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When I want just a little color on my lips, I reach for Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm.
This drugstore bargain adds a hint of sheer color so your lips look like your-own-but-better, moisturizes with shea butter and botanical waxes, and features “all-natural” ingredients — no parabens, phthalates, petrolatum, or other things you don’t want to eat.
It comes in several flattering colors. (I like “Red Dahlia.”) Given the price, you can indulge in more than one!
This lip balm is available in a range of shades at Target for $4.79. You can also easily find it in many other stores like Ulta, Amazon, and drugstores.
Sales of note for 3.28.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your full-price purchase; extra 50% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50-70% off everything plus extra 20% off purchase
- Eloquii – 50% off 2+ items; 40% off 1
- J.Crew – 50% off select styles
- Lands’ End – 10% off your order
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- Nordstrom: Give $150 in gift cards, earn a $25 promo card (ends 3/31)
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- Zappos – 37,000+ 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 – 50% off entire site
- Hanna Andersson – 30% off all swim; up to 30% off HannaJams
- J.Crew Crewcuts – 40% off sitewide; 50% off select swim; 50% off kids’ styles
- Old Navy – 50% off Easter deals
- Target – 20% off Easter styles for all; up to 30% off kitchen & dining; BOGO 50% off shoes & slippers for the family;
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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?
Anonymous says
Oh wow, I haven’t thought about these tinted lip balms in years. I just got a sheer lipstick from Seph*ra (Tarte sea quench) and this looks like it would be the same thing but much cheaper.
Anonymous says
These are the bomb. I have not used anything else in . . . years?
anne-on says
Same, I totally forgot these existed! I’ll definitely pick one up on my next drugstore run vs. the Gucci/Glossier/Fresh sheer ‘my lips but better’ tints that all the bloggers are hawking
Anon4This says
As a BIPOC woman with brown skin, these never have much show on my lips, not even the natural dewy finish intended by this type of product (despite the advertising showing models of all skin tones). I do love the concept, though.
Maybe Rihanna will figure this out for us. In the meantime, back to my highly-pigmented Nars.
Anonymous says
+1 to the idea that Rihanna will have people on this.
Anonymous says
She has a tinted lip balm already:
https://fentybeauty.com/products/pro-kissr-luscious-lip-balm-latte-lips
No Face says
Same. I love the nude range of lipsticks from Mented (black owned brand). Very creamy and attractive.
anon says
I love these. Red Dahlia is my favorite.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Who else is just tired of constantly assessing risk? I guess we do it all the time subconsciously by driving and venturing out into the world, but with Covid, it just feels amplified now. With this new variant and kids being unable to be vaccinated until probably early next year now, I’m having to recalibrate my ideas of what we can and can’t do, again. I want to take my kids to indoor places (which we’ve been doing this summer, mostly masked) and have them do activities in the fall and winter, and I’m pretty sure that even with variants, it doesn’t affect kids too badly, but then I read all these stories about how we don’t know enough about “long Covid” yet.
Is anyone changing anything now that there are most cases in terms of what you’re doing? I definitely want and need school to be open full time come fall, and I think we’ll be there, just with masks, but in terms of optional activities and travel?
Anon says
We flew (domestically) in June and are flying again this month and possibly in August – we wanted to get in visits to loved ones and special places before the TSA mask mandate expires, but otherwise we’re not doing anything except daycare (with masks for all) and visits with people we know are vaccinated. We no longer go anywhere indoors (our local library just lifted their mask requirement, so we’ve had our last visit there), and we’re not doing any activities until kiddo is vaccinated. DH and I were supposed to go away to an adults only resort this winter but I’m not even sure we’ll do that because it’s looking more and more likely that vaccinated people with mild illness can transmit and I don’t want to get mildly ill and pass it onto our kiddo pre-vax. That’s hitting me harder than the loss of preschool soccer, quite frankly ;) I’m so frustrated the kid vaccine timeline has been pushed back. Even summer 2022 travel and activities feel iffy at this point. Gaaaaaahhhhh I just want our whole family to be vaccinated so life can be normal-ish.
TheElms says
Not that anyone knows, but what do people think is the likelihood that TSA will extend the mask mandate. I can’t really see them letting it expire if case numbers are ticking back up and they seem to be doing that already, but who knows.
Spirograph says
I think it’s likely it will be extended. I saw a headline this morning that the Biden administration is considering another masking push… states will do what they want, but I think masks will stick around longer for anything under federal jurisdiction.
