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Sales of note for 9.10.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; up to 50% off everything else
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off wear-to-work styles; extra 30% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – 40-60% off everything; extra 60% off clearance
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Extra 40% off sale styles
- Talbots – BOGO 50% everything, includes markdowns
- Target – Car-seat trade-in event through 9/28 — bring in an old car seat to get a 20% discount on other baby/toddler stuff.
- Zappos – 26,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
Kid/Family Sales
- Carter’s – Birthday sale, 40-50% off & extra 20% off select styles
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off all baby; up to 40% off all Halloween
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Extra 30% off sale styles
- Old Navy – 40% off everything
- Target – BOGO 25% off select haircare, up to 25% off floor care items; up to 30% off indoor furniture up to 20% off TVs
Anon says
We received an invite for a 4-year old’s birthday from 10-12 at a park on a Saturday. Would it be ok if we arrive at 11 because DS has swim class that morning? I would let their parents know when RSVPing.
New Here says
I think it is fine as long as you let the parents know.
Anon says
Probably fine since it’s at a park and I’m guessing the activities are mostly free play. I would not do it if it were at a party place with a structured schedule, or even someone’s house. But I’d probably ask: “We have swim until 10:45, would it be okay to arrive at 11? Let us know if that would be disruptive. If not, kid would love to come!”
Anon says
I’ve never been to a 4 year old party with a “structured schedule.” Even at a play place it’s usually just free play until pizza and cake right before the party ends. I think it’s completely fine and we’ve done it and had people do it to us when hosting.
Anonymous says
I think it’s fine! We had a few families who did that for my son’s birthday last year (also letting us know in advance), and I didn’t have any problem with it.
Anon says
Totally fine; just let the parents know.
GCA says
Totally fine, just let the parents know. They will likely also let you know when ‘cake time’ happens so you all know what to expect.
Mathy says
Looking for recs for daycare milk cups, please! The ones I have been using (Munchkin 360) are no longer cutting it. I suppose that it would ideally be dishwasher safe and insulated. Bonus points if I can get it on Amazon or Target. Thank you and happy Wednesday!
Anon says
What’s not working about the 360s (just so I don’t suggest something with the same potential issues)?
Mathy says
They leak like crazy! Maybe I should just get new 360s…?
Mathy says
Not sure if my other comment came through – they’re just very leaky from the top between the plastic piece and the silicone cap top
anon says
If you want non-leaky ones I’d suggest some sort of straw cup like the Thermos Funtainers.
Anon says
Most sippy cups are going to leak. Just keep the milk cup upright if you can. Our lunchbox has a side pocket for cups/bottles. Or switch to milk boxes, like Horizon.
Anon says
We use the Boon nursh silicone straw sippy cup or the lid without the straw. Neither leak. Not insulated, though. I like that it has minimal parts, all of its dishwasher safe and actually gets clean–the straw doesn’t require a teeny bottle brush (looking at you, munchkin weighted straw!) I also like that it’s silicone instead of plastic. There are stainless steel sippy cups, but they are a bit expensive for toddler use!
Toy recommendations says
We just moved and now have a playroom, which is currently very empty with just an easel and a little slide in there. We’re thinking about what “big” toy we might want to get as the main attraction for the playroom. We have a 2 year old girl and infant boy, and are hoping to get something that would be interesting to them for as many years as possible and be good for shared play when friends are over. A play kitchen? Large dollhouse? Train set and table? Help me out! We currently have very small sets of legos/duplos, magnatiles, and blocks so maybe we just build out one of those collections in a bigger way in the playroom?
Anon says
Play kitchen plus art table.
Anon says
We live in a place with bad winters so we have gotten good mileage from a little toy slide in our basement playroom.
Anon says
Play kitchen will probably get the longest play for both kids.
We have a train/car table and it doesn’t get much use anymore (4yo boy). He prefers hot wheels tracks to design his own.
We also have a kids sized table and chairs in the corner for coloring. It is second hand pottery barn and very sturdy. The chairs are large enough for my husband and I to sit in.
Been There says
Play kitchen definitely got the most mileage at my house and train table the least (kids are 9 and 4 now). Also consider something for physical play like a Pikler triangle and/or Nugget. Both of these also got tons of use in our house (Nugget is still getting daily use).
Anon says
My DS is 4 and has been playing on his train table almost daily for years. You could also theoretically use the table for magnates and legos, though DS isn’t interested in those as much right now. That said, you should get an item that your daughter will enjoy, whether that’s the train table, dollhouse, play kitchen, Pickler triangle, etc and then see if your son in interested in those things or something else as he gets older. I would also definitely get a kids table if you don’t already have one, for art, etc.
Anon says
Do you have space for a Nugget? That is my top “big toy” rec. I’d skip the train table; kids seem to prefer the floor, as they aren’t confined by the edges of the table when building a track. (I know that at the library all the kids flock to the train table, but that’s because it’s novel.) A small table for art or playing restaurant is a good idea, too
CCLA says
Cosign nugget – high use “toy” from ages 2-7 and going strong. That plus a small table and chairs got the most use in terms of big items. Also not what you asked, but highly recommend a bin system (early on we used one of those that had the bins angled for viewing, and as they got older moved to an ikea trofast with labeled bins…made it easy for cleanup).
Anonymous says
2 nuggets if there’s room and a play kitchen. We have cube shelving with either toys right on the shelf or shallow baskets (NOT baskets that fill up the whole cube as then kids cannot see what’s in there and will either ignore it or just dump the whole basket). There’s definitely something about kids visually seeing the toy that helps. Tiny table/chairs for coloring/playdough. You could go crazy and get a Waldorf play arch. Bella Luna Toys has beautiful products and ideas, depending on your budget.
