Wednesday’s Workwear Report: Raw-Hem Crop Blazer
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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
This pale blue blazer from Halogen looks perfectly spring-y. I don’t gravitate towards a lot of pastels (I’m a winter, remember?), but this might be the exception.
I would pair this with a navy sheath for the office or layer it over a white sundress for the weekend.
The blazer is $139–$149 at Nordstrom and comes in sizes 1X–3X and XXS–XXL. It’s also available in ivory.
Sales of note for 4/24/25:
- Nordstrom – 7,710 new markdowns for women!
- Ann Taylor – Friends of Ann Event: 30% off your entire purchase, including 100s of new arrivals
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 25% off
- Boden – 25% off everything (ends 4/27) (a rare sale!)
- The Fold – Up to 25% off
- Eloquii – Spring Clearance: Up to 75% off + extra 50-60% off sale
- J.Crew – Mid-Season Sale: Up to 60% off sale styles + up to 50% off summer-ready styles
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 50% off clearance + extra 15% off $100 + extra 20% off $125
- Kule – Lots of sweaters up to 50% off
- M.M.LaFleur – 3 pieces for $198. Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Rothy's – Final Few: Up to 50% off last chance styles; new favorites added
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Friends & Family Event: 30% off entire purchase, includes markdowns
I’ve been going for more walks and my feet are so stiff and achy when I wake up! Should I be switching shoes? Doing foot exercises? “Walks”= 30 min 4x a week so not a lot. I overpronate and am wearing pretty new ASICS GT2000.
Have your shoes been professionally fitted? If not, go to a local running store and have them analyze your gait to make sure you are in shoes suited to your particular needs. It makes a world of difference.
Stretching might be the answer but I don’t know much about that.
I have a foot roller from Gaiam which helps massage out the stiffness. Sometimes I use it preventatively post walk.
What are your arches like? High, medium, low?
How strong are your feet?
Do you have other imbalances?
Give it time, and just give the stiffness a few minutes to work itself out. That’s always been my normal as a runner when I’m increasing mileage. The first few steps when I get out of bed are crunchy as everything settles into place. It’s always been that way for me, and never been an issue, but I can see it being something that takes getting used to.
that’s a heavy stability shoe. It might not be right for you. You could also vary they way you are lacing and see if that helps.
My guess is you need an orthotic. Do you have a podiatrist?
Add Superfeet green to those shoes and see how you feel. Also stretch before and after the walks!
Try adding in superfeet green. This sounds like good old fashioned plantar fascitis.
If you suspect plantar fasciitis I’d get a professional running shoe fitting before just adding insoles, as much as I love Superfeet green. My husband had plantar fasciitis that turned out to be caused by wearing stability shoes when he needed cushioned shoes. Cushioned shoes without insoles fixed it.
I had “bad feet” with constant foot/ankle/shin problems despite custom orthotics and specially-fitted shoes (mostly to “correct” my overpronation). Then I switched to barefoot style shoes and did foot exercises for a few months during the transition. Now I have no pain or issues despite walking or running 20 miles a week in a variety of footwear that may or my not be ideal. So that’s another direction to go if you’re interested, vs. the special shoe/special orthotic direction.
I’m in my early 30s and almost any morning after being on my feet for a long time or running a couple miles the previous day, the first couple of steps in the morning are stiff.
I would consider seeing a doctor. Not that I think this is a symptom of anything but struggling with a low level of activity like this would be concerning to me
Another comment here in favour of giving it some time. I also have foot soreness when I start running again after a long break – it’s because the foot has muscles that are getting worked out! If it goes away after a week or two or after you walk and stretch, it’s probably that.
Has anyone tried Charlie Stone shoes? I’m getting their ads on social now. They actually look like they might work for my duck feet (wider forefoot, high arches, narrow heel that often slips out of ballerina flats).
No, but now I’m listening with interest. My duck feet need special accommodations, haha.
This is a pretty blazer. I’d wear it with white pants, until I sloshed my iced latte all over them.
Haha, too real.
