Family Friday: Corey Slip-On Sneakers
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Here are some get-up-and-go sneakers for busy days.
These toddler slip-ons are made from a comfortable polyester weave and feature a pull-on tab for easy on and off. They’re even machine washable, so feel free to let your toddler take the muddy way home. And, for this price, stock up on multiple sizes for inevitable growth spurts.
Cat & Jack’s Corey Slip-On Sneakers are $12.99 at Target. They come in mint and navy blue and are available in sizes 5–12.
Sales of note for 1/16:
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Cashmere on sale; AllSaints, Free People, Nike, Tory Burch, and Vince up to 60%; beauty deals up to 25% off
- AllSaints – now up to 60% off (some of the best leather jackets!)
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your full-price purchase; extra 50% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles with code — readers love this blazer, these dresses, and their double-layer line of tees
- DeMellier – Sale now on, free shipping and returns — includes select options like Montreal, Vancouver, and Venice
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; extra 50% off all clearance, plus ELOQUII X kate spade new york collab just dropped
- Everlane – Sale of the year, up to 70% off — reader favorites include their scoop tee, Dream Pant, ReNew Transit backpack, silk blouses and oversized blazers! New markdowns just added
- Hannah Andersson – Up to 30% off all pajamas;
- J.Crew – Up to 40% off select styles; up to 50% off cashmere
- J.Crew Factory – 40-70% off everything
- L.K. Bennett – Archive sale, almost everything 70% off
- M.M.LaFleur – Tag sale for a limited time — jardigans and dresses $200, pants $150, tops $95, T-shirts $50
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Semi-Annual Red Door Sale – 50% off + extra 20% off, sale on sale, plus free shipping on $150+
Can someone tell me about their experience with formula feeding logistics? I’m reading the AAP book and it says that even distilled / nursery water mixed with powder needs to be at least 158 degrees F to kill potential bacteria in powder. How does this work in practice? Do I microwave the water, mix it with powder and let it sit until lukewarm? It kind of sounds like a lot of time in the middle of the night while baby is screaming? Is there an easier way for all this to work? I’m fine investing in gadgets provided they are actually useful, but I’m not sure I’ve seen anything that meets all the requirements for safety and desire for efficiency.
My six yard old is taking swim lessons and my two year old twins have to tag along. Suggestions for activities for the twins to do while brother is swimming? The lessons are 15 minutes. I thought we could just chill and eat snacks but that’s been a disaster. Yesterday I brought a Brio train (not the tracks) and the twins seemed to enjoy that. I know I need to check busy Toddler but her activities seem geared toward kids who sit quietly. My twins are more the “climb the rooftops” type kids. I’m not opposed to giving them each a tablet but it seems like a waste for a 15 minute lesson. Thoughts?
Speaking of confirming plans, is it expected that you respond to people’s “yes” RSVPs? People RSVPed for my kid’s birthday party by text and I “liked” the messages but generally didn’t respond unless I had a follow up comment/question for them. The party is tomorrow and a mom texted me “Is the party still happening?” and I responded “yes, of course! Why do you ask?” and she said “You never responded to my text.” Is this normal?? Is everyone else wondering if the party is canceled?
How do you all determine when it is time to move on to the next career opportunity, especially with kids in the picture?
Here is what I am looking at: My boss is a micromanager, to put it mildly. She micromanages my work to the point of insisting on being on zoom together to edit internal emails to my peers. I have been propping her up for years now. We will be on meetings together for hours so that she can formulate a responsive email. Most recently, this occurred on a Sunday evening from 4-6:30 when she saw that I was online and then again this past Wednesday for about the same time. I have been doing the substance of her work for years. She put me up for a leadership role, keeps insisting that she will let me take the reigns, but she still attends every leadership meeting despite admonishing herself and saying that she knows I can handle it. I have a ton of head down work, and even when I block my calendar, let her know in advance, etc., I will still get urgent invites to meetings with just her to work through some issue on her plate.
She began talking to me about a promotion in December of 2020. Last summer, she promised me up and down that “something exciting was coming.” Turns out, she was promoted. At that time, I did a ton of sleuthing and realized that despite stellar reviews, I am paid in the bottom 10% of my payband. My largest salary increases come when the company bumps up the payband and I fall out of the bottom. After all of this went down, I was promised the promotion. Then I was told it wouldn’t happen until this summer. When a fellow attorney refused to work for my boss, a spot opened up and I have been slid into a new role along with the promotion. So now I am doing my old role and the new role. The new role involves exposure to a new side of the business, which is great, but the work is almost a substantive step down and involves no strategic work. I’m also leading a team, which is great except that the team is toxic and despised by the business. I’m supposed to turn it around. My new pay is the bottom of the payband (like the very bottom number).
The upside is that I do have some flexibility. I am senior enough to know when things are a true emergency and to feel like I know what I’m doing. But I never feel like I can step away for too long without notifying my boss or she gets frantic that we can’t meet about the issue of the moment. I step away to take my kids to the bus or walk them home (15 minutes max) and then am back at it.
