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I really like this sweater with a fun scalloped neck detail. I like that the body and sleeves of the sweater do not have any pattern or embellishments and that it is offered in several colors. The shape itself is also classic, without drop shoulders or crazy sleeves, and it’s longer in length. I like how the scalloped neck has a contrasting color on the edges to draw attention to the face. While I am talking about sweaters, I’m going to ask you a serious question that I’ve been pondering: Does anyone in real life tuck their sweaters into pants or do the fashion blogger thing where you tuck just the front edge of a sweater into your jeans?
I’d love to know if people are pulling off this look in real life or if it’s just done for photo styling. This sweater is available at Banana Republic Factory for $24.99–$34.98, depending on color. Washable Forever Scallop Crew-Neck Sweater
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Sales of note for 5.5.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase (ends 5/12); $50 off your $200+ purchase (ends 5/5)
- Banana Republic Factory – Spend your StyleCash with 40-60% off everything, or take an extra 20% off purchase (ends 5/6)
- Eloquii – $19 & up 300+ styles and up to 50% off everything else
- J.Crew – Shirts & tees starting at $24.50; extra 30% off sale styles
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – 40% off full-price styles & extra 15% off; extra 55% off sale styles
- Nordstrom: Nordy Club members earn 3X the points on beauty; 30% off selected shoes
- Talbots – 40% off one item & and 30% off everything else; $50 off $200 (all end 5/5)
- Zappos – 27,000+ 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 – 40% off everything & extra 20% off select styles with code
- Hanna Andersson – Friends & Family Sale: 40% off sitewide
- J.Crew Crewcuts – tk; extra 30% off sale styles; kids’ styles starting at $14.50
- Old Navy – Up to 75% off clearance
- Target – 20% off women’s clothing & shoes; up to 50% off kitchen & dining; 20% off jewelry & hair accessories; up to $100 off select Apple products; up to 40% off home & patio; BOGO 50% off adult & YA books
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And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- If you’re a working parent of an infant with low sleep needs, how do you function at work when you’re in the throes of baby’s sleep regression?
- Should I cut my childcare down to 12 hours a month if I work from home?
- Will my baby have speech delays if we raise her bilingual?
- Has anyone given birth in a teaching hospital?
- My child eats everything, and my friends’ kids do not – how should I handle? In general, what is the best way to handle when your child has some skill/ability and your friend’s child doesn’t have that skill/ability?
- ADHD moms, give me your tips to help with things like behavior in the classroom, attention to detail, etc?
- I think I suffer from mom rage…
- My husband and kids are gone this weekend – how should I enjoy my free time?
- I’m struggling to be compassionate with a SAHM friend who complains she doesn’t have enough hours of childcare.
- If you exclusively formula fed, what tips do you have for in the hospital and coming home?
- Could I take my 4-yo and 8-yo on a 7-8 day trip to Paris, Lyon, and Madrid?
Anon says
Favorite things I can put on a Kindle Fire for a 22 month old?
We have a long car trip for a funeral this weekend, so I bought a Fire Kids this morning. Kid has had pretty limited screen time so far, but does like looking at pictures of ‘baby’ (herself) on our phones.
anon says
Baby Bum videos
Anon says
+1. I find this was the first videos for ours when they were super young that really captured their attention.
Anon says
Sorry for your loss.
A slideshow of photos of herself is a good idea. Will she wear headphones/do you mind listening to things from the tablet while driving? If you have Netflix, at that age mine loved to watch Little Baby Bums (animated songs) and had a much longer attention span for that than TV show episodes. I think they were just starting to get into Daniel Tiger, but couldn’t always pay attention to a full episode.
For interactive apps, mine have enjoyed bubble pop, laugh & learn animal sounds, and peekaboo barn, but not for more than max 10 minutes at a time.
Anonymous says
Mother Goose Club on YouTube / it’s videos of kids singing songs like wheels on the bus etc
Anonymous says
Is there a way to get YouTube videos to be viewable without an internet connection?
Anonymous says
We watched them on YouTube but I think there is a link to download (possible with associated cost)
Pogo says
If you have Youtube premium you can download. I did a trial of it once so I could download for during a flight.
Anon says
You can download Mother Goose Club directly to the Kindle from the FreeTime app and watch without WiFi.
Anonymous says
My 20 month old will watch YouTube clips of Elmo songs, play with any of the drawings games, and look at photos/movies of herself and family. That’s about it.
lsw says
Sorry for your loss. Someone on here recommended Toca Boca Toca Town when we flew two years ago (my son was 23 months I think?) and he still likes it now at 3.5. Also on a rec from here we downloaded Itsy Bitsy Spider from Duck Duck Moose and he loved that too. We also put a few episodes of Chuggington on my iPad from Netflix – you can download some titles to play offline. My son will watch videos of himself forever, too (as you said your child enjoys). There’s also a Daniel Tiger app where you can play clips from the songs and he likes that, though that might be challenging for a 22 month old to navigate solo.
anne-on says
There is an ‘Elmo’s world’ series of videos that you can download – our kiddo at that age particularly liked the elmo’s world babies and animals but there are a bunch that are very visual and held our son’s attention when very little else did. I downloaded the videos to play offline as we were also in a spot without wifi.
AwayEmily says
This is old-school but my 2yo LOVES Dora the Explorer.