100% agree that it belongs with white pants. I like it a lot more styled that way than with the black.
I used to wear white jean trousers A LOT for work. I was a little prideful of the fact that I almost never got spots on them and kept them pretty clean. I hadn’t wore them for a while, and then last week wore a pair and I had four little coffee spots on them before 10am. Pride crashing down.
I’m just not feeling it today. I want to go home and back to bed. But I can’t because of meetings and work and all that crap. How do you get through days like this?
Caffeine, and permission to let myself do whatever it takes to just get through. If that means punting some lower-priority work until tomorrow or next week, eating a snickers for second breakfast, pushing exercise or chores to another day, then so be it.
This is when I get a mocha. I don’t get them often but it’s a little treat to get you through a day like today.
Sometimes it helps with the mood to put some headphones on and blast favorite songs for 10 minutes.
Before WFH I would take a walk or wander through Target at lunchtime on those days.
Honestly, telling myself that discipline is the way to get through the day. Not every day is going to be chock full of motivation, but I still have things I need to get done and I need to contribute to the household. “Just do it and get it over with” is basically my mindset.
+1
Doordash from my favorite restaurant (fancy) or a chicken tender basket from Whataburger. I am easily food motivated.
This was 100% me yesterday. I had a hard project deadline that I had to do major work on. I slow slow slogged to through it and eventually got motivated from 3pm-6pm. Extra caffeine. Music sort of helped but not a super lot. I do love the SALT playlist on Spotify.
Me too, yesterday. I don’t do caffeine though. Stepping outside and sitting in the sun for a couple of minutes a few times helped a bit, but sometimes you just have to slog through. .
Pick 2-3 items that absolutely MUST get done, and tackle those. Anything else is a bonus. Some days are just low-energy.
Not super healthy but I eat my feelings on a day like today
Thanks all. I completed unplugged over lunch and put on my headphones to zone out to TTPD and that helped. I think I will go to bed early tonight.
Does anyone know a good med mal attorney in northern NJ? My mother had GI symptoms that she feels were not treated seriously enough initially and now she is diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. My understanding is that this is a sneaky disease but women’s concerns are so readily dismissed by doctors who only spend a few minutes with you, so IDK how much could or should have been done where it could have been found sooner. I would want to talk to someone not eager to sue but very good about doing initial assessments of a case where there is doubt. The last thing I really want is to have my mother spend her final months rehashing what it is too late to fix and being emotionally torn up further. It might help if she insists on talking to someone to have it be someone who can tell her what might be a difficult truth.
One part of what I struggle with here is that for a long time she didn’t tell me what her symptoms were. If she had, I likely would have escalated things at least a year sooner. I am not sure that that would have helped change the outcome. BUT if something is happening to you on a sustained basis that is not normal FOR YOU, that warrants attention, and warrants escalation if nothing explains it or moves the needle. Time is a luxury.
I’m so sorry for your mom’s diagnosis. My friend (also a lawyer) consulted a few firms about a similar situation, and mentioned that she had a good experience in particular with Simonson Goodman. She actually ultimately decided not to sue because she felt they were honest with her about the process and she decided not to go through the rehash, but she had a lot of confidence in their advice and record.
I’m so sorry. No recommendations but I fully support what you’re doing.
As a lawyer, this isn’t at all what I’d waste my energy on right now. Focus on finding the best medical care you can for your mom and spending time with her.
This kind of response is really annoying and all too common here. OP didn’t ask for what YOU would do. She asked for attorney recommendations.
Thank you for this comment. Ironically, we undermine each other on this site as much as lift each other up, and it is exhausting at times. Please, let’s read the posts carefully and just answer the question. It’s not that hard.
Yep, and let’s just trust that OP is accurately reporting the situation. “Actually it sounds like your fault” or “there’s no way he did that” are equally unhelpful.
So what. Get over it.
It sounds like the mom is the one who wants to look into finding a lawyer.
I got the impression that OP’s mom was the one interested in litigation and OP wanted an attorney who would explain to her why that wasn’t worth wasting her limited time on.