I decided to step out a bit and see if I would get any bites on my resume. To my surprise and delight, I have gotten great interest. I don’t have any offers in hand, but I’m trying to gauge whether to jump if an offer comes in. The positions that I have been interviewing for are significant steps up in pay, title and responsibility. Think of it as going from a garden-variety Senior Counsel to one of two Assistant GCs. I’m scared to move from the role I know to what else could be out there. How do I tell if a new place will be worse? Or have even more hours than I’m working now? Or less flexibility? Any advice?
Honestly the baby will figure out both of these things if they need too. I can’t tell if you are working now, but if so try working from elsewhere to have a break from the baby for at least a day.
I’d check yourself into a nice hotel for a weekend and leave your husband home with the baby. When the baby gets hungry enough s/he will eat from the bottle. You really need to be totally out of the picture though because the baby can smell you and resist.
Same with the carrier/car seat/stroller. You just need to do it and they will get used to it. I’d also play around with devices (maybe drape a cloth over the bassinet stroller and pop a mobile white noise machine in there to start?).
One tip that I found really useful is to set a timer when the baby is crying because I find it hard to deal with – put the baby in the stroller and start walking. Set a timer for five minutes. Reassess what’s up with the baby then. Five minutes is a manageable length of time and gave me a lot of comfort when listening to the baby cry when one minute felt like an eternity. Lots of time the baby settled in less than five minutes.
I took the day off work yesterday for my kid’s birthday, thinking I would get the birthday stuff done at a relaxed pace and still have a little “me time.” Jokes on me…I’m absolutely flattened by exhaustion. And we still have the class party this weekend. Oof.
I know this comes up a lot but here’s another timing question. I’m 35 and I have a 3 month old and really bad fertility issues (I make 1 egg max every 2-3 months, even on IVF meds). It took 20 months to have my first . I need to start treatment when baby is 6 months to have the option of a second kid. I used to want two kids but in this moment I do not and I’m not sure if things will improve.
Everyone kept telling me that infants get better over time but I feel like ours has gotten more challenging every week, although they seem like a very average baby? My main issue is that I’m trapped in the house. The baby resists naps and can’t take a bottle (we are working on both of these things but zero progress has been made). This makes the baby really fussy and they hate going outside – they scream bloody murder after 10 minutes in any stroller, car seat or carrier outside no matter what we do. Baby is fine in all of these things inside the house. I cannot leave home with the baby (carrier/stroller issues) or without them (bottle issues). He sleeps well at night so I’m not tired. I just am trapped and have like 5 minutes a day to myself. I have no idea how I would manage this with a toddler.
My husband really wants a second, and it really is a now or never thing. How hard is it to have 2 kids very close in age? And is there a point at which babies get a bit more manageable? For additional context, my husband is very active/involved parent but works outside the home and has very long hours (7am-8pm) 3 days a week. I will also have more help from my mom/aunt soon who both recently retired.
What nice-to-haves would you put on a baby registry?
Last night I went to the first meeting of a book club and the members are already planning to throw me a baby shower. I wasn’t expecting to have any shower at all, and I think there may be another in the works from my coworkers.
The problem, if we can really call it that, is that we’ve already sent our registry to our families and most of it has been bought. We have all the big-ticket items (crib, dresser, stroller, carseat, high chair even). What else could I add to give people options? (Or is this even necessary?)
Question for those who have had a baby while working remotely. I am going back to work soon and I primarily work remotely, although I do have an office I can go into. Baby has a lot of issues with the bottle (not rejecting it – he wants it, but has mechanical issues and we are working with a feeding therapist. Turns out we were lucky he didn’t have issues breastfeeding!).
Has anyone nursed their baby vs. bottle fed them while working remotely? Pros? Cons? Even if I could nurse for 1-2 feeds instead of pumping on the days I’m home while we work with our feeding therapist I think it would be less stressful for all involved.
DH and I don’t agree on this: do you send a reminder email or text for a social gathering, and do you send one only if the attendee hasn’t confirmed? I set up a coffee with an acquittance and she emailed the day before to ask if we were still meeting, which surprised me. Now, I organized a playdate for classmates, sent an email, didn’t hear from some people (who previously have emailed me, so I don’t think my email would go to spam) and DH suggested I send a follow up email this morning. I wasn’t going to do that; I don’t want to be a pest and I assume if you haven’t responded, you aren’t coming. What say you, hive?
Since it was 80 in Charlotte yesterday, I’ve got summer on the brain! Looking for recommendations for your favorite “water shoes” for a four year old that are not sandals. Looking to wear them to a splash pad and to/from the pool and beach. I see Keens at the top of many lists, but not sure if that’s just good marketing or the real deal. Thank you!
Any vacation suggestions for boutique or luxury hotels near Clearwater Beach, Florida or surrounding area? We’d fly into Tampa. Or very nice AirBnBs. This can be a splurge as we’ll just be doing 2-3 nights. We’re planning on spending a few days there next February/March before visiting family in Florida. We are familiar with the area so we would like that general area of the gulf coast.
Any tips on getting a 3 year old back into a school routine after a time away? We were just home with COVID for 8 days where we mostly just switched between baths and Daniel Tiger episodes, so it’s been very rocky going back to the daycare routine.
I posted a couple days about trips from CT. My almost 10 year old advocated for great wolf lodge. Has anyone been? What should I expect? Also, will my almost 5 year old learning but not great swimmer be ok?