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I’ve been seeing these shoes pop up on my social media feeds for a while, but I didn’t pull the trigger right away. I don’t have great luck with ordering shoes online due to having tough feet to fit (narrow, narrow heel, and flat arches — ugh). What finally convinced me was a rave review from a friend. They have quickly become the only sneakers I wear on the weekend. They’re lightweight, breathable, and stylish, and the company, Allbirds, has a generous return policy. Now that the weather is turning warmer, I’m considering purchasing a pair from their Tree line, which is made from a lighter material. According to their website, they have two “concept stores,” one in SF and one in NYC — and their shoes are also available at Nordstrom. They make men’s shoes, too, and last year they launched a kids’ line called Smallbirds that starts at size 5T and is ridiculously cute. The pictured shoes are $95 at Nordstrom. Wool Runners
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Sales of note for 9.10.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; up to 50% off everything else
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off wear-to-work styles; extra 30% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – 40-60% off everything; extra 60% off clearance
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Extra 40% off sale styles
- Talbots – BOGO 50% everything, includes markdowns
- 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?
Cb says
Help a born and raised surburbanite now living in a bigger city. A new housing development is opening near work and we’re flirting with the prospect of a move. Draws include a walking commute, a marginally better school catchment, and proximity to cafes/people which we don’t currently have. Cons include an increase in costs (but slightly offset by commuting costs) and the big one for me, the loss of a garden. Our current garden is small but that outdoor space seems really important with a kiddo. I loved playing in the garden and being outside as a kid.
Is this just the reality of city living? Does the fact that it would be a short walk to a large park, with an extinct volcano in it offset the loss of a garden?
anon says
I know it’s not *quite* the same, but would container gardening be an option in the new place? I used to be a Better Homes & Gardens afficionado and they were always featuring these cool, urban container gardens. As I looked at the weeds beginning to sprout last night, I thought container gardening didn’t sound like the worst idea. ;)
Cb says
That’s a good idea – and it’s really just an excuse to expand my houseplant collection.
Meg Murry says
I think Cb is using the word “garden” the way we Americans would use the word “yard”. Not so much about growing things as about having personal outdoor space right outside of your front or back door to sit in or for kids to run around in.
AIMS says
I’ve been a city dweller all my life and don’t lack playing in dirt memories. My gardens were just bigger and had to be shared with others. I think having your own yard is obviously a bit easier as your kid gets older but it’s a trade off I would make to have more time and better proximity. But everyone values these things differently.
avocado says
It depends on the kid. Although I spent a lot of time in the backyard as a kid, my kid has always refused to play in our yard and only wants to play at the park. I would gladly trade the hassle of yard ownership for a park with a volcano and the other advantages you cite.
Anonymous says
I live in an apartment in NYC and we have no outdoor space. The park and playground are our yard. The nice thing about it is we often run into friends when we are there, so lots of impromptu playdates. The playground has cooler stuff than we could have in our yard, and we don’t have to maintain anything. The drawbacks are no privacy, less convenience, and I can’t send my son there alone (yet). I do feel like he’s slightly nature deprived, so we’re trying to take up camping. For vegetable and flower gardening, is there a community garden nearby? Those are fairly popular in some US cities. The one near us has a long waiting list and isn’t great for vegetable gardening–either too much shade or lead in the soil I think–so I haven’t bothered, but I was part of one in Boston.
Anon in NYC says
I feel similarly. We live within close proximity to parks and playgrounds, which is awesome. I don’t have to buy/maintain a backyard swing set like my friends in the suburbs, and all of the nearby playgrounds offer different things so we can go to different ones for variety.
The downside is that it would be really nice to have private outdoor space to grill, entertain friends, and sit outside in the nice weather, or have a vegetable garden.
There are definitely trade offs. It’s just a question of what you want your home to feel like!
Anonymous says
Is it that there is no garden or that there is no outdoor space at all? Friends in Vienna have an amazing apartment where the balcony terrace is just as big as the apartment – they have tomatoes, strawberries and herbs in a container garden plus their youngest can ride around his tricycle. Similarly, DH grew up in an apartment where the apartment buildings on the block formed a square and there was large garden for all the children in the apartment complex to share. Once he was about 4-5, he was allowed to go and play with the other children and his mom would leave the door open so she could hear him call up. I wouldn’t be bothered by no ‘garden’ but I would be bothered by no easy access to outdoor space.
Cb says
It’s not built yet and I’m struggling to get a sense from the plans of the outdoor space but that might be an option. The UK tends to put up these ‘No ball games’ signs to forbid children from using open spaces – I’m convinced British people prioritize dogs over children.
