CorporetteMoms

Updated: Feb 27, 2023 102 Comments · by

Makeup & Beauty Monday: Volumizing Mousse

Recent Recs

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A bottle of Moroccanoil volumizing mousse

The last time I cut my hair, my stylist used this mouse. I liked it so much I got my own!

This lightweight, volumizing mousse from Moroccanoil works on all hair types. It builds body and lift without any stickiness or stiffness. It’s infused with moisturizing argan oil and an anti-static agent (a necessity in winter). I just put a dollop in before drying my hair for a long-lasting volume and a natural-looking style.

This volumizing mousse is $30 at Sephora.

Sales of note for 9.10.24

(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)

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

About Ann

Ann is a working mom, a longtime reader of Corporette and CorporetteMoms, and has been writing our morning fashion advice for working moms since November 2020! She has a daughter (born winter 2014) and a son (born fall 2019) and is a public interest lawyer in Washington, D.C.

Comments

  1. Cb says

    Teachers are on strike tomorrow and wraparound care is running an all-day strike club. Kiddo promises he’ll just be quiet at home, play Lego all day, but this is a fiction, right? I’ve got a massive to do list and husband is on calls most of the day.

    • Cb says

      Also I’m running short on weeks in the life for my substack project. Anyone who fancies filling one out – you can get the link in my name.

      • Anon says

        I did one here, but I filled out the form in Dec 2019 and it was posted in summer 2020 so I think most people didn’t see it, and the ones who did were (not unreasonably) like “….this is so irrelevant to our lives now.” So I’d be up for doing another one!

      • Cb says

        Right? I was originally supposed to be on strike as well but they’ve declared a period of calm. He’s going to the fun strike camp on Wednesday, so he can suck it up with boring strike camp tomorrow.
        You guys, the UK is a mess at the moment.

      • GCA says

        I’m pretty sure this is easier said than done, alas, unless one has magical grandparents or on-call nannies or sitters. We’ve all been there. Over here, we’re looking at some possible snow days this week.
        Cb – could you arrange some strategic playdates? I also have Lego obsessed kids but that lasts a couple hours at most.

        • GCA says

          (I am also dealing with aftercare refusal – as in, big kid says he doesn’t want to do aftercare next year. Which I’d almost be fine with but we have an early release day every week!!…)

          • Anne-on says

            Ugh, same, I’m fighting mine on a half day camp during our upcoming break. It was easier when he was still into the crafts/open gym program at the local bouncy gym. That’s ‘only for little kids’ (which, fair) but I’m also getting shot down on the sports programs. Argh.

          • Anon says

            Isn’t your kid like 11? Why can’t he stay home by himself? I think it’s weird to make an 11 year old go to a camp for a short school break. Of course he doesn’t want to go! His friends are probably lazing around at home playing video games.

        • Anonymous says

          She says his after-school program is open all day, though. That seems like a no-brainer–send him!

        • Boston Legal Eagle says

          It’s supposed to be 5 inches at most… I feel like the schools are just looking for an excuse for snow days at this point since we haven’t had any yet! In an ordinary year, this would be nothing.

          • GCA says

            Oh no, it’s not school making noises about snow days, that’s just me steeling myself for the despair of a week of juggling childcare and work :)

      • Anne-on says

        +1 – aftercare. I’d bribe him with a treat for dessert if that helps at all. I get it – we’re bracing for our first set of ‘real’ snow days this year in New England and I’ve already told my kiddo he gets the morning/early afternoon to chill but he still has to study for his test/do his online work in the afternoon. He’s quite a bit older though and is good at quietly reading/playing online games on the couch in my office and frankly we both like the company :)

    • TheElms says

      Send him to aftercare. If your day is going well or there is something on the to do list he could participate in early, perhaps pick him up a bit early as a treat?

    • Anon says

      I’m just trying to imagine how Americans would react if teachers here went on strike. We’d burn public education to the ground (even more than we’re already doing, sigh).