Anon says
In my experience, your children will lose interest in whichever big item you choose around 2 days after you get it. That said, I do agree with the Nugget suggestion above. It’s a comfy place for adults and kids to sit in the playroom, and we use it to build slides, forts, etc. on a fairly regular basis. We’ve had ours for around 3 years and have definitely gotten a lot of mileage out of it. The play kitchen was used a lot for like a month and now is only used for maybe 5 minutes per week at most. We had a small table and chairs that we removed because they were almost never used. My child has also barely touched the lovely easel that we bought a couple of weeks ago and also lost interest in a tool bench pretty quickly. I wouldn’t try to get a big use-it-forever toy and would get smaller things you rotate out occasionally instead (for us, MagnaTiles, Duplos/legos, and a train track that was not permanently attached to a table have had the most longevity) and a big shelving unit to keep it all somewhat organized.
Anon says
+1 I also think there is a risk of getting toys too soon, and then they lose their luster by the time the kids are a more appropriate age to really get into it. Toddlers are content with a set of play cupcakes; you don’t need to go bigger just yet. Same with a dollhouse; I got my dollhouse when I was 5 and used it practically daily until I was 10+. Get the big things once you have a sense of their individual interests, and when they are old enough to play independently for large swaths of time every day.
Boston Legal Eagle says
I like the idea of toys you can rotate out. My kids have also preferred to build on the floor, whether that’s trains, magnatiles, marble run or legos. We do have a cheap table in the playroom, but it’s recent and more used for storing built sets now. Play kitchen and nugget are also good, and they can be stored out of the way at the end of the day too, leaving the floor for play.
Mary Moo Cow says
+! on the waning interest in the big items. :) We got our kids a nugget for Christmas and it languished for 5 months until we got a dog and she started using it as a bed: suddenly it is in demand again! Can’t win. But everyone I know who has a nugget loves it.
We never had a play kitchen at home but my kids loved it at daycare. An art easel turned out to be too stressful for me but YMMV. Both my kids loved the Hape dollhouse and the Barbie dreamhouse (7 year old has been playing with the dreamhouse, albeit not with barbies, for 4 years.)
Get the nugget! says
We use our Nugget a lot! We use it for forts, slides, sitting to read books, tunnels and ramps for cars and trains. It’s nice for the parents to have something to sit on, hah. The play kitchen gets good use, but those are easy to find used if you decide later to add it. Same with dollhouses—and you can find one to fit the size available. The nugget is a space hog, so you’d have to plan around it.
Tea/Coffee says
Voting play kitchen! Both of my kids used the play kitchen for way longer than I would have expected, and it facilitated some sibling play when they were younger (they could both engage).
Pro tip, though: do not buy actual play FOOD. The “food” that got the most use: pom poms, bead necklaces, and empty (clean) Talenti gelato containers.
Anonymous says
For now I would focus on furniture/open ended play venues vs. toys. Like something they can climb on plus a table and chairs that could be used for lots of things. My son loooooved trains but usually preferred to set them up on the floor rather than on a table – table layouts have to be fairly small, which can be hard for little kids to figure out (lots of curves). The train stage started around age 3. He never really used the play kitchen but I know he was an outlier there. That said, nice used play kitchens are really easy to find in our area; I think I spent $30 on ours.
Anon says
I recommend an indoor climbing structure or other physical toy since it sounds like you have space.
We LOVE the Step 2 roller coaster. It got years of love from our kids.
GCA says
Heh, I found DD and her cousin (both 6) playing on the ancient Step 2 roller coaster in cousin’s backyard yesterday. That thing must be second- or third-hand. I’m pretty sure SIL got it off a neighbor and it’s survived years of hard play; their oldest is 12.
Anon2 says
My sister got this roller coaster for Christmas 30 years ago. My parents kept it and the grandkids now use it every visit
Anon says
My kids love their play kitchen and the nugget.
DLC says
We put a Swedish Climbing Ladder in our playroom three years ago and it still gets lots of use. Our youngest was 2.5 when we did that, though.
The other thing I wish we had in our playroom was a way to organize all the dress up clothes so that they are accessible.
Another vote for the Nugget too. If we didn’t have thr Nugget I would have gotten some other kind of mat to go with the climbing wall.
AwayEmily says
Nugget for sure (also it’s just helpful to have around in general for sleepovers, guests with kids, etc). Art table with a little cupboard or cart with supplies. Plus plenty of “pretend play” supplies: a doctor kit, plenty of stuffies to play family/doctor/school with, some play bottles and a toy stroller.
And yes to more magnatiles and Duplos. Even my older kids still play a ton with Duplos — partly because they are playing with their toddler sister, but also because they’re just really satisfying to play with. I think our big basket of Duplos is probably the most-used toy in our house.
We have a hand-me-down train set that lives in the attic most of the time, but we rotate down to the playroom once every couple of months. Same with a dollhouse.
Anon says
Nugget couch, pickler triangle
Anon says
Play Kitchen plus nugget or similar.
TheElms says
“Big” toys we have that have been the biggest hits for our 2 kids are: play kitchen; art table and art cart (our easel is rarely used); trampoline; nuggets for fort building. We also have a lot of magnatiles and duplo in bins. We have some trains but they aren’t as loved (and we just build on the floor).
Toy recommendations - OP says
Thank you all! This is very helpful and much appreciated!
Anon says
Table and chairs 100%.
Walnut says
Play kitchen, Step 2 playhouse, and enormous quantities of magnatiles and duplos have had staying power for us. We have enough of each to make human scale creations.