GCA says
I’m also a lifelong city dweller except for four years at a college in a rural town (hey, I wanted something as different from home as I could get) and we would be quite happy to stay in the city for good, for the reasons others mention. Proximity to parks and outdoor spaces is a huge plus, and even kids who are home with nannies begin learning to interact and share with other kids in informal playground settings. I’ve met at least one working mom friend and strengthened relationships with several others because we kept running into each other at the same playgrounds. And our public school system is designed to be (relatively) socioeconomically diverse, something I’m not entirely sure we’d get in a more homogenous suburb.
Cb says
All really good food for thought. I’m on a postdoc contract and foreign so not even sure how a mortgage would work (our current mortgage is under my husband’s name) so probably putting the card before the horse.
And apparently I’ve assimilated. I’m American, I should use the word “yard” not garden!
AwayEmily says
Don’t underestimate the value of a walking commute. It’s one of the few factors that is consistently — across many studies — associated with increased happiness (of course, this is all observational, so caveats apply, but I find the work pretty convincing). It keeps you connected to the neighborhood, it gives you some exercise, you never have the irritations that come with traffic, etc. Anecdotally, I switched from a driving to a walking commute last year and it has been AMAZING. Seriously life-changing in terms of my level of general satisfaction.
FVNC says
Just one more opinion — we moved a couple years ago from a house with a large, fenced in yard we thought we’d use all the time, to a house with essentially no outdoor space other than a large front porch. Turns out we never really used our old yard, because the playground was a block away and apparently way more interesting than plain grass! In our new house we’ve got two parks within walking distance, and not having a yard has been a non-issue. And I’d second the advice not to underestimate the value of a short commute!
Ms B says
The pink Allbirds are sold out in most sizes on both the Allbirds site and Nordies.
My Tuke Shade pair arrived this week and I think I am in love, even though my assistant calls them “grandma shoes”. I don’t care: they are beyond comfy, do not require socks and fit the bill to become on of the three pairs of shoes for my trip to France in two weeks . . .
AIMS says
What am I doing wrong? My son is having at least one diaper explosion a day – poop up the back, total change of clothes needed. I don’t remember this happening with my daughter more than once or twice. Is it just different boy anatomy? Will it get easier when he starts on solids and it’s not all liquid milk poop? Sorry to be graphic so early in the day but I’m at a loss and overwhelmed with laundry. I’ve tried different diapers and it seems to make no difference.
avocado says
Have you tried sizing up? We always had to move up sizes before she hit the minimum weight for the larger size. Blowouts were the sign it was time to try the next size.
Anonymous says
This. We used pampers swaddlers and always needed to size up at least one or two pounds below the max size that was listed.
Anon says
+2. Blowouts and leaks always meant size up for us, and that usually was at the middle to lower end of the recommended weight range.
We use Huggies Little Movers, and for example, their Size 4 is supposed to be for 22-37 pounds. My son moved into Size 5 around 25 pounds. I know it’s more expensive, but SO worth it (to me) to not run poopy laundry every day.
Anonymous says
We sort of felt like Huggies were better than Pampers for my son since there was kind of a flap at the back or something? Foggy memories. We still had at least one wardrobe malfunction daily for a while. Frankly I think my son is just full of sh**. On the plus side, he’s basically never been constipated in his life, so maybe you will have that benefit to look forward to when he is older.
Anon in NYC says
I’ve heard this about boys – Huggies are better than Pampers. No experience, but I’ve heard it often enough that I feel like it’s true!
lsw says
Agree with size up and try different brands! Cotsco. Aldi, and 7th Generation diapers work great for my son. Honest Company were like a sieve.
Anonymous says
My daughter was ok in the beginning when she was pooping five times pr day, but since she’s switched to only pooping once per day or so (happened around 6 weeks) she blows out every single time. We’ve tried a million brands of diapers as well as sizing up. Nothing worked. The only thing that has helped is putting a cloth diaper cover on top of her disposable – she normally gets that dirty but the clothes are saved that way. In general I think some babies are just projectile poopers and I have one…I got poop on my FACE the other day during a diaper change.
Marilla says
Yes to sizing up! I think blow-outs are inevitable with newborns for at least the first 6 months, but sizing up definitely helps. I have also heard Huggies are better for boys (they were a disaster for my daughter).
Anon says
It does get better (I think) with solids. It’s more sticky so it doesn’t spew quite as far. We go up to the edge (and hold our breath when we open it we don’t smear it further and necessitate a wardrobe change), but knock on wood, no blow outs in a couple of weeks. We are also in Pampers size 5 at around 23-24 pounds, so look how the diaper fits your kid rather than the weight necessarily on the box.
lawsuited says
We sized up and switched to Honest diapers which have a tighter fit at the back and that helped a lot. It definitely gets better once they start solids though, so don’t depair!