      • Cb says

        This is day 5/6 this school year..it’s brutal but we have teachers using foodbanks, so we suck it up.

      • Anon says

        Three districts in Massachusetts have striked in the last year and the public school teachers here are arguably some of the highest paid in the country. So it definitely does happen!

        • anon says

          Woburn, MA was closed for 5 days last month due to strike. Happens with some frequency here. I recall hearing the union itself was fined and the court system was involved in some way in assessing the fine, so I’m not sure it’s “legal” but it does happen.

        • Anonymous says

          Yeah it’s prohibited in some but not all states. In mine, teachers are not allowed to strike. But in my town they did and the judge didn’t send them to jail so

      • Anonymous says

        No, we wouldn’t. When I was a kid, the Los Angeles teachers’ union went on strike for 9 days. The administration kept schools open with hundreds of kids in the auditorium, gym, outdoor cafeteria, etc. being supervised by a handful of adults. It was a disaster for kids but did not lead to any sort of broader upheaval in the educational system.

      • Anon says

        It definitely happens in the US. I liked it as a kid. I believe I laid around playing computer games. :)

      • Cornellian says

        My district striked routinely when I was growing up. Granted this was in the 2000s, but…. it’s a thing, at least historically.

    • Boston Legal Eagle says

      Yep, if the strike club (love the name) is open, send him. My kiddo didn’t want to go to aftercare vacation week last week and wanted to stay home, but that does not work when mom and dad also have to work all day. I can’t really expect a 6 year old to entertain himself all day and it’s not fair to anyone (obviously we had to do it during Covid and do it for snow days/sick days occasionally).

    • Spirograph says

      My son was home with me for a week after testing positive for Covid last year and it was not nearly as bad as I’d expected. He did want to be in the same room with me, most of the time, but he just did puzzles on the floor of my office and I could get stuff done. If you have major thinking focus time needs, absolutely send him to strike club, but if you’re just checking things off and it won’t bother you to code-switch and appreciate lego creations every once in a while, you might be ok.

      • Anon says

        Yeah I ended up having my 5 year old (also Lego obsessed) kid home alone for a teacher workday recently when the planned childcare fell through. It was definitely not an 8 hour workday without interruption, but she entertained herself pretty well and I had solid blocks to work in between taking breaks for snacks and Lego appreciation. I think this can work, but it’s know-your-kid and also your job and how flexible it is.

        • Anon says

          Although fwiw my comparison basis is spring/summer 2020 when my kid had just turned 2…so probably not a huge surprise that I found being home alone and trying to work with a 5 year old about a million times less stressful than trying to be home alone and work with a 2 year old.

    • Anonymous says

      This is a prime opportunity for “granting the wish in fantasy” a la How to Talk So Kids Will Listen.

  2. Anonymous says

    Has anyone done a sleep study for their child before a tonsillectomy? Or just in general? Did you find it helpful? My 4 year old snores and wheezes a lot while sleeping. We have one scheduled but I’m on the fence.

    • Anonymous says

      We did it for other reasons when kiddo was a young 3. It wasn’t a rough night but worth it for us- it ruled out medical issues and allowed us to focus on the habitual/behavioral ones.

        • Anonymous says

          Honest question: how does a sleep study actually work? I can’t imagine that anyone sleeps normally while hooked up to all that stuff in a lab. I don’t think I’d sleep at all.

          • Anonymous says

            They do! For my kiddo they came in around 8:30/9, let her watch Frozen on dvd while googling her up with electrodes (stickers on her head). She got all tucked into bed and was lights out by 9:45ish, and she fell asleep by 10. They gave me a cot and I slept in that (sort of). Nurses came in periodically to adjust things all night long. At 6am they woke her up and we were out.

            I wasn’t prepared for her getting so little sleep! But it told them what they needed to know.

