack and play they could stick into a bedroom so kid could nap during the day. I almost guarantee somebody has one hanging around.
Anonymous says
Hotel for sure. We would just get one room. Is there a suite option that would allow the adults to stay up later than the kids?
I would definitely drive instead of flying. Flying is too unreliable these days. It’s bad enough to have your flight cancelled while flying alone on business, but I can’t imagine how awful it would be with kids over a holiday weekend.
TheElms says
It is a 13 hour drive with no traffic and no stops. So once you add in some traffic and stops that is probably more like 16-18 hours. We definitely can’t do that in one day (My 3 year old would lose her mind) and its only a long weekend so I don’t think we can take 2 days to drive there and 2 days to drive back unless we can take more time off, which we are looking at. I’m looking to see if we can fly to a nearby airport direct (which would be about a 2 hour flight) and then drive the last piece which would maybe be 90 minutes depending on traffic.
Anonymous says
Direct flight + drive mitigates half the risk!
Anon says
More than half really because you are either at your home or at your destination, not stuck at an airport somewhere!
Anon says
Yeah I would fly but do the nonstop flight. We regularly drive 2.5 hours so we can fly nonstop out of a hub airport. It’s annoying but nonstop flights are worth their weight in gold, especially with little kids. We’ve traveled a lot this summer and we’ve had some delays but no disasters because we didn’t have connections to miss. We were on a flight last week that landed 2 hours late. 80% of the plane missed a connection and had to spend the night in a strange city. We just got home two hours later than planned.
anonM says
I think this depends on the people and your flexibility, and how long of a stay. We stay often (all 4 of us in one room) with our little ones at a shared family cottage with my mom, aunts, etc. I know this is a rare unicorn situation, but they often will offer to get up with the kids for us one morning. It’s amazing — they get to bond, I get to sleep. I can prep a nice dinner with extra sets of eyes on my kids. If this is family that might be helpful, consider the shared airbnb. The flexibility part may be harder, but IF they are helpful, kid-loving people it might be worth it. You’re also going that far to bond with family, so I would bring a pack and play for LO to sleep at the hosts’ house. YMMV, but I’d be annoyed driving back and forth for naps. If I did hotel, I would definitely only get one room. If you want a small travel cot rec for the 3.5 yo post again and I’ll look up the name of the one we got.
Mary Moo Cow says
I’m the outlier, I guess. I would vote stay in the big house. Many hands, light work, perhaps? Maybe you can coordinate with other families for playtime, meal prep, etc. I would also be sad and resentful if it was me stuck driving a baby back and forth to a hotel to nap while other grown ups were having happy hour or just chit chatting while the kids played in the other room. YMMV; My kids are terrible in a hotel (perhaps because of the novelty), and no one sleeps. A rental house is different for them. BTW, I applaud your commitment to doing Thanksgiving this way: I love my family and I love the holiday, but a 13 hour drive or connecting flight for just a long weekend would probably get a nope from me.
Colorado says
It might be too late in the day… but anyone have any stories of using Clearblue ovulation predictor kit successfully? Thanks!
anonymous says
Yes! After four months of winging it, we used the Clearblue ovulation predictor and got pregnant that month. Unfortunately, it was a chemical pregnancy, but five months after that we had more success and now we have a healthy, happy five-month old baby. Best wishes to you and love to all who are waiting and hoping!
Anon says
I use the ClearBlue monitor (continuously; I use it for fertility awareness to avoid pregnancy as well as to conceive). It’s a little more accurate than the predictor kit because it “gets to know you” and adjusts to your hormone levels, but ClearBlue products are generally good quality.
One caveat: if you have PCOS, ovulation kits could be inaccurate. Also, in addition to confirming you’re ovulating (hitting peak on the ovulation kit) you’ll want to track how many days between peak and getting your period. If it’s less than 12 days, you have a short luteal phase/potentially low progesterone, which can reduce the chances of successful pregnancy. (Basically, ovulation kits are a great tool, but there are many other factors if it doesn’t work!)
Clementine says
So pro tip from my husband for everyone school shopping this year: while they have all the uniform stuff out, buy your kid a plain white button down and khakis/a plain black pair of pants or skirt. At some point, they’ll have to wear this for a school concert or something and you don’t want to be driving around on December 15th at 9PM looking for one…
(Also, in dividing household labor, we were specific that his job is to evaluate the kids’ wardrobes for size and fill in any gaps. I like to shop on sale – particularly grabbing Tea Collection dresses for my daughter when they go on super sale – but he is the one who looks at the big picture and makes sure there are minimal gaps. It’s a good system in case anyone is looking for a way to divide this duty but still be able to sale shop for kids.)
avocado says
I agree with keeping black + white on hand for kids in middle school and up, but my daughter’s elementary school performances always involved weird requests that you couldn’t possibly predict in advance,. One was “crazy hat,” another was “mail carrier,” another was “each class is assigned a t-shirt color.”
Then you get to high school and they need a $275 show choir costume plus character shoes and tights and leotard, sigh.