As you can see from the comment above, sometimes the dying person just wants to talk to an attorney and find out if there’s something they can do in this area, when it feels like they have no control over any other area.
I’m glad the OP got what appears to be a good and compassionate recommendation above. It’s likely that mom just wants to be heard by someone and then will decide not to pursue it.
Maybe the dying person wants to send a message, wants there to be some consequences of the doctors’ neglect so they don’t do this to a future patient.
I am jaded about all this because of my own medical experiences, but I really feel like the only effective regulation on doctors and medical corporations in this country is the tort system.
And I say this as someone who works on the defense side of this.
I know people who seemed to have stronger cases (I’m not a doctor, but I’d personally want to biopsy a mole that’s started spontaneously bleeding!) but who let it go because their time was so limited. I understand that decision. I also understand the decision to try to do something about it.
Most of us know many people whose diagnoses were needlessly delayed by overworked, understaffed medical offices that psychologized symptoms and over-reassured patients seemingly as a way of managing their case loads. We do need change.
As the daughter of a patient who was medically mistreated in the UK, it was the help of a lawyer that ended up getting my father good medical treatment.
I started with complaining to the practice leadership. I hired a lawyer to write a letter which was enough to get their attention. At the hospital he was not treated well so I went through their complaints process, again using a lawyer to draft communications. He got much better care after that. My father is still alive and his stage 4 cancer is in remission now for 5+ years.
It’s different when you are the victim and I suspect this will be a helpful exercise for the family. I know for my father, the nurses took extra special care of him because they knew he had been let down. It took almost 3 years for him to get a referral to the specialist because they kept fobbing him off and trying to get him diagnosed with a secondary life limiting disease so they wouldn’t have to provide care.
Personally I think speaking to a lawyer when something has gone seriously wrong is never a bad idea. Pursuing a claim which has little merit or chance of success is where the madness lies.
Well done daughter.
We all need an advocate.
+1
I’m truly sorry to hear about your mom’s diagnosis. My father is also diagnosed with pancan, so I’m right there with you that I wish it had been caught sooner. However, it’s universally agreed by medical experts that pancan is difficult to detect. GI symptoms are typically too vague and can point to a host of other issues, that often pancan isn’t the foremost candidate of being the cause. Pancan is caught when the tumor shows up in a CT scan or other imaging, but unless she was in massive pain or presented with tell tale symptoms like jaundice, they wouldn’t think a CT scan is in order. Imaging is also imperfect. My dad’s tumor repeatedly showed as 2cm on scans, but was 9cm in reality when they removed it in surgery. That tells me it may not even show when it was smaller. It really really sucks but I don’t think getting into a lawsuit is the best use of your or her time now. It would be hard to prove, but also, stage 4 pancan moves very quickly so I would focus on spending the rest of what little time you have left to make your mom comfortable and to be present with her.
As others have pointed out, the OP didn’t ask what the best use of her mother’s or her own time is, she asked for recommendations for a med-mal attorney in her mom’s area. She also didn’t ask for our opinions about the possible success of a lawsuit.
The OP specifically said time is a luxury and people with litigants med mal experience are providing advice that this route is not the best way to spend what time is left. When you ask for advice, you need to understand that people are going to give it to you and you might actually learn something, not every idea is a good one that should be indulged.
I have experience in the same area and I think she should go for it.
Sometimes we recognize a fools errand and try to steer someone from it. It comes from a good place, even if some think it’s unsolicited advice. Feel free to scroll right through.
OP and mom are looking at this from a litigation perspective, but they should also look at this from a medical perspective. Why not seek 2nd opinions and hear from other medical professionals about diagnosis protocols? The truth is you can run tests for pancreatic cancer if you suspect it. But it’s one of the rarer cancers, and symptoms are unclear until late stage, which means it could’ve been any number of things that a doctor has to chase before they think it’s pancreatic cancer. Liver levels will return normal until your bile duct is blocked or the cancer has metastasized in the liver. CA 19-9 can be caused by anything like pancreatitis or gallstones. Imaging is expensive, with high demand as is, and likely denied by insurance until there is emergency-level pain or emergency sepsis, or your bile duct is blocked enough that your liver levels are out of whack and your skin turns yellow. If mom’s going to get treatment and care going forward, doesn’t she want to at least get this out of the way so she can trust whichever providers she’s going to be seeing regarding past and future protocols? I would think this is a better way of achieving closure, but that’s just me.