Anon says
It should be extended but I don’t think it will be. The airline CEOs apparently led the push to extend it from May to September and at least one of them has publicly said it shouldn’t be extended beyond that. If it’s extended we’d probably be comfortable flying through the fall, at least on short flights where we don’t have to remove our own masks. We wear KN95s, even our kiddo. (I know others here have said mask compliance on planes is bad, but I was impressed on my trip last month with how well people follow the rules. I live in a red state where mask usage was at best 80% even when we had a statewide mandate though. If you’re coming from Vermont or someplace like that you may think people on airplanes are bad at masks.)
Anonymous says
Can you post a link to where you buy adult and kid KN95s? I’m interested in some for kiddo and myself for an upcoming flight. Thank you!
Anon says
I got them from a company called Vida. They were pricey but are very comfortable.
Anonymous says
Right there with you. For us school is the biggest worry. Our schools will be open full-time, but are signaling that masking will not be required. Private school is not an option and homeschool would be a disaster.
AwayEmily says
We made the decision to avoid the risk assessment game altogether by opting out of most things that carry risk. I will say that this is very much a luxury of having small kids who are still going to daycare and don’t really realize they are missing out on anything (e.g. soccer lessons, indoor playdates, grocery stores, amusement parks, etc). If I had older kids who really cared OR if there wasn’t a vaccine on the horizon I would likely be letting them do more of that stuff because the risk really is pretty low. For us it’s just mentally easier to say no to most things and keep trucking on our low-key summer of hikes, family time, and playgrounds. That being said, I am THRILLED to no longer be masking my kids at the playground and have no plans to do that again.
Cb says
We’re quite similar. Our risk budget is spent with nursery and my husband in the office most days. We have playdates with his nursery buddy, but if one of them gets sick, their bubble will have to self-isolate anyways.
Pogo says
Same. We are doing private swim lessons with a vaccinated teen instructor. That was the “activity” I picked for kiddo beyond preschool (which he still attends masked).
Anonymous says
Ha, risk assessment is a large part of my job, so that’s the first place I went when I read your first sentence, and mentally started enthusiastically raising my hand.
For health, though, I live in a high-vax area, so I’m not as concerned as I might be in other places. My kids are going to day camp where all staff are required to be vaccinated; masks are required indoors but not outdoors, and I’m comfortable with that. DH and I have agreed on some bright line rules to reduce the mental fatigue of calculating every activity.
Anything outdoors = OK
Anything indoors in public (mostly shopping, etc) = kids wear masks, DH and I do sometimes in solidarity.
Indoor social stuff with friends = OK if all the adults are vaccinated
Restaurants = OK, outdoor tables preferred. If indoors, masks when up and about (we eat out infrequently)
Social stuff with unvaccinated people = Outdoors only (but I don’t have any unvaccinated friends)
School: Kids are going to a private school again. I expect there will be 100% masking indoors, and it worked well last year, so no worries there
Activities: We did them in the Spring with masks, so that will continue and no worries there either.
Plane travel with kids = No
Plane travel without kids = OK, but only with a good reason. mask required.
Anon says
This is us almost to a T, except that kiddo goes to a church preschool which I expect will be masked in the fall given their overall risk tolerance.
Anonymous says
This is us too. We’re in a high vaxx/still people masking area (MoCo in Maryland). All the parents and teachers at my kids preschool are vaxxed. All family members and friends vaxxed. DD (4) does go to indoor swim school but she literally did that all year last year with no COVID. Oh and ballet will require masks. So I’m not overly worried. I’m more going to be annoyed if the library closes again. We don’t eat out a ton just because we have small children and eating outside with them is way easier anyways. We WILL be flying (without kids) in December but DH and I are vaxxed and will wear masks on the plane.
anon says
I’m so, so tired of assessing risk!
For summer, we signed up for our first optional indoor activity since Covid hit. It’s a dance class and my kids asked when they could go back throughout the pandemic. It’s bittersweet to see their joy at returning because I know we likely won’t continue in the fall/winter until kids are vaccinated.
For fall, we are just hoping schools stay open. We are signed up for one outdoor activity (soccer) and are hoping to get an after-school babysitter to avoid the need for aftercare/indoor group activities.
We aren’t flying until kids are vaxxed.
Cb says
I am so, so tired. Things are running rampant in the UK and we just had to make a call on my son’s 4th birthday. It doesn’t feel super responsible to gather a bunch of people together, and kids here don’t wear masks. We’ll make it fun regardless, kiddo is excited about going to the outdoor flight museum with his bestie, and making a cake at nursery etc, but I thought things would be okay by now? I think we are on the more cautious side of the spectrum, but also we are going to a memorial service for my SIL (passed just before lockdown) the following week and don’t want to run the risk of getting pinged before (everyone in the UK looks at their phone with trepidation these days in case the app pops up).