Anon says
We’re expecting our first in November and still need a fair amount of gear/stuff. Any recommendations for sites to watch for Labor Day sales? So far I’m not necessarily seeing sales on the items we want…
Anon says
I’m not an expert but my impression is that because demand for baby stuff is consistent year round it doesn’t go on sale like, say, patio furniture in September.
AwayEmily says
Slumberpod!
Anon says
Most of the big items don’t go on sale.
Anonymous says
For big ticket items, keep an eye out at Bloomingdale’s. A few times a year they will do a gift card offer that will give you a $50 gift card if you spend $250, or $300 gift card if you spend $1k+. Basically, buy a stroller and get a free car seat. If you sign up for their free rewards program, sometimes they have sales where you get $25 worth of points if you spend $125+. They carry brands you wouldn’t expect, like UppaBaby, Bugaboo, Thule, Stokke, etc. I got most of my baby gear this way!
New Here says
Not a Labor Day sale, but September & October are busy months for consignment sales where I am. I definitely recommend checking them out!
TheElms says
What do you want? Some of the highly wanted things don’t go on sale often or at all. Nordstrom puts the Nuna Rava carseat on sale in their sale but then its typically not on sale the rest of the year. I don’t think Stoke ever puts their stuff on sale. If you list out your top 10 specific items we can probably tell you if there will be a sale from the collective knowledge on this site.
Anon says
I’ve bought stuff on sale at Albee Baby – was able to stack it with a heroes discount (includes a lot of categories) and get Rakuten cash back.
Anon says
Just a reminder that summer fun doesn’t have to stop when the kids go back to school. With the crazy heat weave this week we’ve made homemade ice cream and ordered pizza to the pool, two things we wanted to do this summer and didn’t get around to.
AwayEmily says
What are some ways that you all help your kids develop the habit of reading? Both my kids are decent readers but often sort of “forget” it’s an option to occupy their time unless prompted. We have had luck with:
– Putting a book in each of their carseats when I go to pick them up at after-school (bonus: cuts down on fighting in the car)
– Putting a book at their place at breakfast (they aren’t allowed to read at dinner but breakfast is okay)
– Reading to them for fifteen minutes before bed, ending at a cliffhanger, then making sure that the book I was reading is available and at the same point on their Kindles
I’m sure many (most?) of you have little bookworms who don’t need those nudges, but they have helped with my kids! Any other tricks I’m not thinking of?
Anon says
My daughter is hardly a bookworm, but her first grade teacher encouraged us to send a book to school in her backpack every day, and she has shown much more interest in reading at school than reading at home. I think she has the mindset “school = work, home = play” which tbh I sort of get.
Cb says
My very capable reader doesn’t default to reading in the way I’d expect. Think he’d rather opt for the easier option of audiobooks. He loves stories and his reading age is really high, so I keep reassuring myself he’ll get there. I told him he could stay up a bit later if he was reading but most nights, he’s pretty tired.
So we bring books if we’re going on the bus/train, have to wait somewhere, someplace he doesn’t want to be (summer camp run by boring aftercare), and sometimes just make him sit and read. School hasn’t set reading yet (week 3, no reading, no contact details…), so it’s harder without the school incentive.
Anonymous says
One trick is to take out the book as well as the audiobook. My oldest started doing it and my younger kids copied.
Anonymous says
One of my kids (6) is an avid bookworm, one (8) very rarely picks up books by his own accord but likes being read to at bedtime, and one (3) is in between. Other suggestions are to let your kids see you reading a lot (I read a lot on my phones kindle app but switch to the actual kindle or hardcovers when kids are around), letting them pick out books from the library, no matter how random (lots of holiday books in our house for holidays we don’t celebrate or are 8 months away from…), and having books in lots of rooms. With a caveat for my second suggestion that I spend a LOT of time picking out books for my kids. I follow many children’s librarians on social media (librarychrissie is fantastic), look for books aligned with what they’re naturally excited about or learning in school, and add in podcasts and audiobooks. Reading is one of my favorite things and I am thrilled that at least one of my kids is also enjoying it so much.
Mary Moo Cow says
Always having books available (in the car, a bookshelf in their room, a bookshelf in the family room, books in the playroom), sometimes making an exception to “no books at the dinner table” when they’re really into a book, and having casual but consistent family reading time are all things that I think develop the habit. Once my kids could read independently, on the weekends I would engineer quiet family reading time (like DEAR from elementary school!) I try to get all 4 of us on the couch to read, even just for a few minutes. Also, I ask them questions about what they are reading, we listen to the audiobook version together, and — the most fun for me — my older daughter asks me to read her Babysitter’s Club books after she’s done so we can talk about them.
Anon318 says
Your daughter’s request is my dream! So sweet!!
anon says
My mom used to “steal” my books, which meant we could discuss them, and also applied intense (positive) psychological pressure. Just like eating food off of your toddler’s plate.
DLC says
My 12 year old and I have a “book club”- we pass books back and forth, mostly YA romance type things, though she’s lately been reading Emily Henry and Colleen Hoover, authors that I hadn’t thought to read until she picked them up.
I like the family reading time idea a lot. Sometimes we manage that unintentionally at our house, but making it a formal thing sounds like a lot of fun.