    • HSAL says

      Yes, my four year old just had one. He did amazing – I didn’t sleep quite as well. He was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea (I had no idea – he snored a bit but nothing crazy, but he has huge tonsils) and they expedited removing his tonsils and adenoids. I think it’s a good move unless the tonsils are coming out no matter what. I’m trying to get his twin scheduled before school starts this fall.

    • anon says

      Yep, my just turned 5 year old has had 3, related to sleep apnea. They were a pain, and rough nights (both as far as drama in getting the equipment on, and for my sleep, or lack thereof), but definitely worth it and helpful. I absolutely recommend doing it before (and after) surgery. I’ve seen some more recent studies that tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies can have some risks/drawbacks down the line, so I was a little hesitant about doing it and we tried the conservative Singulair + Flonase treatment first. So having an initial sleep study showing apnea, a follow up study after a period of medication showing no improvement, then a final (hopefully) study after surgery showing the apnea resolved, was very important to me.

    • So Anon says

      My oldest had a sleep study a few years ago. I found some photos and videos online to show him what to expect ahead of time with all of the nodes hooked up to his scalp and other spots. It wasn’t his (or my) best night of sleep, but they were able to get what they needed. It doesn’t need to be a solid night of sleep for them to get the information that they need.

  3. Vicky Austin says

    Good morning! I’m working on getting a pump covered by insurance and apparently my choices are Spectra S1 or S2, or the Medela Pump in Style. Which would you go for?

    Logistical considerations: my job has a busy season in the fall involving being on the road all over the region for multiple weeks in a row, so portability is a BIG concern of mine. I do plan to request a couple WFH days as part of returning from mat leave so I can have a reliable break from travel. Client sites vary and the likelihood of being able to have a private space at every one is a crapshoot, so my BFF suggested being prepared to pump in my car just in case. Baby will go to regular daycare.

    • Pump says

      I used the S2 for first baby and am now using for second. I breastfeed for most feedings but pump 1x day for freezer stash (came in handy when my supply tanked when period came back at 9 mos with number one!), and so nanny and dad can give bottles when I’m not available. I like it a lot.

      I did get this –

      TalentCell Rechargeable 12V DC… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MHNQIR2?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

      And used velcro tape to stick it to the side odf the pump to make it portable for when i needed that option.

      • Anonymous says

        I used the S2 for 11 mos of EPing. Second the rec for the TalentCell battery, which I’ve now used several times for charging my phone during power outages.

      • AwayEmily says

        I’ve now used S2 for two kids and it’s just a really nice pump (used Medela for my first and seriously disliked it). I also got a portable battery for when I had to use it on the go. I mean, it’s not super portable — it’s big and kind of annoyingly shaped for travel. But honestly whenever you’re taking pumping stuff you’re going to end up with a big bag anyway between a cooler, all the parts, etc, so it’s still worth it to me even over the smaller Medela PiS. Even though I had a Medela I could have used, I always took the Spectra with me on work travel.

    • Anon says

      Typing this while I pump on the S1… highly recommend, I had to pay a little more on top of what insurance would cover, but with my son back at work I use it 4 times a day and the convenience is worth it. I charge it once a week.

      A couple of other recs – make sure you get fitted for flange size, as very few women are actually a 24 or 28 that come with the model. And I really like using a spray in the flange to make it more comfortable, in 6 months I’ve gone through two bottles of CoBoo pumping spray.

    • Anon says

      Just retired my 2nd Spectra S2, and would absolutely recommend it over the Medela which I also used and hated. I’d also highly recommend getting a lactation consult to fit for pump flange size, mine encouraged me to get smaller inserts which is 1) more effective and 2) more comfortable.

      • anon says

        That should say S1 – the one that can be charged/does not need to be plugged in.

    • DLC says

      S1- in my experience, when you are in a rush and trying to fit in a pump session in a strange location, finding an outlet can prove surprisingly stressful.
      I found Spectra pumps worked better for me than the Medela- easier to find the right combination of suction/speed. Also that soft glowing light on the Spectea was nice for late night pumps.