Cb says
And to add to this, they aren’t planning to vaccinate teenagers here, much less little ones!
Anon says
Aww hugs, I’m sorry you can’t have a party. My kid turned 2 just before lockdown. I always assumed we wouldn’t have a 3rd birthday party but I’m gutted that we probably won’t have a 4th either (unlikely kids under 5 will be fully vaccinated by then). But I don’t think our kiddos care too much. At least, my daughter has never really realized what she’s missing. She thinks it’s normal to celebrate with friends at school and with family at home. I try to remind myself that she has the rest of her life for big birthday parties with friends. But it’s still sad.
Anon says
Are things not improving at all in the UK? Your curve definitely looks like it’s starting to flatten on worldometer.
Cb says
Things seem to be getting a bit better and vaccine rates are really really high, so I think a lot of growth is Delta ripping through younger populations and much higher levels of testing (asymptomatic testing is super common). But we also have a contact tracing app so you are much more likely to get asked to self-isolate which we’re keen to avoid. I’d hate to be the one to call up birthday party families and be like “So there was
a positive case…we’ve ruined your holiday…”
Anon says
Ah yeah gotcha, that makes total sense.
So Anon says
Me. I find it utterly exhausting. I have no choice but to take my kids to stores sometimes, so we mask when indoors. (I mask when with them to normalize it.) My mom is constantly pushing me to take my kids to things with which I am not comfortable, and it is exhausting to do the calculus myself and then justify it to her. Most recently, she wanted to book a trip with my kids for this fall to an indoor waterpark. I said that I was not comfortable with that type of trip until my kids can be vaccinated. She said that she would book the trip anyway, and “we” would make the assessment closer to the date of travel. It adds a layer of exhaustion to an already exhausting thing.
Anon says
I feel like indoor waterparks are cesspools of disease even in normal times. No thanks.
Anonymous says
Why are you still in contact with your mother if she is continually baiting you in this way?
anon says
What’s with all these comments all the time? The just-disown-your-own-mother and just-divorce-your-partner comments? Sheesh. You can set boundaries without disowning people. Signed, someone who IS estranged from some family, so I know how difficult it is to do
Anonymous says
I do think the just-divorce-your-partner comments are pretty naive, but I find the level of entanglement people here seem to have with their families of origin is mind-boggling. I actually am estranged from family and it’s so much easier than remaining in contact with them. Very different from divorcing a partner with whom you have children in common. So Anon has posted other stories of her mother’s boundary-pushing. In her shoes, I wouldn’t find that relationship worth maintaining.
Anon says
+1 to Anon at 1:39. Also it’s not a one-off comment that people are reacting to, it’s a long pattern of her mom being unreasonable and causing problems, and I would also question if the relationship is worth maintaining.
anon says
I think that the phrasing in your comment (“entanglement with their families of origin”) actually reflects how vastly different perspectives on this issue are. I come from a culture (not in the sense of a particular ethnic origin – I mean my family and community) where extremely close relationships with family of origin are standard. The nuclear family, in my world, is just one part of a rich tapestry of familial relationships, all of which are treated as incredibly important, and people only really cut off a family member if something cataclysmic happens. LIke, the cousin who beat up his wife got cut off, but a mom or MIL who is just overbearing…you don’t cut them off, you eyeroll/vent to friends, and move on. Maybe there’s an argument, but it takes more than that to limit people from your life. During the pandemic there were people we didn’t see bc we weren’t comfortable with their covid risk, but we didn’t cut off contact.
There are other people, I think, for whom family relationships are more like a series of nodes and strings, where the nodes are nuclear families or individuals. If you’re from that kind of culture, then you are, I think, more likely to deal with conflict with family in the same way you might deal with conflict with a friend – if you have a lot of conflict over issues like this, or fundamental differences in values, then you’ll distance yourself.
Neither of these ways is better. They’re just different.
So Anon says
Honestly, I struggle greatly with my relationship with my mom. I am working on setting very strong boundaries with her, but she continuously pushes against them. There are certain arenas/topics where I do not share information with her, and the list of the topics is only growing. It hurts and is it is hard to realize that your mother is not a healthy person with whom to have a relationship. Also, if you have never experienced a toxic relationship, then it is hard to understand how much those toxic relationships impact your well-being.