Anon318 says
This is one of my favorite topics! While both of my kids probably ended up bookworms due to luck of the draw, my strategy has really just been to lean in to the delight that can come from a book, whether that is a great story or a format (e.g., graphic novels) that appeal to them. This has led to a lot of Dog Man, Catwad, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but those were gateways to more “serious” books. I also fully advocate for them to abandon books that aren’t engaging. I have read (ha) the best way to build stamina is to do something you really enjoy, so I trust we will graduate from Jeff Kinney some day :)
We gave both kids Kindles for Christmas last year and their time spent reading exploded after that. I think there is something about not needing to get up from a cozy spot to find the next book that keeps them going. We also let them read in bed between bedtime and lights out every night and both kids now sprint through shower/PJs/teeth to get to their books which is a WIN for me!
Anon318 says
Whoops, I missed that your kids already have kindles. Giving them extra time between being tucked in and lights out to read – even if it is only 5-10 minutes – seems to have put my kids in the groove of regular reading.
AwayEmily says
Yes! Mine have unlimited time to read at bedtime. Sometimes they abuse it a little bit and stay up too late (I can tell since I can see their reading times on the kindle family) but I did too at their age, and they usually make up the sleep the next night.
Anonymous says
We use audiobooks from the library (Playaways) and my kids are obsessed. We keep them in the car with headphones. Also try and keep a book in my bag for whichever kid(s) are the “Tagalongs” at sibling events.
We also have family reading time, at the request of the kids. Extra popular in winter. We all make cozy spots in one room, make the/cocoa, and read together. Everyone 6-46 loves it!
Anon says
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I think kids take to things in their own time and while there’s nothing wrong with gently encouraging it, they’re going to take to it or not on their own timeline regardless of what you do or don’t do. I’m a very avid reader; I read 100+ books a year and don’t own a Kindle so I pretty much always have a physical book in my hand. I’m not sure how one could possibly model reading any more, but my daughter had zero interest in books for the first six years of her life and wanted to do almost literally anything but read. I was coming to terms with having a kid who doesn’t share my main hobby. And then midway through kindergarten a switch flipped and suddenly she love being read to and wants to do it all the time. She still doesn’t really enjoy reading independently but I assume something similar will happen down the road and it will click. Or not, and that’s ok too.
AwayEmily says
I was probably not super clear — I wasn’t talking about pushing kids to read before they are ready (I’m definitely anti-that!) but rather once kids already ARE fluent readers who enjoy it, trying to help them get in the habit of seeing books as a viable option when they are bored/looking for something to do.
Anon says
I understood, I wasn’t suggesting you’re pushing them and like I said I don’t think it’s harmful in any way to encourage reading. I’m just not sure how much impact parent behavior has on this kind of thing. Maybe I have an abnormally strong-willed kid (probably) but it seems like she has to arrive at her decision 100% on her own to do things like this and encouragement or reminders from us have no impact.
AwayEmily says
Your kid sounds awesome TBH (and I suspect that my third is going to be very similar…she has STRONG OPINIONS).
I’m *pretty* sure that these techniques have at least worked for my kids just from the before/afters — e.g. before I started leaving books in their carseats, they would argue with each other the whole way home, then whine for snacks upon arrival. Now, they read the entire way home and continue doing so upon arrival. But 100% agree that the efficacy of any of these techniques will vary by kid and may not work with especially stubborn ones like ours!
Anonymous says
Bringing Kindles (or whatever library book they’re in the middle of) around constantly, basically. We bring books for car rides, public transit, on the school bus, when waiting in lines, etc. Plus they can read after lights out and that’s usually more appealing than going to sleep.
As for picking up books to occupy their time, our living room coffee table is usually scattered with the latest crop of library books or kids magazines, so they see them to pick up and read. And we do daily quiet time on non-school days, so make sure that their rooms have a cozy reading spot, as well.
Anon says
As long as my kids are at least at grade level in reading, I don’t worry about them being bookworms.
I definitely care about intellectual curiosity, but for children and adults I don’t think it matters if they lean via reading or other medium.
I personally love reading, but not everyone does and that’s fine. I read for pleasure a lot in grade school, then stopped in maybe 8th grade and didn’t read for fun (literally maybe 1-2 books a year) until I was like 25. I’m a super fast reader and enjoy it, and now read about 25 books a year so it’s not something I do a ton (compared to people reading 3x what I read).
So many people act as though not being a big reader is a moral failing and really it’s not.
AwayEmily says
This seems very reasonable to me and is similar to how I think about my kids’ eating. Some families prioritize having kids who “eat everything,” and do lots of things to encourage it like taking them shopping, cooking with them, etc. Some families (like mine!) don’t do that. Same with reading, sports, all sorts of things. It’s okay (and honestly, a good thing!) for families to prioritize different things and it’s really annoying when people insist that their priorities are morally superior to other people’s. Anyway, a long-winded way of saying I agree!!
Anon says
I agree it’s not a moral failing, but half of US adults don’t read even ONE book a year. That is a failure of some kind, IMO. I know there are mitigating factors that make it extra challenging for some people to read, but they can’t possibly apply to 50% of Americans.
Reading is a way to learn information, yes, but it also helps develop empathy, improve your attention span, fill downtime without endless scrolling, etc. It is a skill that is being lost, and I would bet that the majority of people are not using the time for other educational pursuits. I agree that establishing reading as a habit in children is a worthy goal.
Anon says
I used to feel that way, but then I met my wonderful (brilliant, empathetic, kind, funny) husband who doesn’t read for pleasure and never has. Reading has brought so much joy to my life but at the end of the day reading for fun really is just a hobby, and one that some people don’t happen to like and it isn’t necessarily a problem that needs to be fixed.