Anon says
So sorry for your loss. I think you can put the PBS Kids Video and PBS Kids Games apps on there. My 2.5 YO loves Sesame Street, Esme and Roy, Pinkalicious and Peteriffic. I wish she would love Daniel Tiger more but she does not. With the games, you likely have to download them. My daughter loves the Elmo and Abby potty one, there is a sesame street bathtime one and then there is one where you help elmo pop and count bubbles (or that might be curious george). We also put Disney plus on ours and our toddler can spend hours watching all of the classic disney movies.
Anon says
We paid for a FreeTime and a PBS Kids subscription so we could download content to watch without wifi (I think just hold down the image of what you want to download and select “Download” to pull it off the web). We recently took our Fire Kids tablet on a 5-hour plane ride with our 25-month old and she happily watched pre-downloaded Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger, and Mother Goose Club episodes. There’s also an interactive Daniel Tiger app where you can draw and watch different Daniel Tiger songs and a Sesame Street counting/letters one that she enjoyed (it was definitely too old for her but she at least was into seeing the characters and tapping around on the screen).
We only do tablets for travel so I wasn’t sure how she’d do but she rocked it and was thrilled to have a few hours of unlimited screentime.
Too tired to be clever says
If you have Netflix, my daughter loved Word Party at that age and the episodes are about 14 minutes.
Preg Pants says
Help. I’m pregnant for the first time, just about to enter my second trimester, and my old pants no longer fit. I need some maternity pants options for work to get me through Boston winter/spring, until I can wear dresses every day. Problem is that i can’t STAND every style I try. The over-the-bump ones feel bulky and constricting; the under-the-bump ones feel terribly precarious and evocative of the terrible low-rise pants days, like my crack will show at any moment. What am I missing? Please send all the recommendations or advice!
Beth @ Parent Lightly says
For that late 1st/early 2nd trimester period I used the Bella Band with my regular pants and it worked OK. Later, I found the over the bump styles better. They feel less bulky as you get bigger but when your bump is small they feel like overkill.
NYCer says
I only bought maternity jeans, not other pants, but I wore the side-panel (under the bump) style and never had any issue with them riding down or showing my crack. I had J Brand in my normal jeans size.
Anon says
Same, except I’m a cheapskate and had Old Navy in my regular size. I could not do over the bump, it felt terribly constructing, even sizing way up.
I also did tights and dresses throughout Midwest winter.
NYCer says
I also wore tights and dresses throughout the winter to work on non-casual days. Commando tights in two sizes up (i.e., large instead of small) worked for me. I never tried any actual maternity tights.
XStitcher says
Have you tried maternity tights with dresses? I wore a lot of tights and dresses during this phase for the same reasons you described regarding the two pant options. The Bella Band on my old pants didn’t really work for me for more than a few weeks. It wanted to ride up, and then it felt too tight. I thought I would hate the maternity tights, but they bothered me much less than expected. They didn’t feel bulky like the over-the-belly pants but weren’t tight and uncomfortable like the Bella Band. Then, I hit the last two months and couldn’t stand pulling them on and the over-the-belly pants were all I wore.
Anonymous says
This, or maternity leggings under dresses.
-mom of 3 spring babies in Boston
GCA says
yes to over-the-bump maternity leggings under dresses. I am not a dress person at all, but that’s what was most comfortable.
Anon says
Ann Taylor Loft has amazing fleece lined maternity tights.
IHeartBacon says
For this interim period, how about try fleece lined maternity tights under dresses. You can find them on amazon. As your bump gets bigger, you can try different style pants again.
AnonATL says
Depends on how formal your office is, but I’m 15w and found that my ponte style or any sort of pull on pants are still comfortable. The buttons and zippers are what hurt me, so anything with a soft stretchy waistband even if it’s not maternity specific works.
I do have a couple pairs of the Levis baby bump jeans off the river site that fit well and don’t fall down. They aren’t super low rise and have a couple inches of elastic in the front half only. I wear them right around my belly button like a higher rise pair of jeans would fall, but they’re just as comfortable under the belly.
Anoner says
Motherhood Maternity Women’s Maternity Super Stretch Secret Fit Belly Ankle Skinny Work Pant, Black, Extra Small https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CJX6UJU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_yFxrEb1NVBVHF
These were my holy grail! I would try especially bc free returns on Amazon
Anonymous says
Get the full panel and fold them half over, ala 2005 yoga pants style. Did this until about 25 weeks then I switched to the full panel up during both pregnancies.
Jessamyn says
Ladies, are y’all getting your kids Valentine’s Day gifts for tomorrow? I haven’t, and just doing an “am I a monster?” check.
Andrea says
Girl – no. Let go of this. There are a million things that make you a great mom and not getting a silly hallmark holiday gift for your kids does not negate that!
avocado says
Mine is getting a card, a small bag of candy, and fancy decorated cookies for the dog. She gets more excited about gifts for the dog than she does about gifts for herself.
FVNC says
I might get them each a rose? I don’t know…my husband and I don’t do anything for each other, but valentines seems to be a “major” holiday now in school (i.e., my first grader had a party with parents invited and took home quite a few treats/plastic gadgets (junk) similar to Halloween). This morning the first grader also asked to say home tomorrow “because it’s a holiday.”Riiiiight. My husband bought pink-frosted mini cupcakes for the kids already so between that and the school parties I may call that enough.