    • Anon says

      I BFed for all of one month during which time I was exclusively pumping given some supply issues. The $50 I had to pay out of pocket to get the battery operated spectra (I think the s1?) was money very well spent even now knowing I will never use it again.

    • Cornellian says

      Oh! I know this one!

      I had Medela (older version) PIS for my first and it was okay. I now have a spectra S1 and I like it better, but it’s also been 6 years so technology maybe just advanced.

      BUT, I actually like this incredibly cheap one the best! by far! No word on how it ages, and it’s not hospital grade in terms of being a closed loop, but it is SO much more effective than the other two I’ve owned. It’s a bit louder, but way smaller, and works with avent natural bottles (like the spectra). I’m not going to link here but it’s by bellebaby and it’s a double pump. I got it for literally 42 bucks on sale (with bottles and flanges), so it may be worth just having it as a backup/work pump.

      In the age of hybrid work, I’ve found having a tiny hand pump also valuable. I’d just get whatever one fits with your main pump’s bottles, but for the Medela hand pump has lasted best.

  4. anon says

    Need advice! My 6 yo is friends with the kid of our neighbors, they live on our block. Very sweet kid and super nice family, their kid is oldest of 3 and same age as my kid. They play together really well, so no trouble there. My daughter wants to constantly hang out with her, though. As soon as we get home from anywhere she immediately asks if she can play with neighbor kid, and every weekend day she wakes up asking to play with her. Its not like we are always home and my kid does have a few activities she does and other friends from school that we hang out with, but anytime there is any “free” time (after school/before dinner, anytime we don’t have something scheduled on the weekend), she wants to run over to see if her friend can play. Sometimes we do say no, but we don’t want to tell her no every day. And we struggle to come up with a good reason for saying no, when there really is no reason other than we don’t want her to be that kid whose always hanging around when maybe the other family doesn’t want her there. We always suggest that she invite her over to our house, and about half the time she does. Basically, we are worried that the other family is like, why is this kid always knocking on our door. She literally waits until they get home from somewhere and runs over immediately, sometimes as they are getting out of the car. We have stopped her from doing this several times telling her they need time to settle in, but then she wants to go over within a few minutes saying they’ve settled already. How would you handle this? We don’t know how to explain to her that sometimes people need their space and time away or to have time with their family. I mean, we’ve said that, but she doesn’t get it. How do we kindly explain that maybe her family is annoyed that my kid is showing up at their door constantly? She’s really sensitive, so we probably walk on eggshells with her too much. TIA for any advice on a script.

    • Anonymous says

      I think you need to talk to the other kid’s parents about this to get a sense of how much is too much. TBH, what your daughter is doing sounds exactly like my late 80s/early 90s childhood. There were a bunch of kids on my block who were close in age, and starting at around age 6, we were always knocking on each other’s doors looking for a playmate.

      • Anon says

        It was my childhood too, but I think what’s different is that it sounds like it’s always OP’s daughter initiating, which would worry me too.

        • Anonymous says

          OP didn’t say how many children she has, but if the neighbor’s family has 3, there may just be more going on at that house. I was an only, and I definitely initiated more because I got bored at my house earlier in the day than the kids with more siblings.

          • Anon says

            I don’t disagree that it depends on factors including siblings (I have a hyper extroverted only who wants a playmate 24/7), but I also think you need to tread carefully if your kid is doing 100% of the initiating. It’s something I’m very aware of as a mom, anyway, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable for OP to want a gut check about this.

      • NYCer says

        +1. Definitely talk to the other parents. This also doesn’t seem like a huge deal to me and is very similar to my neighborhood dynamic growing up. The other can always say no if your daughter stops by and her friend is unavailable.

