Family Friday: Twirl Dress
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I (and my daughter) got hooked on Tea Collection’s dresses when a friend gave me a few hand-me-downs from her daughter. I loved the unique prints and high quality fabric — after my daughter outgrew those hand-me-downs, they were still nice enough to pass along to another little girl.
Tea Collection’s clothes feature different countries and cultures around the world. (This spring is Portugal.) The company also gives back “10% of [their] profits to projects and organizations that create a better world for kids everywhere” and follows “ethical sourcing practices.”
Each season, I get my daughter a dress or two as a special gift. She’s always liked twirly dresses, and I think she’ll love this lovely new “Twirl Dress” with gradient ocean waves. From a distance, it looks ombré, fading from dark blue to white.
Tea Collection’s Twirl Dress in Placid Blue is $37 and comes in sizes 2–12. It’s also available in Galapagos Vacation, a bright and bold tropical floral print.
P.S. Happy Passover to those who celebrate!
Sales of note for 4/24/25
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – 7,710 new markdowns for women!
- Ann Taylor – Friends of Ann Event: 30% off your entire purchase, including 100s of new arrivals
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 25% off
- Eloquii – Spring Clearance: Up to 75% off + extra 50-60% off sale
- J.Crew – Mid-Season Sale: Up to 60% off sale styles + up to 50% off summer-ready styles
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 50% off clearance + extra 15% off $100 + extra 20% off $125
- M.M.LaFleur – 3 pieces for $198. Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Friends & Family Event: 30% off entire purchase, includes markdowns
And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!!
- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
- I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
- I’m thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?
- I’m now a SAHM and my husband needs to step up…
- How can I change my thinking to better recognize some of my husband’s contributions as important, like organizing the shed?
- What are your tips to having a good weekend with kids, especially with little kids? Do you have a set routine or plan?
How do you take a break from being other people’s emotional support person? I am a good friend. I have a skill and a gift for making people feel heard and loved and supported. In normal times, I am happy to be the friend that people call in tears because I know that I can help talk them through a hard time and come out the other side feeling loved. But this year has been so hard– on me and on everyone else– and I am just drained. Yesterday alone I texted with a friend about her unemployment claim (I am an employment attorney), took a walk with a friend going through a slow divorce (made slower by the impossibilities brought on by the pandemic), texted with another who just had another failed round of IVF, and emailed with another whose mom just died last weekend. Granted, it was unusual that so many friends reached out on the same day. I also share lots of joy and silliness and fun with these folks in happier times, and also these folks support me, too, so not just a one-emotion or one-way street. But yesterday hit me hard. This whole year has been hard. I need to put up some boundaries for myself.
My almost 4 year has been talking about her bday a lot. she wants it to be really special and I’m the worst at traditions etc. I didn’t grow up with any (culture thing), but my parents were loving and attentive and we have a wonderful relationshp. However, I do want to indulge her a bit. How do I decorate the dining table or the living room for the morning of her bday? What can I do to make it fun??
My 3 year old’s meltdowns have gotten incredibly intense in the last few weeks. Something trivial sets her off (this morning it was my husband going to the bathroom without her, apparently she wanted to watch him pee but she did not communicate that until he was already done using the bathroom) but then it just escalates to hysterical tantruming, throwing herself on the floor, swatting/kicking her arms and legs at us and anything in reach, including the dog, and occasionally trying to pick up furniture and throw it. Nothing we do or say can calm her down once she gets going, and in the last couple weeks it’s been happening every evening and most mornings. It’s been so bad we even took her to the doctor to make sure she didn’t have an ear infection or something. There’s nothing physically wrong. Her doctor said she likely needs more sleep. She gets 12-13 hours at night, no nap, but she’s always been very high sleep needs so I think our ped may be right that this isn’t enough. We’re trying to get her early from school to facilitate an earlier bedtime and also more playtime at home with her toys (she complains about not having enough time to play, which is understandable given her very early bedtime), but haven’t noticed any change yet. Our ped didn’t seem overly concerned, she was like “yeah… kids throw fits” but I don’t know anyone who has a kid who has really intense meltdowns like this so frequently. Is this normal? Does anyone have any advice other than just powering through? I hate to see her so miserable so much of the time (it seriously feels like she spends 80% of her waking hours with us crying, at least on weekdays) and it’s obviously not pleasant for us either, but I just don’t know how to help her. We’ve talked about lots of different calming techniques (Daniel Tiger songs, breathing exercises they do at school) but nothing seems to be helping.
Any tips for switching to a new daycare? Kiddos are 2 1/2 and not yet 1, so I’m incredibly nervous about this transition. Our reasons for switching are unrelated to the teachers, and my kids love their current set up — so having some guilt mixed in there.
Has any one had a uterine biopsy? What’s it like and does it hurt? Getting it as a next step in my fertility work up. Thanks
Do older elementary school kids go to parks? My kids were always in daycare and then school + after school. Then no school for the past year. We have a park 2 blocks from our house that we’ve always gone to (largely on weekends), but no matter what time of day or weekday/weekend we go, all the kids there are b/w 2 and 4. We never see older kids there (TBH, there are no many 5th graders in our area, the high schoolers don’t even seem to use it for walking, the younger kids use it so much I feel like my much bigger kids get the side-eye from some moms). The things they used to like, like trampoline parks and escape rooms, are now out for weekends, but we just want a space where they may see some kids their own age and not be made to feel like they are intruding on someone else’s space. This is something I think SAHMs know but we office moms struggle with at times. In prior years, maybe all of these kids were on travel sports teams and didn’t have free time, but this year I’d expect people just to be out more b/c they are probably sick of being stuck at home.
Any suggestions for little things to go in an 8 year old boy’s Easter basket? We’re including a video game and a book (and candy), but in the past we’ve also thrown in some small toys like a hot wheels car or play dough or slime, but he doesn’t seem all that interested in things like that anymore. My daughter (5) will be thrilled with those things, plus she loves girly stuff like lip gloss and jewelry, so she’ll easily have a few things.
Hep me decide whether to transition from a nanny to daycare for my youngest (soon to turn 3) and aftercare for my oldest (in elementary school). We had a nanny for the last few years and she has been great. However, we are moving to where her commute will be an hour. Also, I feel like our 3 year old could use the socialization. So in some ways it feels like a good time to transition to daycare. Plus, it would be nice to save a couple thousand dollars a month. Oh, and I am likely going to be working mostly from home in the Fall and it would be nice to not deal with the kid noise.
BUT at the same COVID is complicating the decision making. It feels so hard to predict to the extent that daycare/school will be reliable in the next academic year (I am in academia/have a ton of flexibility so I am totally fine with a couple days off a month, but NOT fine with extended closures etc. like I know some have experienced this year), how many outbreaks will there be, whether new variants will affect kids more, and whether I am putting the kids at higher risk for COVID (since the aftercare and daycare would add to exposure risk, as compared to just sending my daughter to school and having nanny pick her up). Also because my youngest has spent all his life with us and the nanny and his sister, I am worried about how he will do in a group setting.
For what it’s worth I also considered the part-time preschool + nanny option too but our nanny needs a full-time salary so it seems unnecessarily more expensive than the other two options.
We made it to Friday!! I made myself a bagel sandwich this morning after I dropped off the kids and signed on at a leisurely 8:15, drinking my coffee while it’s still hot. I only have two meetings today. It feels like a vacation.
To the person looking for tshirt recommendations: Eddie Bauer has some nice thick ones and currently have a sale where the more you buy, the more you save.
And to anyone else: loads of winter gear and jackets in their sale section right now for about 50% off.