Every time somebody asks a question here, people do this. It’s part and parcel of asking for advice on the internet, and I think we’re all well aware of that. I don’t know why people are getting their undies in a bunch about it today.
Also: there is a blood test for pancan. If a patient offers to pay out of pocket for it, many doctors still don’t offer or refuse to pursue it. Often, their degrees predate the test. It’s really infuriating.
If what you’re referring to is the CA 19-9 test then it’s not recommended as a diagnostic tool because high CA19-9 can be caused by a number of things, including inflammation. There’s a reason why there’s no routine testing for pancreatic cancer the same way there are for breast cancer or colon cancer.
Wouldn’t that just warrant further inquiry? It doesn’t sound totally useless. Pancan is often caught too late. I wonder how on earth it is ever caught at a stage other than 4.
To anon at 12:35, doctors don’t order CA19-9 tests unless they suspect pancreatic cancer. At that point CA 19-9 tests are ordered to support a hypothesis, and later in treatment as a way to monitor trends to see how well treatment is going. But at a stage where the arrow isn’t even pointing in any particular directions, pancan or otherwise, CA19-9 testing is not part of the protocol as it’s indicative of a lot of things and don’t particularly narrow things down. Furthermore, not all patients produce this bio marker, and their CA 19-9 levels will stay low throughout, making it a useless tool.
There is no blood test for pancreatic cancer. This is incorrect.
My mother died of pancreatic cancer. I am genetically at risk due to inheriting a high risk cancer gene. We have to get yearly MRCPs and endoscopies. And we watch for developing signs of unexpected diabetes.
CA19-9 is a bad test. Soon we will have a better one.
My mother was also tragically diagnosed with widespread metastatic pancreatic cancer after I had taken her to multiple doctors over the prior year, trying to figure out what was wrong. Many complaints were not addressed aggressively, and I still blame myself. Yet, I also know that if it was found sooner, her likelihood of effective treatment would have been tragically low. It was a terrible time, and my mother never accepted it, and was so so sad.
I am also familiar with being ignored by doctors as a woman – watching how my mother was treated, and how I have been treated. It infuriates me.
OP, I am so sorry to hear about your Mom. How I hope you can spend time with her, ask her all the questions, record her voice, and do anything and everything she wants on her bucket list. If she wants to talk to a lawyer, I hope others will have good suggestions for you. I hope you can get palliative care involved early regardless if she is doing aggressive treatments or taking a more gentle approach. I am sorry I can’t be more helpful.
It’s even worse as an overweight woman. I had a primary care physician who didn’t believe I had a ruptured eardrum (I did, confirmed by ENT) and told me to go on a diet.
For Gail the Goldfish asking about the Trtl pillow – got one and have to say I didn’t love it.
The height is fixed. There is a piece of metal inside that is u-shaped and I thought it is supposed to contour to your neck. I thought this would be something you can bend to fit, but not really. The result was that it was forcing me to slightly hold my chin up, and if I tried to lean forward it felt strangly and uncomfortable which defeated the purpose of being able to lean into it when my head relaxed. I also found it very hot around my neck because it’s made of fleece.
I’ve seen tons of great reviews and I’m sure it works for some people, but it didn’t work for me.
+1, regular neck pillow works better for me and I ended up giving my trtl away.
Thank you! Anyone got a travel pillow they do like? I have one of the regular donut-shaped snapped around your neck ones, but the head nodding forward thing is a real problem (I never seem to be able to sleep on planes, even long-hauls)
I’m happy with this one, especially for the price. I left mine on a flight and ordered a replacement while waiting for my bag.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BC6G9Q35/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I have tried so many and the only one that has actually worked for me is this one. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09B4Y89F8?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
I have one of the cabeau ones and like it (they sell at Brookstone in the airport usually).