Anonymous says
Our nature is just to do less during the school year. So this will naturally happen a bit for lots of activities. Kiddo will still go to school, and they’re not planning to mask. But I also trust our district that if numbers get out of hand, they will mask. They understand that parents can’t have their kids out of school all the time for possible exposures. We’ll probably still let kiddo sign up for her dance class, but we’ll pause it if things get bad. Hardly any of the kiddos are masking around here anymore. But nearly all the activities are outdoors right now, so who knows. It’s hard to say what will happen when everything is indoors again.
CCLA says
Yep, I was just lamenting this exactly. It’s exhausting. Of course we’ve been doing it since March 2020 now but I felt over the last couple of months that we had a good rhythm down, and the climb with delta has thrown a wrench in that. We are in CA so went through a brief period of no mask mandate but that was nbd – we were still masking indoors other than quick pop-ins to pick up coffee to go. We never went back to indoor dining, and are still comfortable with pretty much anything outdoors other than crowded concerts or the like. I had started going back to the office a bit, and still probably will do so maybe 1-2 days a week, but I’m pausing going to large group in person meetings at work. We are all vaccinated in our office, and have high vax uptake rates in the community generally here, but the rising case rate concerns me for things like 20 people in a room, even if all vaccinated.
I should clarify that I’m not worried about DH and I, I feel comfortable with our protection from the vaccines if we were to get a breakthrough case, but I am concerned about bringing it home to our kids under 12. Our kids (nearly 3 and 5) go to daycare where kids and teachers mask and that’s about it for risk budget for them. We are traveling for a family wedding in the fall and at this point are planning to make the 18-hr drive instead of fly, whereas 2 months ago I had thought we would fly. Ugh.
Anonthistime says
I feel this way as well. I just started chemotherapy drugs and I can’t take any chances. I feel like I can’t let my kids do much which makes me so sad. We did send my four-year-old to a princess camp (masks required) but we won’t take many chances like that as it’s unknown whether the vaccine will protect me from Covid. It’s just so tough.
Anon says
I’m so sorry, that must be tough. But I’m sure years from now kids won’t even remember the things they missed and will be eternally grateful your family made some small sacrifices to keep you healthy. Kids activities are fun, but they’re really not a necessary part of a happy childhood, and certainly nowhere near as important as having their mom around. Good luck with your treatment <3
More Sleep Would Be Nice says
DH and I had this conversation yesterday. So annoying that we’re back here. Overall, we’re pretty COVID cautious, and continue to mask.
Basically, we’re still good with indoors with vaxxed friends/family (no adults we would socialize with are unvaxxed), and if there are younger kids who can’t be vaxxed in the mix, that’s fine for now. Outdoors, for now, I’m good with no masks – we signed DS #1 for soccer starting September and for now will stay the course.
DH and DS #1 have a diner date every week, and although it is indoors, they will keep going for now. Otherwise, we will really try to avoid anything indoors with crowds with the kids (e.g. grocery store), and if we do something of that nature (e.g. early AM museum visit), everyone will mask.
Our area has devolved to a “no mask if vaxxed” policy so people are really done with masking, much to our chagrin, but we still mask up and send DS #1 to school in a mask. Thankfully his teachers still mask as well, but kids <5 (which both of ours are) do not have a mask requirement.
DS #2 is 7 months, so apart from school, he goes nowhere.
No plans to fly with kids as of now.
Anon says
yup, so so sick of it. we did just fly with our kids to visit family for the first time since December 2019, but it makes me sad to think about potentially doing another solo Thanksgiving. DH and I have completely differing risk assessments, which doesn’t help the situation. We live in Houston, and a parent literally just asked in a Facebook group if there is a school that doesn’t require the whole class to shut down if a kid tests positive for covid… i might feel differently if i lived somewhere else. Trying to stay mostly outside, with occasional indoor playdates for kids. No indoor dining for me or DH, but DH has to attend a mini conference this fall in FL and I’m pretty anxious about it. I almost found it easier when everything was shut down.
ifiknew says
Looking for warm (ish) weather destinations in the US at the end of october. Thinking San Diego or maybe somewhere in Florida. We will have a 4.25 and 2.25 year old. What would you recommend and where should we stay? TIA!
Anne-on says
Where are you coming from, and what’s your rough budget? Are you looking to do the Theme parks in FL or a beach vacation, or Miami (etc. etc.) – more details would be helpful – if you’re looking to lay on a beach and rent a house in an area with low rates suggestions will be different than if you’re trying to do a bunch of aquarium/museum/nature visits while staying in a luxe hotel.