Anon says
You’re not a monster. I am doing gifts, but mostly because my almost 2 yo is OBSESSED with hearts, so I got her some heart-themed things that are practical (a book, sunglasses, cookie cutters so we can bake together). Her birthday is also in just a few days so it’s kind of one weeklong celebration for us. I doubt we make such a big deal about it if her birthday weren’t so close to Valentine’s Day.
Anonymous says
Heh, I have the opposite reaction! My twins were born on Feb 11, so by the time we get to Feb 14 I figure we’ve had plenty of partying for the week and so I can safely ignore Valentine’s Day.
Anon says
I think the order matters ;) I’m sure I’ll have celebration burnout by the time her birthday is over. Mostly we’re just doing V day gifts because she likes hearts and was going to get heart-themed birthday gifts anyway, and a lot of friends/family sent birthday gifts so I figured we would spread out the gift giving. I definitely can’t imagine doing any kind of party for V day – one party is more than enough! Buying gifts online is the easy part of holidays :)
Anonymous says
Like $15 of candy from CVS. Also, red food dye in the milk so they can have pink milk on their cereal for breakfast.
Butter says
Well that’s brilliant and free. Thanks for the idea!
Clementine says
My kids are getting paper hearts on their doors and a dinner ‘party’ of heart shaped pink pancakes and bacon roses for dinner with a chocolate cake.
I did consider getting them both new pajamas as a valentine’s day gift, but that’s more because they somehow have both outgrown their current jammies and are wearing belly shirts to bed every night…
Anon says
Haha, nope! They’ll get cards (and probably candy) from school and that’s good enough for me. My kids also both have winter birthdays (as do at least 3/4 of their friends), so between Christmas/Hanukkah and birthdays they’ve been getting plenty of presents and cupcakes in the past 2 months.
Anonymous says
Mine are old enough to know (2/4/6). They are getting either heart shaped pancakes or heart Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast. That’s it.
Maybe for dinner I’ll cut our usual Friday pizza into a heart shape.
No cards. When they were smaller I got them each a balloon instead of a donut.
Beth @ Parent Lightly says
I’m not.
anon says
We might get a heart-shaped pizza, and that’s about it.
anne-on says
So I totally booked a weekend trip with my son and didn’t realize it was valentines day, oops! My husband will get a card (and the house to himself, which honestly, is the bigger gift). I told my son we can order a special room service dessert in the hotel and eat it on the bed in PJs while watching TV. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to top this….
SC says
I bought the family a box of Lindt chocolates from Walgreens. They’re mostly for Kiddo, who loves finding out what’s in each chocolate, but we’re working on sharing.
I may also buy Kiddo some train car letters. He had some that spelled out his name, but 2 broke, and he’s been asking for them since before Christmas (but after I’d already bought his Christmas gifts). We don’t usually buy gifts between Christmas and birthday, but Valentine’s Day may be a good enough excuse to replace his train cars.
If I’m motivated in the morning, I may get up a little early and make pancakes. 50/50 chance though–no way I could have done it this morning.
AwayEmily says
I forgot it was Valentines Day until I read this comment, but now that I remember (thanks!) I will probably pick up some candy at CVS for us to share after dinner.
AwayEmily says
Also is it just me or has “CVS” become like “kleenex” in that it stands in for all drugstores? Ours is NOT a CVS, it’s a local chain (Kinney’s) but I just realize I call it CVS more often than not.
Emily S. says
I do it, too!
Emily S. says
I am and I have been tying fringe on no-sew fleece blankets for what seems like hours a night for the past three nights, and really regretting my choices. Last year we did a mylar heart balloon and cards. I never give candy because I know they’ll get some at school.
On top of the two Valentine’s mailboxes and two sets of Valentine’s exchange cards I crafted this week, it is a lot. And I’m someone who thought I liked the holiday!
Anon says
Nope. She has a party at preschool today and will come home hopped up on sugar I’m sure.
anon says
No way. I just finished coercing them into making/signing 100 cards. I’m done. But my in-laws (who live 30 minutes away) send a fancy card each year, and one year, they didn’t put enough postage and we had to go pick them up at the post office. I was so mad.
Pigpen's Mama says
I am, but only because I’m a sucker for little gifts on days like this and she’s been asking what she’s going to get for V-day. If I didn’t have something in mind, I would have just pulled a few things out of the “bag of random small bribing items” I keep in my closet.
Our (daughter and me) evening plans will be take out Indian food (our favorite) and a “romantic” movie per her request — likely “Lady and the Tramp.” That’s our standard Friday night movie night, since my husband usually works late on Fridays and I’m too wiped out to do much of anything else.
Disclosing pregnancy says
How did you handle telling work that you were pregnant? Any law-firm specific advice?
I assume this needs to be an in-person conversation, but do I have to go have an awkward sit-down with every single partner I work with? Ughhh why is this so hard.
Anonymous says
I told the managing partner in person and she asked if I wanted to tell the other partners myself or have her do it. I told one other partner in person because I am close with his wife (friend from law school), but the managing partner shared it with everyone else. You’ll want in-person conversations with everyone you work for about transitioning work as it gets closer, but for the initial announcement I don’t think there’s any need.
