Make My Life Easier Thursday: V8 Absolute Vacuum
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In the Before Times, we owned a very old and heavy canister-style vacuum that my husband dutifully dragged around the house once a month. Several months ago, it finally broke and we were in the market for a new vacuum.
We did some research, taking into account things like performance, ease of use, and price. I especially wanted something light and cordless so we could also use it in the car to clean up all those stray Cheerios.
We ultimately landed on Dyson’s V8 Absolute. We have a mix of hardwood and carpeted floors, and the V8 Absolute came with specialized heads for both. It also came with several handy attachments for reaching into nooks and crannies, “hygienic bin emptying” (which means you can empty it without touching what comes out), and enough battery life for me to vacuum our whole townhouse in one charge.
It is a bit different from traditional vacuums: It’s top- rather than bottom-heavy, doesn’t stand on its own (you have to lay it down), and takes a little hand strength to use since you have to pull a trigger to vacuum.
All in all, it’s easy to use and does a fabulous job cleaning — I use it almost daily.
The vacuum is $449.99 and includes a free tool. A similar model (without the hardwood-specific head) is the Dyson V8 Animal, which is $399.99 at Bed Bath & Beyond and other retailers.
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
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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?
Silly ftm question for your thursday: at what age/developmental stage do you stop dressing babies in the snap bodysuits and transition to tops and bottoms?
Kid is pushing 7m old but is about to transition into 12m sizes. There are some good sales going on right now, and I don’t want to load up on bodysuits in 18m size if babies become a pain to wrangle into those things at a certain age.
We refilled our bird feeders and bought another one and it’s been an unexpected source of entertainment for all of us. I’ll watch birds in lieu of staring at my screen and my son will set himself up in the sunroom with the bird ID chart and see what he can spot. A random purchase that has definitely paid off.
Second kid is 8 weeks – I feel like we are all adjusting well, but really miss the special time I used to have with first kid, and am feeling bummed about it!
My sweet SWEET husband is very thoughtful and picked me out a pair of shoes he thought would be great for running after kids.
Unfortunately, when I got them, they look to me like the shoes that they give psych patients and/or inmates – slip ons with no laces and rubber soles. They’re not comfortable enough for me to get over the looks so…
Husband is very sweet and told me to pick whatever I want. I like the purpose he was getting them for – I could use another pair of casual shoes. I’m thinking of either Birkenstock Arizonas or AllBirds. Which would you pick?
Can anyone tell me about how they introduced an Ok to Wake clock? My 14 month old has been waking up at 5am-5:30am for the past few weeks and it’s killing us. It also wakes up his 5 yo sister, which is extra annoying. He is sleep trained and sleeps through the night with no problem, but can’t get past the early wake ups. It’s been a few weeks so I don’t think that teething is the issue. He goes to bed around 6:45pm, if that makes a difference . . . TIA!
Did you build up a freezer stash of breastmilk in anticipation of weaning, so that your baby could continue to get breastmilk for several months post-wean? Any tips? How did you figure out how much to stash away?
I’m planning in advance – currently breastfeeding (mostly nursing, but she gets an occasionl bottle from dad or nanny). I will wean around the one year mark because I need to stop breastfeeding before we can start the process for our next IVF transfer cycle.
Also: I feel the need to say that it is a personal choice for me to breastfeed, to stop at one year, and to want to continue to provide her with (frozen) milk after I stop. It’s not the only choice, and I’m very supportive of anyone feeding their baby however they choose.
TX mom here, though originally from the northeast so can’t believe i’m asking this question, but we are going to be getting some unusually cold weather coming up, highs of 32, 39 and 41. usually i would’ve purchased some warmer weather gear for my kids bc we typically head east around the holidays to visit family, but skipped that this year. they have patagonia lightweight puffer coats and north face denali jackets, and they do have hats and gloves. can we get away with those coats with some strategic layering? do i have them wear two pairs of pants on the bottom?
I’ve been diagnosed with Hashimotos/hypothyroidism, and my doctor told me not to eat anything with calcium or iron for 4 hours after taking my thyroid pill in the morning. Do y’all have any suggestions on what I can have for breakfast that doesn’t have either of those? Thank you!!
This question may be more appropriate for the main site but I tend not to read there anymore (I’m a little scared of the responses there!) – what camisoles do you all like? For background, I like wearing a camisole – basically a spaghetti strapped tank type shirt – under my regular shirts, over the bra. I’m still wearing my GAP nursing ones (with the little clips – I know… I just haven’t had time to look for new ones). I’m probably a S/M in size for these. Any favorite brands?
Advice for letting a nanny go? We are still in the trial period with her per our agreement and plan to pay several weeks as severance in any case. Things just are not working out — not responsive to feedback, not patient with the kids, etc. I’m especially looking for tips on the logistics — when to tell her, how to do a goodbye for the kids (if any — kids are 1 and 4). I assume we tell her and ask her to leave right away, so we have a plan in place for childcare for the rest of that day. TIA!
Favorite books on becoming an older sibling? Kiddo is 14 months old, expecting baby in the next 4-5 weeks.
I would love some advice on redshirting a kindergartener.
We are in the south, where this seems incredibly common for boys. My older son’s birthday is two weeks before the K cutoff, and our two year old’s birthday is two days before the cutoff. So if we send both of them on time, they will be the absolute youngest in their class. I am fine with this if it was a year of birthdays, but it seems like there’s a full 18-20 month range for boys. That seems insane to me. My four year old is definitely ready for K in the fall but I am really struggling with him going to school with kids who are turning 7 during the year. I realize this can change, but both boys are very small for their age right now. I’d like to also keep them two years / two grades apart – meaning whatever choice we make for the older one, we’d also do for the younger one.
I guess I’m just looking for encouragement in keeping them in another year of prek? My husband is totally opposed to it but I feel like I am forced into keeping them back because of how much older the other kids are. Complicating things is that especially this year, I feel like many people who may have been borderline decided to hold back since virtual K is such a mess. So potentially, the class is even older for those entering K this fall. Ugh. Why can’t people just stick to the cutoffs??
Kiddo is 5 and in pre-K. The school day ends at 2:15. She used to go to after care 3 days per week. We took a break from after care during November-January when Covid was crazy in our area. She went back this week. Her pre-K teacher just sent me (just me, not DH) a message to let me know what kiddo has been upset today and is now crying because she doesn’t want to go to after care. What the hell am I supposed to do with that? I sent some sort of diplomatic message saying we’d talk to her about it tonight, but what the actuall eff? Why would you even make a point of telling me that ONE TIME she didn’t want to go. If it becomes a thing, sure. But thanks for making me feel like a totally horrible working mom. I am so unbelievably burnt out right now that this (probably objectively reasonable thing) is going to push me over the f’ing edge.
What would you do for daycare “culture week” when your family is a mix of white European ancestry from many different countries, not religious and has been in the US for generations. We’re supposed to talk about our culture’s traditional foods, costumes, language, etc. but I have no idea what to say. My kid is the only kid in her class who is white and not a first generation American, so every kid except her actually has a culture to talk about.