If you can try the Turtl out before you buy it, when it works it is life changing. I’ve slept soundly on trans-Atlantic flights since I’ve gotten mine after decades of not getting any sleep on the flights at all. It completely gets rid of my head bouncing. It works similarly for my husband and teenage son, too, but we all have fairly long necks.
The abortion ban in Florida is now in place and there is no more legal access to abortion in the southeast. If anyone is traveling to Florida in the coming days, I encourage you to get some stickers from Plan C pills and bring them with you to post in places that women will see them.
Completely barbaric. The men around me are so cavalier about what’s going on. My partner is planning team-building type trip for a small group and they’re doing it in Texas (no reason to have it there, everyone on the team lives in coastal cities, it’s just for fun basically). I asked why they would choose TX–what if there are women on the team who are pregnant? He just looked at me like I was nuts.
Is it an overreaction to have no desire to go to any of these places anymore?
I mean, maybe it’s an overreaction? I am not pregnant and am no longer able to get pregnant. If you’re pregnant, maybe, but otherwise it just seems unnecessary.
I’m 59 and well into menopause. I have to go to Texas for a family wedding. I have no desire to spend any of my hard earned money in Texas. You can care about people other than yourself, you know.
I think that’s how I feel as well..I’m not currently pregnant but I don’t want to travel to states where the government and a significant percentage of its population don’t believe that I’m deserving of bodily autonomy.
it’s so short sighted though. And it’s not like we haven’t seen this happening before. I’m not pregnant and don’t plan to be, so this doesn’t concern me. I’m not black, so that other thing doesn’t concern me. I’m not muslim, so I’m not concerned. I’m not in a minimum wage job, so I don’t care. I’m not gay, so why should I care? I’m not disabled, what’s it to me? If everyone only cares about their own little thing, you don’t build coalitions that can make progress. It is a weaker society. We have seen where that leads.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
I don’t know if it’s an overreaction, but I think that many people – including many pregnant women and women of childbearing age – are aware that the odds of needing an emergency termination of pregnancy while on a short trip are very low, and are therefore not restricting their travel to these states. If it’s just about the risk, then I think that travel is within many people’s risk tolerance (I recently gave birth following a high-risk pregnancy, FWIW, and I live in a state with a 6-week ban).
They’re not that low. Miscarriages and needing treatment for miscarriages are incredibly common. Worse, though, is that some hospitals are turning away pregnant women for ANY issue related to pregnancy. You could show up for amniotic fluid leakage and be turned away completely. It’s not always about needing a termination right that second.
I commented below, but to elaborate – I’ve had multiple miscarriages, including one that required surgical treatment and one that required medication treatment, while living in a state with a 6-week ban and have always been able to access appropriate care. It is abhorrent when women are not able to access care that they need, but I think it is worthwhile for people to know that isn’t universally the case even in states with restrictive laws.
Then you had an exceptional experience that thousands of women are not sharing right now. Some of the stories and some of the plaintiffs’ experiences in lawsuits are just horrifying.
Anon @ 11:44, you were lucky. Doctors now will refuse to treat you so they don’t get arrested.
(I should also add that I have had a D&C for missed miscarriage in my state, without any challenges from a legal perspective.)
And if it’s about the signaling/not wanting to spend money in Texas, yeah, I think it’s the kind of thing you can certainly do yourself, but it’s not the kind of thing that I’d expect to be so universally agreed on that I’d push for a work event not to be held there. There’s a billion problems with most any large entity you can do business with. (Like if you don’t want to go to Texas on vacation, I respect that, but pushing back on a meeting there for ethical reasons feels like eg. demanding the Hershey’s brand Keurig cups get pulled from the staffroom; or the company not order markers from Amazon – not something I’d spend capital on)
It doesn’t have to be about your personal risk. We all can, and should, vote with our wallets.