Anonymous says
I would try another brand or size up as noted above. We used Target brand and had approximately 2 blowouts ever (not counting the multiple blowouts while briefly using pampers).
FVNC says
For us, this was just a phase. A gross, stinky phase, but a phase. Sizing up didn’t work for us. Maybe just put him in non-fancy clothes and hope starting solids does the trick?
Meg Murry says
In addition to all the other good advice given, also give yourself permission to just throw away some of the cheap onesies/outfits you don’t really care about or never really liked. Obviously you can’t do that with everything, but sometimes attempting to deal with the soiled clothing is just not worth the time.
One of my friend’s kids had nearly constant diaper blowouts, and in desperation she started putting cloth diaper covers on over the disposables. She still had to wash the cloth diaper covers, but it was way less laundry than washing the soiled full outfit every time, and it was only 1-2 diaper covers a day not the full out laundry required for actual cloth diapering.
Delta Dawn says
+1 to this– I throw away about one cheapie Carters outfit per month. Life is too short to scrub poop.
Pogo says
All good advice and I’d say some kids are just different. We started with 7th generation which did NOTHING for us. My boy would leak both #1 and #2 through those (and his onesie and swaddle and sheets… yay).
We switched to cloth around 6w when he was big enough for them and we rarely have blowouts with cloth. They often come close but I can’t remember the last time it was like, all over his clothes. The biggest problem now is getting the soiled diaper out of there fast enough so he doesn’t kick it with his foot. But he also just might not have been disposed to blowouts.
AIMS says
Thanks all! We have been using pampers (and had this issue with both Luvs and Honest Co.) but I just got some Huggies and it does seem they may be a better fit. Fingers crossed!
Will also try sizing up but not sure if that will help because it seems to happen more when the diaper is too loosely secured? Cloth diaper covers are a fantastic idea. I’ve been doing an extra onesie layer when we go out, which sometimes works, but it’s getting to be hot out so need a better solution for summer.
avocado says
The benefit of sizing up is additional length so the diaper extends farther up the baby’s back.
Anonymous says
One more suggestion I haven’t seen yet — just let him be in his diaper, instead of pants and change it as soon as that line is a little blue — wet diapers don’t absorb any of the liquid from poop.
Also, in my experience, Pampers or the Wal-Mart brand are the widest. Target and Honest narrowest/longest per size. Huggies were sort of average everything.
Anon says
We had a lot of blowouts with a girl during the first 6-8 months. I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong!
Teacher Appreciation says
I know this has been discussed in the past, but teacher appreciation week? I have a 6 month old and her daycare isn’t doing anything special but I heard from the teacher that usually parents do stuff all week long. I was just going to bring in a gift card and be done with it but now I feel like that’s inadequate. Google is pulling up all sorts of cutesy ideas that I think are a bit over the top. I was thinking more like flowers one day, maybe breakfast another, gift card, what else??
Anonymous says
Gift card is perfect. At the most, bring muffins or chocolates for the staff room on another day.
Anon says
You don’t need to do it all week. I usually bring it all in on the first day and announce that “I had to bring it all in today so I wouldn’t forget!”
I try to give 3 things:
1) something fun like candy or socks/scarf/sunglasses or cute planters,
2) gift card (Starbucks or Target)
3) something to hold it all like a water tumbler or tote bag or beer coozie.
It almost all comes from Target dollar spot.
I also add a card, with a handwritten note on how much they mean to us, plus a scribbled page from the kid. It takes me 30 minutes at Target, plus 30 minutes at home to get the kid to scribble while I write the notes, and I’m done.
My teacher friends say they’d rather get money than a bunch of knick knacks, so I try to spend most of my money on the gift card. So if I would have spent $30 to get 5 days of crap, I’ll spend $5 at the dollar spot for the candy and tumbler and then put $25 on a gift card.
Anon says
(I should add, my teacher friends are super sweet and usually hem and haw and say they don’t need anything and just getting a drawing from the kid or a note from the parents is enough. But I pressed them and got the truth – they spend so much of their own money on the kids, and they get so many mugs and tchotchkes, gift cards really are the best if they’re going to get something tangible. If I know they drink coffee, I’ll get them Starbucks gift cards so they don’t feel as guilty spending it on themselves.)
anne-on says
+1 – I usually try to bring in a plant (that way it can either live in the class/school or get planted instead of dying) a fruit platter (teachers are SWAMPED with chocolate this week), and a gift card to either Target or Starbucks.