Anon says
Maybe on a micro level it’s not a failing (I agree, there are great people who don’t want to read for pleasure). But on a macro level, it is a societal failure that half of people don’t like to read
TheElms says
My kids are too little but I remember starting to read more because my parents modeled reading. Like on a Sunday afternoon after my mom finished whatever gardening she wanted to do or grocery shopping she would sit on the sofa and read for 30 minutes to an hour. Would that work in your family?
Tea/Coffee says
I just sort of modeled it for the older kid and then she added to the family pressure for younger kid, lol.
I am a reader and always have been, so reading for pleasure and reading at bedtime are very normalized in our house as they have always seen me doing it. One kid took to it easily/early and the other took a little longer. I think part of it was just naturally showing them it’s part of being human, like wearing pants.
Also, they figured out that asking mom to buy a toy is a dicey proposition but asking mom to buy a book is a guaranteed yes!
Anonymous says
I’m due with my second baby in the middle of December, and we’d love to have her start at the same daycare my son attends when I go back to work. However, the daycare says they won’t have a spot for her until the end of May/beginning of June, so I’m trying to figure out my options. I could (1) take unpaid leave at work to stretch my (already pretty generous) leave until our spot opens; (2) find a different daycare to take the baby sooner, or (3) arrange for a short-term nanny/babysitter for the 6 weeks or so between when I go back to work and when the spot opens. Thoughts? My husband has basically no leave so he won’t be able to bridge the gap. Any other options I’m forgetting? Thanks!
Anon says
All of those sound like reasonable options to me. We did #3 in your shoes (although it was a longer gap, ~4 months, and we were bridging the gap between the end of my husband’s paternity leave and daycare). Our nanny wasn’t a great fit, but I have no regrets; it was a very short term solution to make our ideal daycare work, and the daycare was perfect for our family.
Anonymous says
For me personally, my order would be 1-3-2 of your options. I’m happily done with the infant stage (youngest is almost 4), but I would LOVE another few months of leave with a 4-6 month old. Especially in the spring (all my mat leaves were in the winter).
Could you go back PT and find help (grandparents, paid help) for the hours you’re working? That may be less of a financial hit.
Anon says
1 and 3 are what I’d look into. There’s also some chance they may get an opening earlier than expected (family moves or switches to nanny), so I’d commit to the spot but just make it clear to the director that if something opens earlier that you’d like it.
AwayEmily says
I would do 3, and indeed did do 3 in your exact situation. Baby born in January, didn’t get a daycare spot with his sister til July. We ended up finding a nice grad student (no previous nannying experience but had experience with several little siblings) to come watch him during the day for a month and a half. Caveat that our schedules were flexible enough that we could manage to pay for not TOTALLY full time — my husband would watch him in the morning (ie, not starting work til 10) and then I would watch him starting at 4, so we ended up only needing to pay her for six hours a day. It was a decent job for her since he was napping twice a day, so she managed to get a fair bit of work done!
Anonymous says
Combo of 1 and 3.
You’re super lucky timing wise as that’s a great time of year to find short term nannies. Many of the camp counsellors in the day camps associated with the university or city in my area are staffed by college students but there is a 6ish week gap between when most universities semesters end and elementary/middle school daycamps start. I would advertise on the local colleges job boards esp students in teaching/psych etc.
Another route is to see if you can go back part time and get a part time nanny – that expands your pool of short term nannies to SAHM etc who might be interested in picking up nannying work in the mornings when their kids are at school.
Anon says
How did you decide whether to do Developmental Kindergarten/Young Fives/Junior Kindergarten for your kid?
Anon says
I’ve never even heard of this! So clearly it doesn’t exist in my area. Is this a fancy word for red-shirting? In my area redshirting is relatively common for summer birthdays (especially boys) but redshirted kids just stay at their daycare or preschool for another year.
Anon says
Not a thing where I am either (New England), although I have been noticing some pricey private programs popping up. In fact, the two states I’ve lived in with kids have had December cut offs (!), so many kids start K at age 4, including one of my sons.
But in response to your question, I’d consider it if my child was very immature and couldn’t sit still or follow directions as needed for K. Though in that case I’d look for a play-based program to give them time to mature out of the wiggles. I would not consider junior kindergarten if it was overly academic.
AwayEmily says
This also doesn’t exist where I am. I do know a couple of families who decided to send their somewhat-immature kid to private school for kindergarten (so they could get a little more one-on-one attention/socialization) and then switched to public for first.
Anon says
I think it may be different than redshirting. I’m guessing this refers to something like California’s TK program, where kids who aren’t quite old enough to go to K but turn 5 relatively early in the preK year can participate in a publicly-funded pre-K year.
GCA says
What age is your kid and what are the objectives of the specific program you’re looking at? I’ve never quite understood the point of junior kindergarten – at least the programs I know of are for kids who just missed the cutoff to enter K that year (so September to January birthdays, say). If they’re already going to be somewhat older for their grade the following year, it’s likely they’ll be more mature than their K classmates, so what support is needed? If it’s to occupy them with something slightly academic so they don’t get bored, wouldn’t they be even more bored the following year when teachers are getting younger K students up to speed?
Anon says
I have a January birthday kid and would have used public TK just for the cost savings, if it were an option. We saved >$10k/year when we switched from daycare to K and it would have been nice to have that savings come one year earlier. I also understand people wanting one drop off if they already have kids in elementary. That said, I agree with your points about maturity and boredom.
Anonymous says
We have on transitional kindergarten (half day) in our DC suburb area that isn’t too pricey. You can also just repeat prek4 at whatever preschool. My son is redshirted this year for kindergarten because he’s a late summer birthday and just NOT ready for public k. Our public K somehow expects them to read fully by Christmas. Not gonna happen. He needs another year.