Anon says
+1 I like San Diego but it’s not really a beach destination like Florida.
Op says
Coming from Texas and honestly we’re flexible on budget and type of vacation.
I just want it to be as easy as possible with the kids. I’m not sure how to even vacation with kids these ages so any tips would be helpful. I think they’d enjoy short outings with downtime rather than a full day with a packed itinerary. I also think just beach for 5 days might not be great if one or both kids don’t love the beach. I don’t think they’re at great ages for the theme parks yet. Maybe my 4 year old but not the 2 I think, open to hearing differently though.
Anonymous says
San Diego is great for this age. Nice beaches, easy town, zoo and safari park amazing. Not terribly much to do but just pleasant.
Anon says
It’s a rare preschooler that doesn’t love the beach, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that. My kid is scared of water but loooooves to play on the sand. We went to the Florida panhandle (Miramar Beach) when she was almost 3 and it was her favorite trip ever. We went to Hawaii this summer and she whined about how it wasn’t as good as Florida (apparently she liked the powdery soft sand in Florida more than the slightly rockier beaches in Hawaii). We didn’t do anything except play on the beach and a couple day trips to nearby state parks and she didn’t seem to get bored at all.
Boston Legal Eagle says
You can stay in La Jolla or Pacific Beach, as those will put you right on the beach, and they’re also close to the SD Zoo (huge and awesome), Balboa Park and also Sea World (if you’re into that).
Anonymous says
Gulf coast of FLA was quiet and mostly empty when I went there (Marco Island) after Labor Day. I felt like it could have gotten a hurricane, but wasn’t likely to (and didn’t).
Anonymous says
We just did a week at the Kimpton hotel in vero beach, Florida. It was wonderful. Great accommodations (we had an Oceanside room with a full kitchen and a separate “den” which we turned into our son’s temporary room.) the pool and beach are right on the property, so if you get to the beach and only spend 10 minutes there, it’s not a big deal because you just hop right back to the hotel. Also, the hotel sets up chairs and umbrellas for you both at the pool and the beach, so you don’t have to haul any stuff around. There were two parks within a 10 minute walk with great playground equipment, and a splash pad that was a short drive over the bridge. It was our first real vacation with our son, and we thought the set up at this hotel was perfect. There isn’t much to do really in vero beach (no zoo, no children’s museum), but that was 100% okay with us. We wanted a no pressure beach/pool vacation. We did not find really any good food to write home a about, but the food wasn’t bad, it was just all fine.
IHeartBacon says
Don’t bring your unvaccinated kids to CA. Also, make sure you get travel insurance in case you end up having to cancel your trip.
Anon says
The situation is changing so fast that what is a hot spot now is likely to have relatively low rates of infection in the fall and vice versa. Warmer weather places always seem to get hit harder over the summer and colder places in the fall and winter, which makes sense because in warm weather places people spend more time inside in summer and in cold places people spend more time inside in the winter.
Anonymous says
If you get travel insurance, be sure you know exactly which reasons for cancellation are covered and which aren’t. I am pretty sure that a pandemic is not usually covered.
Anon says
You probably don’t really need travel insurance now that airplane tickets can be changed without penalty. Just book a refundable hotel, which isn’t hard to do, and then the whole trip can be changed last minute at no added cost.
Anonymous says
We are in MA as well. The Globe has town by town data. Check yours out. If I start worrying too much, I look at mine and feel very reassured. We are not changing anything. Every single person we spend time with that is eligible for a vaccine has had one. I try not to drag my kids into stores, but if I do, they wear masks. We do indoor activities, masked. I don’t make them wear masks outside, or in the homes of friends & family that are vaccinated, though our social group is continuing to push for outside events. The weather has been so terrible recently that we’ve done some inside gatherings.
I am pretty sure elem kiddos will be in masks in school this fall. I’m not wild about this, but as long as they go to school 5x/week I won’t make a peep. I do hope that there is not a ton of quarantining/missed school as it would be really disruptive.
Anonymous says
Why are you not wild about masking in school for unvaccinated kids? It should reduce the need for quarantine by reducing transmission.
Anon says
Right – masks will help keep school open 5 days a week.
OtherAnon says
Yeah, at this point I’m just hoping our schools open for full-time in the fall (last year they were virtual until April and then had a very strict hybrid situation where K students were at desks 6 ft apart and only interacting with their teachers via iPad because they were concurrently teaching virtual and in-person) and I can’t see that happening without masks.
Anonymous says
That was me. I’m not saying it is the wrong thing to do, I just don’t like that they have to be masked still. It makes the school day much harder for them. That’s all!