If you can swing it I’ve also organized either breakfast or lunch for the teachers that week (this was in a small-ish daycare center with about 10-12 teachers). It was GREATLY appreciated.
Anonymous says
Thanks! This is a good idea. I can feel like I’m honoring the “all week” spirit of things without having to actually do it all week long.
FVNC says
We filled out blank cards provided by the school, and brought in flowers for “flower Tuesday,” but otherwise didn’t participate. We give pretty generous birthday and holiday gifts to all our kids’ teachers, so I only feel a little guilty at not going all out for teacher appreciation week.
Anon says
Is it customary for those in smaller or in-home daycares to do something?
AnonInBigLaw says
We usually skip the day-to-day themes for the reasons cited above – my child’s teachers do not need 20+ servings of chocolate/coffee/flowers, etc. For each teacher, we usually get a $25 Amazon or Target gift card and write a nice thank you note from us as parents. Starting when DD was 2, I have her color part of the card and then answer some questions. I write down the Q&A for the teachers and that is a big hit. (We do the same for her friends’ birthday cards — she colors it and then I ask something like “What is your favorite thing to do with X? Why do you like having X as a friend?” The answers are hilarious and adorable.) We purposely bring our gift/note on Friday so that it’s clear we aren’t bringing in more things later in the week.
J says
The Q&A is such an adorable idea!!!
Anonymous says
Definitely try sizing up diaper, and yes we had a lot less blow outs once starting solids (but smellier poops, obvi).
Anon says
OMG so smelly. Sometimes diaper changes feel like training to be an underwater escape artist with all the breath holding.
AIMS says
The one upside with the current situation is it is way easier to get stains out.
anon says
Just a vent. I was excited to buy some of the gap star wars themed stuff for my daughter today, but there are no toddler girl options. There’s a couple of neutral baby options, boy toddler clothes, and then it skips to boys and girls, and then adult men (but not women). Way to lose out on some customers, gap. Argh.
Anonymous says
Check Target. Last I looked, they had girl star wars stuff! (I got my daughter star wars sheets and she LOVES them.)
EB0220 says
Yep, we have multiple Star Wars (and TMNT) girl items from Target! Plus super hero shirts. As if Target needed to do anything else to be my favorite.
lawsuited says
Also, just buy the “boy” clothes for your daughter if you like them. I buy things for my son from the “girl” section pretty regularly.
Anon says
Yep this. I have a boy and girl, and shop both aisles for both kids. They have tons of matching super hero shirts and girl power shirts and Paw Patrol stuff. (Because for some reason “girl” paw patrol can only have Sky and Everest but my daughter loves Rubble, so boys section it is!)
My latest annoyance is birthday cards. I want to get my kid a Star Wars card, why does it have to say “birthday boy” on it? Can’t they make it gender neutral so I can buy it for my daughter without having to cross that part out? Argh.
AIMS says
This. Gap particularly is pretty random with how it categorizes these things. The denim jacket, shoes, and crew neck would all be adorable on any kid, boy or girl.
Anonymous says
Buy boy toddler options and put them on your girl?
Anonymous says
Yeah exactly. They’re toddlers. They have no concept of gender. What exactly makes boy clothes forbidden to your daughter?
anon says
OP here, i know it’s silly but the boy options aren’t as cute and girly like some of the older girl options. I just wish they had those in toddler girl sizes like they have for the boys and toddler boys!
Anon says
I hear what you’re saying on this. It is super trendy to be non-girly on gender neutral things (super heroes, science, etc.). But can’t you be girly and a scientist? Or girly and a super hero? Or maybe I’m just not looking in the right places, which is totally possible!
Mama Llama says
Check out Princess Awesome and Mitz Kids!
Pogo says
I agree – why can’t a toddler girl have a Chewie is my Copilot shirt like a big girl can? Depending on how big your toddler is you could try the XS?
Pogo says
also, omg I might have to get that yoda one for my baby.
GCA says
If it’s a fit issue, could you size down? Clothes marketed for boys are often sort of baggy and shapeless…
AIMS says
I get this but I still buy stuff and pair it with girlier items like a tutu. I actually think it looks cooler that way.
KateMiddletown says
Hanna Anderson might still have some Star Wars in neutral/boy/girl. We scored some adorable pink striped darth vader jammies a few seasons back.