Anon says
“Our public K somehow expects them to read fully by Christmas”
Whoa that is crazy. We live in a very “good” (high test scores) school district and the expectation here is that kids to learn to read in first grade. In K they just did CVC words and some very basic sight words. There were kids in my daughter’s class who didn’t even know all the letters at the beginning of the year (and also kids reading chapter books – I don’t envy the teachers having to deal with such a spread).
Anonymous says
Oh yeh and the funny thing is only 33% on grade level for reading. Sooooo something is totally amiss.
Anon says
Which kind of program are you talking about? Is it for kids who are old enough to enter regular K (e.g. 5 by September 1st) and just need some extra time or the ones for kids who just miss the cutoff for K (e.g. turn 5 between September 1st and November 1st)?
Anon says
We have Transitional Kinder in CA. It’s just public school for 4 year olds. Half day, very similar to kinder but with modifications given their age.
I didn’t send my older child to TK in part bc I wanted to hold off on formalized schooling and focus on free play but also bc it meant I’d have two drop offs.
My younger child is now in TK because he needed to drop his daycare nap (a state requirement) and I desperately wanted to avoid two drop offs for any longer.
Plus, in our area, most kids go to TK now. They’ve expanded who is eligible and there are far fewer kids left at our daycare who opted out of TK.
Anon says
OP here. Sorry for the confusing terminology. Essentially my question was how to decide whether to redshirt your kid. DS has an August birthday, he just turned four, and is in preschool. It’s a bit early to be thinking about this but other parents are asking if we will enroll him in Kindergarten at the public school next year or in our district’s free Young Fives program for kids who are not yet ready to start kindergarten. In our area the cutoff for kindergarten is September 1st. DS is on track socially and developmentally, and his teachers have never noted any concerns, so I assumed that we would send him to Kindergarten next year even though he would be one of the youngest in his class. Just wanted to see if there were any other reasons to delay Kindergarten.
Anon says
I think it really depends on what others in your area do because age relative to peers is more important than absolute age, imo. In our district, many summer birthdays and even some spring birthdays are redshirted, so an August birthday kid wouuld be nearly 18 months younger than some classmates. If redshirting is rare in your area and he will be a max of 12-13 months younger than peers, then I think that would be a very different story. Personally, I would be inclined to redshirt him if redshirting is common. We have a winter birthday kid so didn’t have to make the decision (and I sympathize with those who do), but the change in my kid’s emotional maturity between barely 5 and 5.5 was really astonishing to me.
Anon says
+1. In our (private) school, most boys with August birthdays start K when they are 6.
AwayEmily says
Yeah, where I am *nobody* redshirts. In fact, a lot of daycares won’t even take kids who are eligible for kindergarten. A friend of mine wanted to redshirt her kid and literally could only find one place willing to take them. The place ended up sucking and she sent him to K at a private school instead. Really interesting how different norms are! Both my k-ers were 5.5 when they started, but had several 4-year-olds in their class as well (December cutoff). Teachers here are very used to dealing with the wide age range.
Anon says
It’s actually a narrower age range with no redshirting.
AwayEmily says
I meant “dealing with kids who are still quite young” — since a lot of the (understandable) concern among redshirting parents seems to be that their kids will struggle due to being a young 5. Was trying to offer some reassurance that even in our school, where every K class has a handful of 4-year-olds, teachers are awesome at meeting kids where they are and by first grade you can’t really tell the difference.
Anon says
I feel like you must be in NY. I was, too, and the schools were very strict about not redshirting (Westchester County, and I believe the city is the same). Cutoff was Dec. We sent my boys the year they were going to turn 5, with July and Sept birthdays.
We have since moved to CT, which just moved the cutoff from Dec to Sept, and people are absolutely up in arms they have to pay for daycare for another year for their kids who turn 5 in the fall. There is more redshirting but still not a ton.
Anon says
where i live it is VERY popular to delay kids, especially boys with summer bdays. that being said, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of kids with summer bdays my twins had in their K and now in their 1st grade classes. they have May bdays and I was worried about them being the youngest, but they definitely are not. where we live some people enroll their kids in public K and then they repeat public K, but I know that not all public school districts allow kids to repeat K. there is no one right answer. if i had a boy with an August bday I’d probably hold him back, but that is in part bc my parents regret not holding back my sister (who had a late september bday with a Dec 31 cut off). i also dont know that i’d wnat my kid to be the last to be able to drive, etc. though obviously someone has to be the youngest. that being said, i know someone who is a teacher and has a kid with a September 1 bday and she sent her kid.
Anonymous says
My late April 2nd grader is often the youngest in her class. Our cutoff is August 1 though (and no option to go early).
Anon says
We redshirted my son for a late August birthday. He is a more anxious and timid kid in general, but on-track/ahead academically. I thought the social benefit would be worth it. Many of his pre-k classmates with summer birthdays were not redshirted though, including some that I think were a bit behind.
Anon says
People tend to really, really hate redshirting, so I’ll post then duck out :) I live in a Boston suburb, and have b/g twins who just turned 5 last week. They are redshirted, and doing Jr. K this year (our preschool offers 4s, then Jr. K for redshirted kids or kids who just miss the cut off). My boy twin was the deciding factor, as he doesn’t have the correct pencil grip yet, cannot write his own name, and does not recognize his letters/numbers yet. He is, easily and identifiably, Not Ready for K by any objective measure. He was delayed in some respects, but the general consensus from his “team” (pediatrician, teachers, speech therapist, OT, etc.) is that he’ll catch up with time. But, sending him to K on time would have meant a ton of interventions, pull outs, etc. in a K classroom to just get him up to grade level, whereas in Jr. K, he’ll get a lot more practice with these skills this year, and we all suspect he’ll be on track by school year. He is also physically small (had some health issues), and a rule follower. He is just this year starting to notice and interact with other kids who aren’t his twin. He is unlikely to be the bored kid who is disruptive in class.