Anonymous says
I went into each partner/senior counsel office and told them, but made it part of our natural catching up on a Monday morning conversation.
I was also hitting the beginning of my second trimester around Thanksgiving, so I told people the Monday after Thanksgiving (we told our parents on Thanksgiving). So it was maybe a more natural type thing to bring up in conversation since we were talking about how our Thanksgivings had gone.
Maybe if you wait until Monday, it can be “how was your weekend?” (response: good, yours?”) and then you can say “Mine was great! I actually have some exciting news….”
But yes, it was awkward, so if you can find a way to slip it into a non work conversation that is likely already to occur, it might make it less awkward (it did for me, but each person/work relationship is different). I know I didn’t want to make it a Thing.
Anon says
My situation was kind of unique because I was only staffed on cases for one partner at the time. I told that partner over the phone (we weren’t in the same office) and then told the partner in charge of my office (who was in a different department and never worked with me). Then I just let word spread from there. When senior associates/partners approached me to do work on a new case, I obviously disclosed it to them immediately and let them know the timeframe I expected to be out, in case it affected their planning.
ALC says
I told the two partners I do the most work for first, each individually in their offices. Then I told our HR person, who can be kind of a gossip, and hoped she would spread it. She didn’t actually, so then I went around and told folks as I saw them naturally (and made sure to tell everyone who might have a project come up for me while I would be out).
Anonymous says
I work in a department of four. I told my boss first (earlier than everyone else because nausea was affecting my work). I then told the other associate and our assistant when I was ready to officially announce. The assistant network spread the news pretty quickly.
Pogo says
It’s so awkward. I’ve only told my boss so far this time around, it was pretty obvious because we were out to dinner and I wasn’t drinking.
Meg says
My firm is “free market” so it made sense to have individual conversations. I brought it up to different people during the same week when we had various case planning/deadline conversations. Then I emailed follow-up to the teams to make sure senior associates etc were in the loop. Then HR.
It seemed to work well when I framed it as “I have good news!” And then followed up with the effect on the case timeline like “so it looks like I’ll be back before expert discovery closes but we could use some coverage in the interim.” So that gave them the option to either talk personal and be nice or just jump right into calendar stuff to avoid saying anything weird.
Anon says
Small office and big firm, so yes, I started with the head of our practice group and then each of the partners with whom I had active matters, and then my associate friends, and everyone else heard through the grapevine and figured it out.
anon says
Small practice group, big firm (partners are spread out), and same. I started with the head (who was the partner I worked with most closely) and then went from there.
Clementine says
A good friend is pregnant with her second and is just… struggling. Her older kiddo is 2 and her childcare is a combo of her mom (who was a SAHM) and part time daycare/nursery school. It’s kiddo’s first year in daycare and kiddo LOVES the other kids and is doing great but… kiddo has been sick a lot this winter.
Grandma ‘helpfully’ keeps suggesting that the solution is for my friend to be a SAHM (not an option for financial reasons) and my friend is just really struggling with being super pregnant and constantly having a sick kid who kindly ‘shares’ all the illness with his parents and just… mom guilt.
I want to do something for her. Right now, I’m offering to take her kid for extended babysitting/play dates and just… listening and promising it gets better. I want to get her a gift for the baby but also am looking for any other ideas that others in this position have found to be helpful/supportive?
Anon says
i don’t know where you live, but uber eats gift card or gift card to some kind of food place, gift card for a prenatal massage or if that is more than you want to spend then even just a mani/pedi.
Meg says
It sounds like you’re already being a really good friend. Giving her relief from toddler duty so she can nap/catch a break is great. It’s important now while she’s pregnant but will be even more appreciated when she has a newborn not sleeping but a toddler eager for mom’s attention. So maybe a mix of offering to take the 2yo for a few hours and helping line up a sitter so you and her can go get your nails done/get brunch/feel like adult women together? She just sounds overwhelmed and like she could use a (judgment-free) break.
Anon says
One of the things I’ve mentioned before re: working moms is that working is also a way of serving your family and your child.
Toddlers don’t understand retirement and 401ks, but they will when they are middle-aged. At that point, whether Mom and Dad have a comfortable retirement will profoundly affect their lives. While some people are able to live and retire on one income, most people need the second income. That isn’t something to feel guilty over: it’s a gift to your child decades down the road, so she can live her own life, have her own family, and make her own choices without worrying about paying your rent.
Modify as needed if your friend needs a pep talk.
CDA says
Thank you to everyone who weighed in yesterday on how to handle visits by our parents! The time difference prevented me from posting again, but I appreciate all of the different insight and advice into how to balance a newborn and our parents.
Sarabeth says
I missed this yesterday but thought I’d weigh in because my in-laws are also on a different continent, so we had to deal with some of the same issues, like buying tickets before you know when the baby will actually be born. We had them come for 4 weeks after my due date each time. For the first baby, that meant they got there three weeks after the birth; for the second, who came early, it was 8 weeks after. My in-laws are generally very kind and helpful people and we have a big house, but I would not have wanted them with me any earlier than 3 weeks, and frankly that was even a bit much. For me, it was so much better once breastfeeding was basically established and I didn’t have to choose between hiding in my room or being topless in front of my in-laws. Luckily they are the kind of British where we might hurt their feelings but they’d never admit it, so they didn’t push back. We also softened the blow by having them come for a significant amount of time (3 weeks the first time, 4 weeks the second). I was mostly fine with my parents being there immediately, because 1) I’m fine with them seeing me topless, and 2) I trusted that if I lost my sh*t in front of them (which did happen at least once each time, postpartum hormones are no joke), it wasn’t going to do any long-term damage to our relationship. My parents did overlap with my in-laws a bit each time, which was nice because they get along really well and my parents could do some of the work of helping my in-laws figure things out. If they didn’t get on so well, I assume it would have made things even more stressful.