Maybe it seems low to you, but I personally know two people who lost (very wanted) pregnancies while traveling, necessitating medical treatment. For one, it was a spontaneous miscarriage in the early 2nd trimester that required treatment before she was able to fly home. The other went into early labor in her 37th week and the baby died (despite appropriate medical care), and she could have died herself without care. Sure, the statistical chances of this are low, but if it was me, I wouldn’t take the chance.
towelie, my partner mentioned that he would absolutely refuse to go to Florida this weekend, and he’s a man. So no, it’s not at all an overreaction.
My niece was born prematurely away from her mom’s home while her mom was on a business trip and experienced a pre-eclampsia-like super high blood pressure situation requiring admission to a hospital for emergency treatment. She was on blood-thinners, and had not yet switched to the alternative blood-thinners that were not as stable as her regular meds, but that would clear her body more rapidly; so she had to wait out clearing her blood thinners (so she wouldn’t hemorrhage), and then was induced to labor and deliver the baby. The diagnosis was that continuing the pregnancy was incompatible with mom’s health and survival, so baby had to come out. It’s not clear this treatment and decision-making would be so matter of fact in one of these early abortion ban states right now. It’s a scary time for pregnancy, and I suggest not downplaying the risks carrying moms-to-be may feel.
No, but it may be an underreaction to your partner’s being a blockhead about this. It’s one thing for any person to decide that they will still travel to Texas – maybe they have family there, or they feel personally safe, or they want to support Texans who have been gerrymandered out of having a fair say in their government. The fact that your partner acted like you were being silly for worrying about the women on his team says some really bad things about him.
I skipped a work trip to a very rural part of a very anti-abortion state while newly pregnant. No regrets.
I think it’s the responsible to think about the impact of a location on a whole team. A manager isn’t likely to know if a woman who works for him is early in pregnancy and so much can go wrong at that stage that requires real care that is restricted in these places
I don’t think it’s an overreaction not to want to go these places.
This. You never know who might be in the early stages of pregnancy. If you ask employees to travel to one of these places, you are in effect asking them to take an unreasonable risk, disclose a pregnancy earlier than they otherwise would have in order to explain their refusal to go, and/or exclude themselves from a career development opportunity.
It’s interesting that so many companies and state governments banned business travel to North Carolina during the bathroom law dust-up, but we are not hearing about any travel restrictions related to access to pregnancy care.
Agreed. The silence from corporations this time has been telling. Women don’t matter.
+1 to your last sentence
Not all abortions are completely barbaric! (I think you’d know of those views on this board, where it seems like the barbarism is actually celebrated.)
I don’t think the commenter was saying abortions are barbaric. She was saying that the ban in Florida is barbaric.
not an overreaction, especially in this case where they are choosing a location at random! very different calculus than if you as a woman are asked to attend an industry conference in TX. I am not going to *choose* to spend $ in a state that doesn’t believe in women’s healthcare. (e.g., I’m not going to vacation there. But I’m also not going to refuse to travel to a client there)
I’m not up on what the current state of the law on with religious exemptions for pharmacists who believe they should not stock morning after pills; in the past that was a significant problem. If it is a problem, I would also not want to expose my team members to the risk
Is there a shoe similar to the Margaux Mary Jane that has a bit more heel (1″-1.5″ would be great)?
OP here – found something I like – the Bared Parisoma is the look I’m going for but not in patent leather and preferably priced closer to $100.
Sofft Elsey? Madewell Netty (has a double strap)? Clark’s Seren30?
On a similar note, how about a recommendation for a shoe like the Margaux Mary Jane that isn’t $400?!
Madewell Greta popped up when I searched for the Margaux. $98
Stuart Weitzman Gabby 45
Has anyone experienced Wegovy? I’m pre-diabetic and medically obese (I don’t feel obese, just overweight, but alas, I am obese because of my BMI and how short I am compared to what I weigh). My doctor prescribed it 6 months ago and I was just finally able to get it. I gained a lot of weight during the pandemic/when I hit 30 (went from a size 2-4 to a size 14). I’m wondering about side effects and how successful it was for you (and how quickly you dropped weight).
I’m on ozempic which is fundamentally the same.