My girl twin gets the benefit or burden, I guess depending on how you look at it, of being red shirted alongside with her brother (no one, and I mean, no one recommended we split up twins by a grade level in school – i.e., send her on time and hold him for a year). She is also a rule follower and unlikely to be disruptive, so we aren’t worried about that. She is on track for all academic skills that you should have to enter K, but honestly, she’s still just so dang little/young. She was an emotional wreck even transitioning in her well loved, well known school from 4s to Jr. K. She still naps a lot. I have watched the kids who are going to K (I also have a third grade girl), and they just seem so much bigger, older, more ready than she is. Our district is a high performing district, and I know they push K kids – it’s a long day, and a pretty academic one. I don’t think we would have held her if she were a singleton, but I guess I feel really lucky she gets this extra year to play, nap, and grow up a little.
anon says
We live in metro atlanta and my son is about a month before the cutoff. At the handful of summer boys birthday parties we’ve attended recently the topic has come up a couple times and in the boy bff squad my son is part of 3/4 (with us being the exception) are planning on red shirting. These are all boys that seem developmentally the same as my son. Smart, verbal, reasonably well behaved for 4 year olds. No “obvious” reason to hold them
We aren’t doing it unless his current Pre-k teachers suggest it.
Anon says
I wonder if we will redshirt our kiddo. He’s a late August birthday, was technically due in September. He’s had gross motor delays, but is otherwise on track. I do worry that he will be aware if he stays in preschool another year when his friends are moving on, and he’s very sensitive.
Anon says
At that age I feel like you can just say he’s not old enough for kindergarten and he’ll accept it.
Anon says
Similar/not the same – my younger kid’s preschool has a kindergarten class that is lovely, small in size (8-11 kids), etc.
Depending on where younger kiddo lands (he’s a bit of a caboose/does things on his own time/is in ST) after PreK4 next school year, I am very willing to look at that as an option for K. We have a bit of time – he’s not even 4 and has a birthday close to calendar year’s end – but I’m so glad it is an option.
Like Primary but less $$$? says
Where do you buy coordinating clothes for twins? My cousin is an overwhelmed twin mom to identical toddler boys, and they get a lot of hand-me-down clothes from singleton parents, but I know that at least once in a while she wants them to wear coordinating clothes. She always asks for clothes for their birthday. If I were a twin mom I would just buy a ton of basic shirts from Primary in every color, but as a gift Primary is a bit outside my budget. Honest Co. has rainbow multipacks, but the quality is not good. I see Cat & Jack now sell multipacks as well which are better quality. Are a bunch of basic tees in solid colors kind of boring? I am also thinking of striped shirts or baseball-style shirts or sweaters in different colors. Other stores like Gap, Old Navy, Carters, etc sell a few multipacks of two or three of these types of shirts. Just checking to see if my line of thinking on what twin families would want is correct, and if twin parents shop at different stores than I usually do for kids’ clothes.
Anon says
does she want coordinating or matching? there are no special stores where twin families shop. we didn’t have anyone to give us hand me downs, so i often dressed my fraternal same sex twins in the same outfit bc it was one less decision for my overwhelmed sleep deprived new mom self. many people also gifted us matching clothes. i think your line of thinking is fine.
Anonymous says
Matching I buy two of the same item from the store.
Coordinating I often go to GAP or Carters for solid or stripes in coordinating colors for the shirts and then match the bottoms.
Anon says
Twin parents don’t shop at different stores. For matching, you can just get 2 of whatever, but with identical twins I totally get the desire for the cute coordinating but also making it easy for someone to know who’s who. Our coordinating outfits were either the same thing just bought in two colors or a multipack where we mixed and matched shirts/pants but it meant they were all from the same pattern.
Anon says
I’m a twin. My parents never dressed us in coordinating outfits and we also never chose to do it ourselves except as a joke to be silly. Being a twin is a gift but it’s also weird. Don’t play up the weird, look at me, we’re clones, element. Just let them feel like regular people.
Anon says
Any ideas for international destinations that have mild weather in mid-March (spring break) but aren’t tropical? We’ve enjoyed Seville, southern Portugal and Tuscany and we have the Canary Islands and Morocco in mind for future trips. It doesn’t have to be Europe but we only have 9 days to travel so won’t be going to Australia or anything like that.
Anonymous says
Southern Spain with a couple days in Morocco?
anon says
Lake Como was great for spring break, not too crowded but beautiful weather.
Anonymous says
I just went to Morocco last month and 100% would do spring break with kids there.
I’m not sure whether you consider Bermuda tropical, but we were there for spring break last year and enjoyed it. It was too cold for me to swim, but the kids splashed in the waves a little, and the caves and history were neat. (9 days there might be too much, though, it’s a little one-note.)
I’ve heard great things about Colombia and Peru but haven’t been there, yet.
Anon says
Thanks! Bermuda is actually our fall break trip this year – our fall break is shorter than spring break (6 days) and that seemed like the right amount of time to spend there.
Anon says
washing machine recs? ours just broke
Mary Moo Cow says
My sister loves her Speed Queen. It is pricey but she expects it last 25 years. I still like my 10 year old Whirpool top loader. My parents abhor their 10 year old front loading LG that has required multiple repairs.