I also found that, even though my in-laws are helpful, I had to do a fair amount of work to enable their help just because they had never spent time in the US. So, for example, they were happy to cook, but I had to explain that we didn’t have a kitchen scale because Americans use volume measurements in recipes; or that no, there really wasn’t going to be a workable bus service from our suburban neighborhood to the nearish grocery store. The second time was better on that front, just because they’d done it once before. So do think about whether any international visitors will be able to be self-sufficient in your current context. My parents were easier to host just because they are used to how American grocery stores work, etc. It sounds silly, but it actually makes a difference to be able to say “can you pick up some size 1 diapers” and not have to tell them which chain stores will sell diapers, etc. If your visitors will need that kind of hand-holding, I’d seriously think about whether you could designate a friend or neighbor to help informally with some of that.
And, ditto to everyone saying that you may not want other folks to be holding your baby all the time. Luckily, my parents and in-laws are all people that I could say that to and they would understand – they always asked even before picking my kids up from the cradle, and didn’t mind at all if I said I’d rather hold them myself. And especially with my colicky first, it was a godsend having someone else willing to hold her so I could sleep! But I still felt a very deep-rooted need to be in charge of who was holding my baby–those protective instincts are strong, at least in my experience. If you worry about this, one strategy is to actively think about when you want help and ask for it then, so they get their baby fix and you still feel in charge, and get to snuggle your baby when that’s what you want to do.
Sarabeth says
Oh gosh, that was a novel, sorry!
CDA says
But very helpful – thank you!
Unfortunately, a lack of self-sufficiency (given the location) is going to be an issue we will need to sort out, so that insight is especially powerful.
PetiteMom says
How much crafts and reading do you incorporate in the daily life of your kids. I have a hyper 3year old boy and it’s so hard to get him sit still and color or do crafts. Part of it it’s also my fault because I don’t encourage or sit down with him to do that. Basically it’s all free play after a full day of preschool. Weekends have been busy with swim, Bday parties, etc. We read two books before bedtime but lately skipped because he was soo tired.
How do I commit myself to finding that time to read and do calming activities with my child?
Anon says
Crafts – literally none. That’s what daycare is for, imo.
Reading waxes and wanes. We never skip bedtime books (except as a consequence for bad behavior and even that has happened only a couple times) but we usually don’t do more than 2-3 short books on a weeknight. We only have 1.5 hours between getting home and bedtime, and eating takes a good 30-45 minutes, and then we want to let her run around and have free play for a bit, and then we have to do the PJ/toothbrushing routine, so it doesn’t leave much time for books. We do usually do more reading on the weekends. Weekend afternoons are often busy with birthday parties or playdate, but we try to keep weekend mornings free and do lots of reading then. Weekend nights (Fri/Sat) we also let bedtime slip a bit to do more books, because she can sleep in if she wants.
Beth @ Parent Lightly says
I would never do crafts on my own but my kids love them. But it’s just open ended crafting, not projects that I’m planning. For reading, we always read before bed but otherwise there’s nothing built in. My kids are older (5 and 7).
anon says
When my son was 3, getting him to color for longer than 30 seconds was a struggle. It got much better around age 4, and now as a 10-year-old, he still enjoys drawing and coloring. I would give it time and not stress about doing crafts at home until he can actually enjoy them.
For quiet activities, how about Play-doh (still creative!), puzzles, or reading?
Anonymous says
My kids LOVE crafts, so we do it a lot. I would say, though, that as long as they are doing things other than endless screen time, it needn’t be crafts! Have them build forts, ride bikes, play dress-up, help bake/cook, play play-doh…heck I make my kids wash windows or start choosing toys for charity when they start telling me they have nothing to do but watch tv (the sixty thousand toys in my house agree with me).
Cate says
So a couple things. On books, we read most nights, but not all! Sometimes they are tired or we went out to dinner and are short on time or whatever and on those nights I have zero problem skipping books. Also my kids like different books and my husband travels for work, so those nights I often skip too to avoid the fight. I think it’s all about just doing the best you can. We also have books everywhere in our house – I like to think they might pick one up in the afternoon with the sitter.
On crafts, I have one kid who loves to craft and one who sort of just joins her sometimes. I made an art cart (the Ikea rolling one) and filled it with supplies (crayons, paper, some stickers, they know where scissors are…) and they can access and create as they see fit. I don’t supervise crafts. This works well for us! It’s much lower stress for me than anything pinteresty. Occasionally they’ll get a kit for a holiday and those supplies just sort of get mixed in.
Anonymous says
I don’t think you need to worry about this. If your son is happy and going to sleep okay, your evening routine is fine. Follow his interests! He’s probably doing as much sitting still as he can handle at preschool. I am sure they are reading to him at school. You could try audiobooks if you want more “reading time” but don’t stress.