Family Laundry says
Ok. We are a family of 4, and one on the way. Our laundry is upstairs, in the hallway (so great to have it on the 2nd floor, but we don’t have a full blown laundry room). I think we do 6-8 loads of laundry per week, between sheets, towels, bathing suits (little ones are in swim class), etc. What we have found ourselves doing is washing and drying laundry throughout the week, move it into the guest room onto the bed, then over the weekend, DH and I (or just one of us) watch bad TV and fold, sort, and iron as needed Laundry Mountain for an hour or two.
Is there a better way? I haven’t found a load per day to be workable, since by the time it’s washed and folded and sorted, I now have 5-6 piles in the hallway that I have to put away. Saving the “fold and put away” to the end of the week somehow makes it manageable. Alternatively, we could do a full weekend day of laundry, but then (a) dirty laundry builds all week, including things like towels, gym clothes, and wet bathing suits and (b) it eats the day.
Anon in NYC says
If it’s working for your family, I don’t see a need to change! My husband does all of the laundry in our household, and we tend to do it on weekends over nap time or during our raging Friday and Saturday nights. Occasionally he’ll delay folding the clothing for a day or two.
Anonymous says
Can you put load in wash in morning, put in dryer after work, and then fold as you watch tv in the evening? Then put it away whenever its convenient? But I think laundry mountain is common and if it works for you then great!
anon says
One option would be a basket for each kid. Then you don’t have to sort. Wash, dry and bring the basket into the kid’s room to be folded and put away. Depending on their age, the kid can help put the clothes away themselves. With my little kids, I often fold, sort and put away while I wait for the kids to put on their PJs, brush their teeth, and select books for pre-bedtime reading.
Anonymous says
For adult laundry – DH and I have separate clothes hampers and we each do our own laundry.
For kids laundry (3 kids) – I have one big hamper and once a week I sort it into lights and darks and wash. One load of each usually. Cleaning service folds Konmari style and puts away every second week. I do the off week.
For sheets/towels – I have a separate hamper and wash that during the week when enough builds up. Usually fold straight out of the dryer and put away as sheets/towels are quick to fold. Cleaner puts sheets in washer after she strips the beds, I toss them in the dryer and put away same night.
For kitchen laundry – small hamper in kitchen pantry next to recycling. Wash separately on sanitize cycle.
For swim stuff – toss in washer with swim towels as soon as we get home from swimming lessons. Goes straight from dryer into swim bag which lives in the top of the hall closet.
No shame in a huge mountain of clothes. I currently have two baskets full of my own stuff I need to put away. Biggest thing I find helpful is to wash adult stuff, household stuff, kids stuff separately so that it much faster to fold and put away.
Anonymous says
Also – sounds like your current system is working for you – no need to change it, there’s just a lot of laundry with kids.
Family Laundry says
Yeah, sometimes we chip away at Laundry Mountain throughout the week and just get it folded or partly folded, then it hangs out all week while the individual piles grow, then at the week end the piles get put away. Sometimes towels and sheets get put away midweek because they’re easy, or the iron-ables get set aside so they don’t get wrinkly.
I mostly just posted to see if there’s some kind of awesome solution I’m missing…but right now closing the door and ignoring it works for us.
Anonymous says
I have a number of household problems that I’m currently solving with the “closing the door and ignoring it” method.
Anon says
I have a similar system to you, Family Laundry. The only difference is we do the folding together during the week after the kids are in bed, putting the folded piles on the bed and the mountain on the floor. Then we do a massive “put away” during the weekend.
We also don’t wash swim stuff much at all – we hang it to dry overnight in the shower and only wash it once every two months.
And amen to the “close the door and ignore it” method. I tell myself we’ll stop doing that when we’re out of the daycare years and the kids can actually help pick up the house and do chores, but we’ll see.
Anonymous says
Swim gear needs to be washed like once a month (I say that as someone who easily spent 20+ hours in the pool a week in high school /college). And dryers destroy the elastic. So just rinse in COLD water and hang dry or dry in a dedicated salad spinner (kids LOVE to do that) (Also, does your pool have a suit mate? If they don’t, get some other parents together and start lobbying for one. If they do, rinse at pool, dry in suit mate, hang over night, pack away in the morning, that’s what we do.) We pay extra for towel service at our pool also. It’s worth it.
I’d also enlist your kids. My 2.5 year old “puts away” her folded clothes (her clothes are in baskets on shelves, so we take down and put back the baskets). She also matches her socks, which I ball and she puts in their basket. She can’t quite fold yet, but by the time she’s 5 I expect her to be able to fold the napkins, washcloths, and kitchen towels on her own.
AK says
Get your kids buy-in for laundry. Kiddo has been putting away laundry since he turned 3. Is it folded neatly in his drawers like I would do it? Nope, but he owns that chore.