Aunt Jamesina says
I mean, is anybody “wild” about masking in the sense that they enjoy it? People just want to continue masking because it’s effective.
Anon says
Yeah, seriously, we’re not just masking for fun over here. We do it because it’s the best way to protect people who can’t yet get the vaccine.
Anon says
Yep, I wear a mask at work all day so that I won’t bring home covid to my unvaccinated kids.
Anonymous says
I am actually pretty wild about not having had a cold or the flu or bronchitis or an ear infection or strep or a stomach bug or a sinus infection in my house in the past 16 months. Thank you, masks and hand-washing.
Spirograph says
I think you guys are all saying the same thing? I didn’t get the impression that the OP was trying to imply that masking is not necessary or she didn’t support it, just acknowledging that it would be nicer for kids and teachers alike if they could go safely go maskless.
Anon says
if your kid’s biggest problem in life is that they have to wear a mask to school, who cares. there are kids who lose their hair due to cancer and wear wigs, kids who are diabetics and have insulin pumps, kids who have leg braces, etc. a mask is nothing
Anonymous says
Wow this is really extreme and unnecessary
Anonymous says
My parents have decided to plan a big family get together for Christmas in Destin, FL. Will it be too cold to do anything fun? We will be five adults and two 2-3 year olds.
Anon says
I just commented above but we were in Destin (technically Miramar Beach) last December, although a couple weeks before Christmas. My then almost 3 year old loved the beach. On our trip, the first day it was 70ish and we actually went in the water (it was surprisingly warm!). The rest of the trip it was low to mid-60s so we didn’t go in the water but it was perfect for playing on the beach and walking around. We had a great trip, especially my kid who still talks about it as her favorite trip ever (and this kid has been to several countries and two dozen states). Destin the town is kind of gaudy but the beaches really are incredibly beautiful and the sand is so soft so it’s perfect for kids who want to run, tackle each other, roll around, etc. I recommend a day trip to St Andrews State Park near Panama City Beach – we saw deer, an alligator and sting rays (off a pier).
In House Lobbyist says
We have a beach house in that area and it is much like the SE weather wise. It can be 70 or 30 on Christmas – you have to go much further south to get reliably warm weather. We buy cheap wetsuits for our kids and they swim in the ocean year round that way. Too cold for this mama to get in the water, but they don’t seem to mind.
uniforms says
Where can I buy adult sized school uniform polos? DD will be in 4th grade, but she’s 5’3″ and ~105 lbs. She typically wears a women’s size small shirts. Last year I got her polos from Gap and they were great, but they won’t fit her this year and apparently neither Gap nor Old Navy sells women’s sized uniforms. I checked out Land’s End, but I’m hesitant to spend $20+ per shirt. I will if I have to though. Any other options?
Cb says
Marks and Spencer in the UK. My in-laws order from Canada and shipping isn’t bad. I’ve bought their school uniform for me before and I’m a 10-12 US.
Anonymous says
I go to Amazon and Walmart for these.
Anonymous says
Why wouldn’t this work?
https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=786455102&pcid=999&vid=1&&searchText=polo%20shirt#pdp-page-content
OP says
DOH! I don’t know how I missed that in my search. Although I do need white, which doesn’t seem to be available right now, but hopefully they will restock in the near future. Thank you!
Seafinch says
Next Direct (another UK) brand. Usually a hit cheaper than M&S.
Anonymous says
Uniqlo.
Another "WWYD"? says
Would you fly next week from SEUS to NYC to visit family with a 1 and 4.5 year old? The 4.5 year old is very mask compliant. 1 year old obviously can’t mask. Parents and grandparents all fully vaccinated. Things are changing so fast I’m a little overwhelmed. Thanks.
Anonymous says
I would. The risk to young children is and always has been low and seeing family is important.
Anon says
I probably would do it, unless one of your kids is high risk. But it also depends on how badly you want to do the trip. If grandparents are wiling to come to you, that could be a lower risk alternative. I don’t think playing tourist in NYC would be worth the risks of the flight (for me anyway) but seeing the grandparents would be. NYC will always be there and will be even more fun with older kids, but grandparents may not always be there.
Anonymous says
Science question: how much lower of a risk would it be for grandparents to travel? Couldn’t they just as easily pick up COVID, just be asymptomatic upon arrival? And then infect the unvaccinated kiddos? Or does the data suggest vaccinated people are significantly less likely to get COVID at all? (I haven’t been following this super closely).