Pogo says
I wouldn’t stress about this at all, but if you want to do something, I find incorporating stickers helps. Also asking kiddo what he wants me to draw for him, and then he colors it in.
Anonanonanon says
Kids are people too, and if your child doesn’t enjoy crafts, I doubt being forced to craft after a long day at daycare will be calming. If someone forced me into a craft after a long day of work, it would be my nightmare.
I have ADD and the cognitive fatigue at the end of the day is real. I think it’s OK to lett him have free time to let off steam in the evenings, I’d even argue that it’s beneficial!!
AnotherAnon says
+1 not to stress about this. My son is almost 3 and tbh he watches a lot of Daniel Tiger after school. 8 hours of day care is a lot for a little guy. We usually read a book at night (DH will read him two) but not always. I agree with poster above that crafts are for day care. We sometimes cook together but that’s because he enjoys helping me. I am not crafty at all but if I were I’d encourage it for him. If you want to be more involved, I’d encourage you to think about what you’d enjoy doing with him and seek more of that.
Anon says
You do not need to worry about crafts and coloring. My hyper 3 year old has settled down a lot now that he’s four and enjoys coloring/art much more now! Free play after a long day is THE BEST THING for him. Reading: I do think that is important. If it gets skipped occasionally, no worries, but it takes all of 3 minutes to read a picture book so it can be done every day. A great way to make a reading habit is to read to him during any meals/snacks that are not family affairs. (It’s a great point of connection, too, that doesn’t require you to make chit chat.)
Jessamyn says
Arts and crafts are totally child-directed, but my girls are obsessed with crafting and constantly ask to do it. I say no more often than yes, unless it’s something they can do entirely unsupervised.
Reading, I try to read them at least one bedtime story every night before bed. If I feel we haven’t been getting enough reading time in that way, I’ll read them a book while they’re sitting and eating a meal.
SC says
Crafts–rarely, and never on weeknights. They do crafts at his preschool, and he works with an OT for fine motor twice a week. He doesn’t want or need to do something difficult for him at the end of an already long day. After school time varies, but it’s some combination of free play, playing a game or doing a puzzle, taking a bath, watching TV, and helping us with dinner and setting the table. On weekends, Kiddo colors if we go out to eat. If DH and I are busy working around the house, I might take out some of the art supplies. We occasionally have small holiday crafts from the dollar store or Michael’s, but other than that, I do not plan craft projects. (We do other step-by-step activities like build Legos, make cookies, or set up science experiments.)
Reading–everyday. It’s part of our bedtime routine, and I don’t think Kiddo could calm down and go to sleep without it. We rarely read outside of bedtime though–I offer to if he’s bored, but Kiddo usually finds something else to do.
Cb says
I wouldn’t worry about crafts but I might figure out how to incorporate reading into your routine. We aim for 5 books a day – 3 at bedtime, and then typically one or two in the am (he snuggles in bed with us and drinks a sippy cup of milk) and a few on the bus or after dinner. Sometimes my son will make a big stack of books and we’ll work our way through them, which is my preferred way to spend an evening.
Pogo says
My little guy also demands books to start his day while he snuggles and has his milky! I love that he does it, and try to indulge as much as possible without making us late.
IHeartBacon says
I can’t tell if you’re looking for craft ideas, or just looking for encouraging words, but as a fellow mom of a hyper 3 yr old boy, I’ll share my (only) idea for doing crafts. I have my son help me make something out of a cardboard box. The size of the box dictates what we make. If we have a small box, we’ll make a police station for his little matchbox police cars. If we have a huge box, we’ll make a car wash for him to ride through on his bike. All you have to do is cut off the opening flats and then cut a “door” on opposite sides of the box. Then I give him markers or paints and tell him to paint the outside. It takes about 10 minutes of work for me, and once he’s done drawing on it, I get a sharpie and write what it is on the outside and it’s done. For the car wash, I cut a little slit on the side and gave him a bag of coins (or, “tokens”) so that patrons could pay for their car wash. He goes bonkers for these crafts every time because he enjoys making it with me and then playing with it for an hour or two afterward. If your son is equally hyper, he may enjoy this too — the type of craft that he can do something with afterward other than just look at it.
Pogo says
I also provide painter’s tape for cardboard box projects, that’s been a hit.
anon says
My sons also loved this. It was great for longer trips too because you just need to bring painters tape and you can build with snack or cereal boxes. Racing ramps are really easy to build as well.
rosie says
I was going to suggest something like this if you want craft ideas. If we happen to get a big box that she can fit in (I think when I ordered diapers + pullups from Target it came altogether in a giant box), we’ll tape/cut as needed to make some kind of structure. Then she can draw on it, put stickers on it, etc., and also play in it if she’s feeling like she wants to move around more.
Big roll of newsprint w/stamps is also a hit.
rosie says
I should add that I don’t like the idea of crafts where she is sitting at the dining room table in a booster or similar. We do stuff on the floor or at her little table so she can move her body as she wants.
GCA says
Oh man. When my son was 3 he was also extremely high energy and there was absolutely no getting him to sit down for crafts. I wouldn’t worry about the specific activity though – it sounds like you’re looking for a more calm/ relaxed way of easing into the end of the day.