      • Spirograph says

        This. My daughter is constantly knocking on her neighbor friend’s door, but we’re good enough friends with the parents that they know they can send her away with no awkwardness or hard feelings. On my street, this is totally normal — kids migrate between yards and houses, and the parents just update each other in group text where the pack is. It sounds like you need to get friendlier with the parents so this feels more natural and less like your kid is imposing.

        My script would be something like “daughter loves playing at your house! Let me know if it ever gets to be too much. Your kid(s) are always welcome here, too. Feel free to send them all to ours anytime. Here’s my number.” and then hang out and chat in the yard with the other parent if they have a few minutes.

        • OP says

          This is a great suggested script, thank you! I’ve said all of this before except for the “let me know if it gets to be too much” part. We do have a friendly relationship and text each other about our kids regularly. But she’s super kind and I didn’t know if she might feel awkward saying, hey, stop letting your kid come over so much! I think I’m overthinking this though. :)

      • Anon says

        Same. I’m kind of sad that my kids may not be able to experience this.

        My 26 month old also insists on knocking on everyone’s doors to play. I imagine he’ll be the same as your kid at age six, so I’m taking notes on all these suggestions.

    • Anonymous says

      How often does the other kid run over and knock on your door? If the spontaneous visits are all initiated by your daughter, I’d put a stop to all of her running over there and just allow pre-scheduled play dates.

    • Anon says

      No advice but following. I was going to post a very similar question today except we don’t have neighbors with same age kids, so my kid is constantly pestering me to text the parents rather than walking over to their door. We had a huge birthday party for my kid this weekend and it went really well, but then Sunday night we were cleaning up and putting away new toys and my kid was like “I have a play date next weekend, right!?” And I just kind of lost it…like no we cannot ask these people to come over next weekend when they took time out of this weekend to celebrate you and bought you all these nice presents. They like you, but they have a life outside of you! And then I said some version of that to her (more kindly) and she got hysterical. She’s very sensitive too.

    • Anonymous says

      Did the other family tell you they don’t want her around or something? Or is this not ever reciprocated? I think you are possibly creating an issue where there isn’t one! It’s fine for her to go over and ask if her friend can play. If her friend can’t play, she/her parents will say no. It’s definitely reasonable to tell her she should invite her friend over about half the time so she’s not always at their house, but this otherwise seems like a good thing. I had a similar relationship with a neighbor friend and she’s like a sister to me still!

    • startup lawyer says

      Can you spread it out? Any other kids she likes? I’d probably schedule some play dates with other families so she knows that there are other options (in a way) and i think it’s normal for kids to want play dates all the time

    • OP says

      Sorry forgot to include that the other kid comes over to ask if she can play, too. Its just that my kid does it more. I’d day its like 25% other kid, 75% mine. Or maybe 30% other kid, hard to estimate. And the parents have never said anything about it, but they do have two younger kids, one an infant. I just don’t want my kid to be the annoying neighbor!

      • HSAL says

        They might be glad someone is occupying their oldest! I probably would be, but I think checking is a good idea.

        • DLC says

          Yes, this! I am always happy to have another kid entertain my kid. This is how friendships are formed.

      • Anon says

        Oh if the other kid is reciprocating even 25% of the time I don’t think it’s a big deal. I read it as your daughter initiating nearly 100% of the interactions.

    • Anon says

      I would say to the other parents “DD loves running over to see if Susie is available to play. We love to see them having so much fun together, but please do let me know right away if the frequency is too much or if it would be easier for them to play over here more while infant is young.” Don’t make it a huge deal, but let them know it’s ok to reach out. Some people are so non-confrontational that they’ll just ghost you instead of saying “hey your kid is coming over too much.”

  5. Mixed-Age Classes says

    How important is it for your kiddo to be in daycare/preschool with kids their own age? My 4 year old has another full year before he starts school. He is in a mixed-age class with kids as young as 3. Several kids his age have moved/left/transferred out recently, and he is already one of the very oldest. Next year, he will be the oldest kid by 9 months. Most of the kids in his class will be 3 or barely 4 (he will be 5).