Anon says
Yes, vaccinated people are less likely to get infected and to get symptomatic Covid and people who never develop symptoms are very unlikely to transmit disease. It’s unclear how well vaccinated people who do become symptomatic spread disease, some recent studies seem to suggest they spread it pretty much as well as unvaxxed people. But at the very least the risk is cut because the grandparents are fully vaccinated and less likely to get symptomatic Covid. It’s also two grandparents traveling vs a family of four so if nothing else the risk is reduced based on that (each individual represents a possible infection), and the grandparents would presumably wear masks. The biggest source of risk on her proposed trip is the baby who can’t wear a mask.
Anonymous says
Yes the data is clear that vaccinated people are less likely to get covid at all and less likely to transmit it.
Anon says
As I understand it, for a kid to get infected while traveling they basically need to be exposed to someone on the plane/in the airport with covid. For an adult to get infected they also need the same exposure, but masking (especially with a KN95 or equivalent) cuts down on the exposure risk and then being vaccinated will still protect you 80-85% of the time. So the grandparents could infect the kids and there are documented cases of vax’d adults passing it on to unvax’d kids, but the chances are much lower than the unvax’d kids having the same level of exposure.
Spirograph says
I would. My understanding is that air filtering and air flow patterns in planes was good at minimizing disease spread pre-pandemic, and adding masks is icing on the cake. I wouldn’t fly anywhere for a totally optional vacation right now, but a short flight to visit family? yes.
Anonymous says
Yes, if it’s important. We took my unvaccinated kids from New England to a red state with a low vax rate over April break to visit my aging parents and 95 year old grandma [all vaccinated], none of which they had seen in 18 months. There was a risk, we put in mitigation strategies (tested before and after, everyone wore masks until we were inside my ILs car, took a direct flight, and we didn’t really go out anywhere once we got to their place. Our kids are not high risk. If they were, that would have changed the equation.
We considered driving but ultimately decided that 3 nights in 3 different hotels, countless stops for gas etc. were not only a huge pain but also likely a wash in terms of risk.
For our family, we have reached the point in the pandemic where we are unwilling to sacrifice the most important things in life. Sure, the kids can wear masks and maybe not do all of their activities. However, we are ensuring their socio-emotional needs are met including playdates with friends they have been kept away from for the majority of the year.
Anon says
agree with the yes, if it is important. we just returned from flying with our twin 3 year olds from south to NY area. we had not been to visit family (though grandparents have flown to us) since my mom’s funeral in December 2019 and had to go through her things. i don’t know if we will do it for thanksgiving, so i wanted to at least do it now.
Anonymous says
How far south? We are in the SEUS and I’d just drive to NYC instead of flying now. Ordinarily I take Amtrak to avoid both I-95 and the hassle of getting from NYC airports to Manhattan.
NYCer says
I would go. FWIW, we flew across the country with our kids last week to visit family (and will fly back to NYC in mid-August).
Anon says
We flew earlier this summer and are flying again this week but I have a 3 year old who does well with mask wearing. I don’t think I’d fly with a child who can’t mask unless it was for something really important (e.g., to visit dying grandparent, close family member’s wedding, etc.) We’ve done several 12-14 hour drives during Covid that went surprisingly well, so I second the advice to consider whether driving is doable.
Anonymous says
Another consideration is whether your child is old enough to mask but will refuse. If you have a 3 y/o who rips off his mask or throws tantrums about masking, I’d be concerned about getting thrown off the plane.
Anon says
I know there are anecdotal reports otherwise, but when I’ve flown the flight attendants have been super understanding about little kids not wearing masks, assuming the parent is making a good faith effort. My 3 year old (who is giant and easily looks 5) actually had a meltdown on a plane and ripped off her mask. Her anger had nothing specific to do with masks, she wears one every day at school with no problems, she was just p1ssed about something else and the mask was an easy thing for her to pull off (she also ripped out her hairbows). I was trying to get it back on (for her own safety more than anything else) and a flight attendant came up to me and gently told me my child didn’t need to wear a mask if she was refusing. They were way stricter about reminding adults and older children to wear masks.
NYCer says
+1. The flight attendants on our most recent flight did not seem to care if small children were wearing masks. (Which I am fine with….my newly 2 year old is not great with masks yet, so I was also somewhat concerned about getting kicked off the plane.)
Anon says
Totally random Q but how much “play” is there in kindergarten normally? I used the word “Kindergarten” in front of my 3 year old for the first time yesterday and she asked what it meant and I tried to explain what real school is (versus her play-based daycare) and she asked “Will there be any toys there?” and I realized I honestly don’t know! Probably not, right?