He did get very into building train tracks and playing with trains; he was able to concentrate on that activity for longer. When the weather was nice, one parent would take him to the playground directly after daycare pickup while the other parent made dinner. Then dinner and straight into the bedtime routine (bath, books, bed). In winter, he just bounced around the house as a way to get his energy out – forcing him to do a ‘calm’ or ‘quiet’ thing would have been counterproductive.
Anonymous says
My kid is not usually high energy, but I do zero crafts at home. Some coloring occasionally on weekends, but agree with above posters that that’s what daycare is for. We do read a lot because both my kids (2, 4) are obsessed.
Would something like helping you cook be a good in between? My kid liked tearing up herbs, helping to chop vegetables, measuring ingredients and dumping things, etc.? Making cookies together takes up a while on the weekend if you go at preschooler pace (and the results are delicious) but is a bit more high energy than crafting.
Anonymous says
Shoebox with plain paper, crayons and tape kept on kitchen counter for when they want to make something. One book always at bedtime – shorter or longer depending on how much time we have. Lots of kids books in basically every room so they can ask for a book to be read wherever we are at a given time.
Anon says
Superactive 2.5YO girl here. We read 1-3 books before bed most nights (depending on how overtired). But I also keep books out and in every play area and sometimes she’ll ask to be read to. We do zero crafts, but kiddo goes to preschool 2x a week and they do crafts there. I probably pull out the crayons for her 1-2x a week for her to color at home. Weekends we mostly focus on doing active things or we run errands together – she got her daddy’s love of cars and LOVES car rides which involve being quiet and sitting still. I think because we get our groceries delivered, it’s really quite magical to go to costco every couple of weeks so she gets so excited, but if the weather is nice I try to get her outside for at least an hour each weekend day to burn off energy. If she’s really bouncing off the walls and I need her to just sit quietly, we snuggle up on the couch with my phone and watch a video.
Spirograph says
We read almost every night as part of our bedtime routine. If the kids are being awful at bedtime, they’ll get only one book instead of one book each… I’ve found that taking books away entirely removes an important calm-down-before-sleep step.
Crafts are sporadic, and I have zero guilt about it. They get plenty of crafts at daycare. We have a kid-height drawer of watercolors, coloring books and crayons in the kitchen and the kids help themselves to them, but more elaborate crafts that require parental supervision (anything involving beads, scissors, glitter, or glue) are a special event and I just don’t do it during the week. Ever. My daughter adores crafts, my sons are hit or miss unless we’re making a monster or a rocket ship. I save toilet paper and paper towel rolls, and small boxes, and when we get to a critical mass (eg, I run out of room in the drawer) or have a rainy weekend, we bust out the craft supplies.
Anonymous says
We only did art with my now 5 year old very active boy when requested, which was basically never until very recently. He’s in preschool/daycare full time and they do plenty there, and it was just never what he wanted to do when he could play cars, build, or run around. We read books before/after nap (or later, at rest time) and bedtime — again, until recently, when he has started requesting to read more often. Only downside is his drawing skills haven’t been the most advanced in his class, which he finds frustrating — but at ages 3-4 we really wanted to prioritize free choice play at home.
So Anon says
I need to refresh my subscribe and save subscriptions. What have you set to subscribe & save that has shown to be helpful? I already do: toilet paper, cat food and litter, mac and cheese, pancake mix, trash bags, shampoo & conditioner.
Anonymous says
Because NYC grocery stores are expensive, we also do luna bars, nuts, and dry shampoo. I’d like to add more personal care items and should add things like crackers and chips, but we go through them so fast I never figured it out.
Jessamyn says
Cheese crisps — they’re expensive AF, so that 15% discount helps a lot. I get like 6 bags a month.
Same for flavored peanut butter packs as snacks — I order 2 10-packs per month.
Paper towels
Kids’ Pull Ups
Dishwasher soap
Disposable razors
anne-on says
Laundry detergent, any refill jugs for cleaning supplies (marble spray & clorox in our house), sponges, dish soap, toothbrush heads, water filter refills for our fridge, and my kids picky skin lotion that CVS never seems to have in stock. I’ve hated the HUGE boxes that our litter/pet food show up in so I’ve swapped to just making it a point to pick them up at PetCo once a month.
Emily S. says
Toothpaste, laundry detergent and stain spray, paper towels, toilet paper, trash bags, dishwasher detergent tabs, baking soda boxes for the fridge and freezer, and dog food. (I believe your kids are older, so diapers and wipes isn’t useful.) In the past, I’ve done sponges, toothbrushes, and shaving cream, but I found it was easier to buy a 12-pack and store it then have it shipped in its own container every month.
rakma says
I have most of my make-up and face creams on S&S, washing machine/dishwasher cleaner, Shout color catchers (so I don’t have to sort laundry), laundry detergent, bubble bath. We try to do everything fragrance free, and I’m very brand loyal due to skin issues, so it’s easier to get them delivered then hunt them down at multiple stores. Food wise apple sauce pouches (Kindergartner eats one everyday for snack) and cliff kids protein bars, mainly for the discounts.
Some things make more sense for us to get with grocery delivery, like dish soap and spray cleaner, because I don’t have a lot of storage space to keep extras.
Anon says
Paper towels, toilet paper, Kleenex, diapers, my toddler’s toiletries (body lotion, diaper cream, toothbrush), dish scrubbing brush (mostly so I always remember to toss our current one after 2 months), trash bags, laundry detergent, baby wipes, my vitamins, Brita filter refills.