Not that you asked, but I would go to an appliance store and look for a grown up to help you shop. I can read the specs on the sales sheet, so I don’t need someone who is on loan from the paint department to do that; what I need is someone who can tell me this machine requires frequent repairs, or this one is going to be discounted next week when a new model comes out, etc.
Anon says
thanks! i of course asked on our local facebook group and there seem to be people who love/hate every single machine. The appliance repairman who we had come out for our whirpool front loader that was 10+ years old, said he swears by front loader LG, so i guess there is no one right naswer!
OP says
i think my reply got eaten. the repairman we had come by said he swears by front loading LG. that it is all he has ever owned. there are just too many choices for all of these things!
Anon says
I also loved my LG front loader. We moved and now have an LG top loader and it’s fine, but not amazing. I miss my front loader and feel like people who prefer top loaders must be drinking the kool aid, lol. LG can be harder to repair, though, as you need a specialized technician
Spirograph says
I have an Electrolux front loader, and it’s been reliable for the last 6 years, plus I love the delay-start feature. But if I had it to do over, I’d get a top loader. The gasket on front loaders gets gross unless you dry it manually–just leaving the door open won’t cut it. We recently had the gasket on ours replaced when we needed some dryer repairs anyway, and the labor was pricey! (I watched some YouTube videos and decided it was not worth attempting on my own without specialized tools)
anon says
Does anyone have a go-to series of guidebook for hiking/camping with little kids? It seems to be the day for shopping requests!
DLC says
For hikes, I like “Best Easy Day Hikes” series by Falcon- I’ve used them for Acadia and Shenandoah with my kids.
What area are you looking to explore?
Anon says
There are a bunch of regional hikes with kids books, including falcon guides. I really depends on where you’re looking. You may also want to check out Hike It Baby.
OP says
Hike It Baby looks perfect!
Anon says
Where are you located?
OP says
We’re located in the PNW, but want to start doing more domestic travel.
Back to Work says
I am on my 4th week back from maternity leave and it just feels like it’s getting harder and harder. My baby is a ray of sunshine with me but cries a ton for other caregivers. My job, which I wasn’t terribly fond of before, is making me miserable and I can’t seem to get my feet back under me. Quitting is not an option, and I’m not sure switching jobs would make much of a difference. Every week seems harder. Someone please tell me it gets better, and if so, how?
Anon says
It does get better! Your kid will get used to nanny / daycare / whatever the childcare situation is. When that happens, it will free up a ton of brainspace that you may not even realize is being spent worrying about him or her! Also, at work right now, you may be feeling a bit under the microscope – you know that your supervisor and teammembers know you were just out, so they may be extra attuned to your work quality or your perceived level of commitment (not fair, but it may be happening). Once they see you’re sticking around and producing high quality work, they’ll get distracted by all the other things they should be focusing on. I’d say I hit my stride ~3 months after returning from leave.
Anon says
It does get better! Although maybe not very soon. It wasn’t really until my kid was 1.5 -2 and started tantruming and acting like a toddler that I stopped daydreaming about being a SAHM. But then… oh boy, I was so glad I hadn’t quit. I would have hated and been a terrrrrrrible SAHM to toddlers and preschoolers. And elementary age kids, while easier and more fun than toddlers, are also easier to get your fill of on nights and weekends, because they don’t spend so much time sleeping and you can have conversations with them while you’re driving. For me, the infant year+ was definitely the hardest time to be a working mom and the time I felt the most guilt and sadness about it.
Anonymous says
It will get better! I probably struggled for the first six months being back; I hated it and would rather have been with my baby. Now, I am so glad I stuck it out- I’m a better mom/person with a job outside the house. And while I didn’t go back to a fabulous job, I did find a fabulous one a few years later, and would not have gotten it if I had quit at that time. I’ll also say dropping my second child at daycare was a million times easier because we already knew the caregivers and that it got easier, and ultimately my kids did way more cool stuff and had more fun that they would have if they had been home with me.
DLC says
It definitely gets better. I feel like now, three kids later, I go to work to relax from my weekend home with the kids. 😂.
Will your schedule allow you to take a few days off for yourself? I found that having a day to look forward to where I could just regroup and figure out who I was was really helpful. I mean going from needy child to demanding job is so stressful and mired in minutia – I didn’t have time to sit and think and process all the sh*t I was trying to do, and I really did need that time and space to zoom out and look at the bigger picture.
Anon says
Man, I love our school district in many ways but they’re so terrible with anything related to special needs. My kid has really mild needs in the big scheme of things, just speech therapy for articulation, which she qualifies for at school. It was a nightmare to get it going last year in K. We requested the evaluation in the spring before she started, but they didn’t get services going for her until February. I’m pretty sure they violated multiple laws and regulations about the timeliness of evaluations and services. This year, I thought it would be fine because we’re already “in the system” so to speak but we’re in our fourth week of school and the speech therapist told me two weeks ago that speech was starting that week, but my child has yet to receive any speech therapy, even though classmates got it beginning last week. No one can tell us anything about when she will start getting therapy or why there’s a delay. It’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but still so frustrating. I understand why parents of kids with more serious needs want to burn the public schools to the ground.
Anon says
Solidarity. That is so annoying. I love my older kids’ elementary, but the school district is a hot mess thanks to our terrible state leaders, and I feel like this is common because of staffing issues, other priorities/fires, etc.
This is why I think a lot of people who can often stick with private services.
Anon says
We could afford private services from a financial perspective, but all the appointments are mid-school day and at least a 30 minute round trip drive from school/home so it would have a pretty big impact on my kid’s education and my ability to work.