CCLA says
My close friend is a K teacher, and she has toys (think more building toys and the like, not like electronic stuff), and pre-covid would do “choice time” daily where they can play in different zones of the room. This last year, they were hybrid and all in-class time was strictly learning. I’m sure this varies a lot by district but I gather from her that choice time is a pretty common thing for that age, though a lot smaller share of time than you see in pre-K.
Anonymous says
No toys in our kindergarten, but they used math manipulatives and did lots of art projects and cutting and pasting and played outside during recess.
Spirograph says
This is what my kids’ K experience was like, too.
Pogo says
really, no toys? I’m surprised! But I guess I don’t remember kindergarten..
Anonymous says
Ha, I meant my kids’ kindergarten! But there were no toys in mine either. We did have a nap time, which was super annoying because we had to pretend to be asleep the whole time.
Anonymous says
I don’t recall any toys in K but I went to half day K so it’s totally possible the afternoon was less structured.
Anonymous says
Might depend a bit on the program, but generally there aren’t play areas set up like you see in preschools. In my kids’ K classrooms there were manipulatives like blocks for math, playdoh (idk what they used it for), a reading nook/quiet corner with tons of books and bean bags and a little hideaway. They have specials like library, art, and gym so there are fun things there too: hula hoops, basketballs, clay and paint and materials for crafting, and lots of books. our school was big into chromebooks preCovid…I think the novelty of those wore off once we had remote/hybrid school! They have a smartboard where they watch little “body break” videos and work out wiggles. They’ll probably still have cubbies (our school is cubbies for K; lockers for 1st on up). Pre-COVID they used tables but I think now they use desks.
Anonymous says
Ours has a play kitchen and costume area and a ton of manipulatives, legos, play dough etc). The play time was a little more structured than preschool (specific blocks of time for various play areas- this year they had to assign a limited number of people per area for social distancing).
Anonymous says
Really just depends on your school. Sadly a LOT less play than when we were in Kindergarten. Many teachers/schools have been instructed to remove the play kitchens and dramatic play areas so kids can concentrate on “real learning”. There’s so much wrong with this that I can’t even get into it. We’re not sending to public K for this very reason.
SC says
My son just finished kindergarten at a school where there weren’t toys or a lot of free time in the classroom. Other than recess, the day was pretty structured. The mornings were circle time, then rotating through stations where the teachers taught reading/writing and math/science, with snack time and PE in the mix. After lunch, they had recess, story time, religion (seemed like a lot of coloring), and music.
Another Kindergarten we were looking at had structured mornings, and after lunch, the kids went to another space where they had specials (art projects, music) some of the time, and also free choice with both indoor space and outdoor space and plenty of toys.
Anon says
Kindergarten in my district is play-based (and full day).
Anon says
Lucky you! This is so rare but so great for kids.
AnonATL says
Thanks to all those who recommended the how not to hate your husband book on the marriage post-baby thread the other day. I bought it and love it so far. I’ve read so many excerpts out loud to my husband, and I’ll probably encourage him to read the full book himself.
Anon says
we both read it before having kids. i think we could use a re-read though. i also wish we’d read Fair Play
IHeartBacon says
I’m so glad to hear this! I was one of the people who recommended the book, and like i said, it literally saved my marriage. So many things in it resonated with me. I think you are very smart to consider these topics before the baby is born, not because the issues are destined to happen, but because if they do, you can recognize what they are and already have some tools at hand to try to address them. Knowledge is power.
IHeartBacon says
I just went back to the original thread and see that you were not the OP. I re-read your comments, and I’m glad to hear that it is helping you and your husband as your kid turns 1. I recall at one point starting to tell me husband he was “completely useless” and “what the eff do I need him around for if he was going to do nothing…,” etc. It was a terrible, terrible time for us. I see now that not knowing how to be productive with dealing with the issue was part of the problem.
Anonymous says
I hate WFH because there seems to be an exception of 24/7 availability that didn’t exist before. I work in a govt job that used to really respect vacation time, weekends, evenings etc. but I’ve had to explain to multiple people this week that no I cannot prepare a draft of a document or take video calls from my vacation next week. I actually had to bust out the “Sorry ,I’m going to be in a cabin in the woods with no internet” excuse that I haven’t had to use since I was in Big Law. Maybe it’s just my workplace, but it’s an awful change. I would much rather be in an office 9-5 but have my weekends and vacations respected.
Anonymous says
Oops I totally meant to post this on the main page WFH discussion.
Anonymous says
be that as it may, I agree with you 100%.