My list is long but I review every month and postpone delivery for the stuff we don’t need or haven’t used up from the last delivery. I mostly use it like a recurring shopping list so we’re never stranded without Kleenex or toilet paper or that we don’t use our current dish brush for a disgusting amount of time because I forgot to stock up or replace them.
In House Lobbyist says
I am addicted to Propel water. UPS brings the cases right to my door.
anon says
Going to a bday party for a kindergarten classmate and the party is at the family’s house. The invite indicated no-presents. Would it be crazy to bring a host gift of champagne for the parents? It feels weird to go to someone’s house for the first time without a little gift.
Anon says
I think birthday parties are an exception to the rule that you bring a host gift. I’ve never brought or received a host gift for a kid’s birthday party.
Anonanonanon says
I think it’s a sweet idea but I would err on the side of not showing up to a child’s birthday party with booze if you don’t know these people. They aren’t inviting YOU to their house as a guest, they’re inviting YOUR CHILD to a birthday party and you’re there to chaperone, so I don’t think you owe them a hostess gift. It would be nice to have your child write (or at least sign) a thank you note after the party for the invitation, saying they had fun.
Anonymous says
I wouldn’t show up with booze. Agree that a hostess gift isn’t necessary but if you it is, I would go with a small box of chocolates that you give to the parents.
Jessamyn says
Honestly, yeah. The “host gift” for a child’s bday party would be the birthday present, but they’ve specifically asked for no presents, so it’s appropriate to show up empty-handed. If anything, bring a cute card for the child.
Anonymous says
I would have your kid make a card and bring that. Maybe also a balloon if you really want something else, but not alcohol. Agree with above posters that hostess gifts aren’t required for birthday parties.
AwayEmily says
We always do a card with some stickers in it for no-gift birthdays. No host gift.
Anonymous says
Yep, this exactly.
FVNC says
+1.
IF you know the parents drink, and IF you want to contribute something adult, I’d bring wine rather than champagne. We’ve received champagne over the years for various occasions and while I’ve sincerely appreciated the gifts at the time, I never wind up drinking them. A bottle of wine on the other hand, can always be socked away.
But I agree that a handmade card with stickers is perfect.
Anon says
+1. I wouldn’t bring either in this instance, but we keep getting bottles of champagne as hostess or thank you things that go unopened or regifted as there is rarely a time we are in the mood to drink an entire bottle of champagne.
Spirograph says
+1
If you’ve been to their house before and know this is likely to be a kids play while the parents socialize with snacks and adult beverages, you could (if you really want to, not required!) ask if you can bring anything to share. Otherwise just a card for the birthday kid.
Anonymous says
Yes. We must all try harder to respect “no gifts please.” Champagne is super extra.
Anon says
I’m laughing b/c I just asked my husband a similar question this weekend, I proposed we bring a few nice cellophane wrapped up cookies from the nearby bakery as a “hostess gift” for a no gift birthday party, & he looked at me and said “I’ve never seen anyone else do that before” and that was the end of that. Ha.
I mostly just wanted to teach my kids the don’t-go-to-someones-house-empty-handed etiquette as I feel like I really didn’t learn that until later in life than was ideal, but I’m realizing for kids there are just a lot of incidences where it would be weird.
Lyssa says
I love questions like the “does anyone actually do” this one about tucking. For me, I very occasionally tuck in a thin sweater, mainly if I want to wear a belt. But one of the main reasons I gravitate towards sweaters like this is that they don’t need to be tucked, which I feel like is hard for me to pull off.
I wouldn’t do the half-tuck thing, and when I see it, I usually assume they’re trying to disguise how shapeless the top is.
avocado says
Lately I’ve been doing a French (front) tuck with tees and lightweight sweaters. With mid-rise or high-rise jeans and a looser top, it helps to create a little more shape. I never tuck in anything all the way round–that look feels dated.
I would not tuck in this sweater. It is too short and fitted to need it.
Anonymous says
I do the half-tuck when I have a long blouse with a top layer– like a sweater blazer. It looks more streamlined to have the back half tucked in, but I like the untucked look in the front.
Anonanonanon says
I tuck thin sweaters into pencil skirts (obviously), but I have never fully tucked any sweater into pants.
I’ve done the half-tuck with baggy tops, I like it!
AnotherAnon says
Do any of you use Mathnasium or Kumon or some other math program for your kids? What are your thoughts?
Anon says
Following! We tried Mathnasium for my sons, which I thought was a lot of money for not much value. I wanted something more structured (they were just doing worksheets, kind of one on one). Right now we’re looking into Russian School of Math for my older two and Kumon for my daughter (they have different needs), but a Seriously Addicting Math just opened up by us (it’s supposed to be based on Singapore math) and I’m going to check it out. I have two kids who are strong in math and need more challenge and one who is weaker and just needs some help/extra practice.
Anonymous says
I used to teach in a similar program. What you need is a program with lots of one-on-one attention that can adapt its methods to suit the child’s particular needs. Some kids need to be led through deriving the algorithms themselves, some do well with manipulatives, etc. Avoid anything that has too rigid a structure or that focuses on the rote application of algorithms without building understanding of how those algorithms actually work.
Honestly, I’d try to find a good private tutor instead of a center.