    Is this going to be okay or do I need to figure something else out? His is the only preschool class at this center, so my options are to leave him where he is or move him to a different school for one year. He isn’t old enough for kindergarten (misses the cutoff by just a few weeks) so that’s not an option.

    • Anon says

      I think it will be ok. My daughter has been in a mixed age classroom for the last two years. The youngest kids turned 3 right before the August 1 cutoff and the oldest kids are red-shirted spring/summer birthdays who turn 6 before starting K, so over a 3 year age span even though technically the room is only two years (PK3 and PK4). Last year my daughter was the youngest by a fairly significant margin – all but three kids were in PK4 and the two other PK3 kids were both early fall birthdays (she’s a March birthday). It was an adjustment at first, but ultimately she did fine. This year it’s the opposite situation, almost all the kids are PK3 and she’s one of the oldest although there are still the two fall birthdays who are older, plus a couple of red-shirted kids. I think it’s good she got to experience both sides of the coin. Boredom has never been an issue and the mixed age room doesn’t seem to present any social challenges. Fwiw, her closet friends haven’t always been super close in age to her. Last year she was very close to a kid who was 1.5 years older and this year one of her good friends is over a year younger. I think at this age, gaps of 12-18 months aren’t that big a deal and kids generally seek out other kids with similar interests and play styles.

      • Anonymous says

        But OP is talking about age gaps of more like 18-24 months with no same-age peers and her kid as the oldest.

        • Anon says

          I don’t think being the oldest vs second or third oldest matters. She said her kid will be 5, which I assume means he turns 5 during the 23-24 school year (because if he’s turning 5 by August why wouldn’t he be in K?). I agree that 3, especially young 3s, lack the social skills to play with 5 and 6 year olds, but I don’t think there is a meaningful difference between 4 and 5 year olds in terms of peer interaction. The young 4s and old 5s play together just fine at my kid’s school. Also what she described is the current situation – if some kids have transferred out, some new ones might be transferring in and who knows how old they’ll be?

          YMMV, but I think it’s insane to switch from a school you like over this. There will be lots of situations in life like sports and summer camps where your kid is around kids who are a year (or more) older or younger.

          • Anonymous says

            Sports and summer camps for older kids are different from full-day, year-round child care for a 5-year-old.

          • Anon says

            I get that daycare and camp are different, but I still don’t think it’s that big a deal unless literally every kid in the class is almost 2 years younger than her child, which wasn’t my read on OP’s post. Kids develop along such different timelines that I don’t understand the fixation on having peers exactly the same age. There are plenty of 4 year olds who are more mature than some 6 year olds, and I don’t think maturity is that relevant to play anyway. My kid just turned 5 and plays seamlessly with kids from 3.5 to 7 (or older) and I think her social-emotional skills are pretty average.

            TBH I’d be more worried about academic boredom than social stuff, but again there’s a big variation (I know 4 year olds who can read and plenty of 6 year olds who can’t) and in pre-K there shouldn’t be that much focus on academics anyway.

    • Anonymous says

      Especially at pre-K age, he needs to be with his peers. I’d move him, and at his age I’d be looking at private K if he is showing kindergarten readiness.

      • OP says

        I hadn’t really considered private kindergarten. I think he’d so fine in kindergarten, but I worry that we’d end up with the opposite problem long term where he was so much younger than everyone if I sent him a year early? But maybe its worth considering.

        The private schools in our area use the same kindergarten cutoff, though I guess I could call and see if they have more flexibility.

        Thanks for this suggestion

        • 11:27 says

          Where we live, private K at a preschool is often used in place of pre-K for kids close to the age cutoff. About 3/4 of the kids repeat K in public or private school and no more than 1/4 go directly to first grade. Private K is much less academic than public K. It’s really just another pre-K-type option to look at, where many of the kids will be coming from different schools so he won’t be the only new one.

    • HSAL says

      More important (to me) than the age of his classmates, is he going to be repeating the same lessons next year? Presumably it’s a PreK style class. Our daycare didn’t let you in the last class unless you were headed to K in less than a year. If they’re not making an effort to keep him engaged with new material, I’d try to find a few place for him next year. We had one child in my daughter’s PreK in that situation. His mom decided to hold off a year before K and moved him to a different school so he didn’t feel like he was “held back”.

      • Anonymous says

        Yes. This is exactly why we did a different pre-K. Kiddo is an October birthday and well-behaved, so she was a year ahead in daycare grade-wise, despite generally being with kids her age. We moved her to a different pre-K program (the amazing public pre-K in our town) even though it was much less convenient (but also cheaper) because we didn’t want her to repeat the material. It was also a great experience for her to make new friends and be exposed to a new environment that was similar to kindergarten, but a bit more sheltered.

    • anonM says

      Do you otherwise like the school and teacher? My DS would have loved this, but depends on personality. I might feel differently with DD. DS also would have been very upset to leave his school, so any extra benefit from moving would have to be weighed against the upset caused by another caregiver change. If your kiddo was the youngest I’d be more worried. But really, if he’s having fun, likes the teacher, and you trust the school to use the age gap as a way to encourage him and give him some extra confidence, I’d stay. (I’m assuming here he’s meeting normal milestones for his age etc.). My frame of reference for pre-school is establishing some social skills and setting a basis for lifelong love of learning, and that can be met with slightly younger kids. My only other caveat is that I’d change my answer if preschool tells you they plan to just give him more worksheets because he’s older or something like that, rather than just giving him more classroom leadership roles. Our school has kindergarteners in with preschool and it seemed really good for them. My son adored the kindergartener and looked up to her a lot, and she seemed to thrive on the positive reinforcement.

    • Anon says

      I would want to know that the teacher is doing to accommodate the age gap (sometimes they are very on the ball, sometimes not, kind of depends on the attitude of the school), and also how your child deals with transitions.

      • OP says

        That’s a good point. This is part of the problem. His teacher (who was amazing) left and hasn’t been replaced yet. They’ve just had a series of subs/assistants filling in for over a month now. Supposedly they’ve hired a great new teacher who should start at some point—but right now everything is sort of a disaster and I’m not sure how to gauge how things will be in the fall.

        As far as transitions, they are hard on him. We’ve also had a lot of other life changes recently. So I’m trying to figure out how to balance my frustrations with the situation at school and my desire to not impose on more “big change” on him.

        • Anonymous says

          There is going to be a lot of big change in the classroom anyway if there’s a new teacher.

      • Anon says

        Agree and I think it also depends on your kid’s personality. If your kid is naturally a shy follower having a chance to be the oldest can be really great and can allow the kid to blossom in an un-threatening environment. If your kid’s natural tendencies are towards assertiveness and bossing other kids around, then being the oldest may not be for the best.

    • Anonymous says

      You want similar aged peers. Look for a pre-K, transitional K or even private K program. These are all programs where you go to public K the following year.

      One of my kids missed the cutoff by 2 weeks. We specifically looked for a PK where she’d have same age peers. She ended up going to one with a “2.9” program aka fall babies. Then into the 3s and 4s class. When she was in the 4s class, about half of the kids turned 5 before January. It was perfect.

    • Anonymous says

      I would not consider that. It isn’t mixed it’s just one outlier child. No way.

  6. Anon says

    water bottle help – i know this has been discussed many times before, but currently we use the contigo spout water bottles, which I like because the top can fold down. but one of my kids is a chewer and destroys the straws and they’ve stopped selling them separately. i purchased the nalgene grip and gulp on a rec from this board and while the hard straw is much better, i don’t like how it cannot fold down. is there any water bottle with a hard straw that can fold down?

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