My short story is that I was on it for 6-ish months in 2022 and had tremendous success (lost 45 lbs). I stopped taking it so I could start an IVF cycle and ended up having a successful pregnancy. I’m now back on it, having restarted in late-Feb this year. I’m already down 22 lbs. For round 1, my chief complaint was a bit of nausea in the day or two after taking the medicine. I also had GI issues that felt pretty random but were definitely at least partly tied to eating too much or the wrong stuff (like greasy or processed foods). Not to say I can’t have those things still, but basically if I ate like c rap I felt like c rap. Those symptoms endured the entire 6 months I was on it the first round.
Now with Round 2/post pregnancy, I still get very mild nausea but almost zero GI issues. Not sure if it’s because I’m just more cognizant of what I’m eating (I don’t think I am but I guess maybe?) or if my body has adjusted. But, FOR ME, the juice has been one million percent worth the squeeze, so to speak. It’s been life changing.
My background is that I have insulin resistant PCOS. I’ve never been smaller than a 10 in my adult life despite being very active, running half marathons in my 20s (not since kids..), etc. I’ve lost more than 200 lbs in my adult life in 20-50 lb slugs using all the methods/programs/fads/whatever, and it just comes back regardless of what I do. I’ve been as large as a 16/18 in pant sizes. I’m 5’8″ and was 247 at peak during IVF cycles/peak hormonal (and emotional) chaos. I think my body likes to settle around 175 but we’ll see how this effort goes. I’ve only ever taken 0.25 or 0.5 doses but may dose up in a few weeks after my next check in with my PCP. I plan to be on this medicine for the rest of my life.
Good luck to you. I’m so, so supportive of anyone using this medication when it’s used for the right reasons and in the right ways with medical supervision.
I was on Saxenda for 8ish months last year before I wasn’t able to find it anywhere. I then switched to Wegovy. I went from the max dose of Saxenda to 1.7 of Wegovy. I haven’t had to bump up to 2.4 yet as I’m still losing. I started 1/4/2023 at 5’ and 226 pounds. As of today, I’m 157 pounds. I had zero nausea with Saxenda but had mild nausea with Wegovy for the first few months. I dealt with mild constipation with Saxenda but not with Wegovy. My food noise has almost completely gone away. I’m not hungry much of the time. It’s been a completely life altering medication for me.
I am on compounded tirzepatide (generic for mounjaro/zepbound), because I was also prescribed wegovy last fall and couldn’t find it anywhere. I started at 5’11”, 249 at my highest due to multiple IVF cycles telling my body to store all the weight! I have been on since mid-January, and have lost about 28 lbs, in a way that feels painless (no hunger). My only symptoms are nausea the night I take my shot, and occassionally cold hands and feet. I also go through low energy phases, but that also means I’m losing and need to take some electrolytes and water. My understanding is that tirzepatide has slightly fewer side effects than wegovy/ozempic.
I hope that you get the results you want. I was very hesitant about taking a GLP-1 peptide, and now I am so glad I did. I am so grateful for this drug, and I cannot wait to be smaller, because I didn’t feel good in my post-IVF body. Good luck on your journey!
I started in February and have lost 15 pounds. I gained weight after pregnancy and even though I had never had issues losing weight before, it would not budge this time. I tried for years doing different diets, heavy exercise, etc. I don’t know if it’s menopause looming, or my IUD, or stealth insulin resistance or what. I felt fundamentally betrayed by my body. I had a breakdown with my PCP in the fall and she encouraged me to give it a try, and it took several months to source it (tip: call independent pharmacists in your area, not CVS or other chains).
I’ve consistently lost about .75-1.5 lbs a week with marginal impact to my overall lifestyle. Side effects are low (mostly nausea) and worth it. I’m still 60 lbs above my lowest weight, but would be thrilled to lose another 30 lbs and call it good. I hope it keeps working. My clothes already fit better and I feel more confident in myself.
Tips for getting through a heartwrenching breakup where nobody did anything wrong and you still love each other but it just wasn’t working no matter how much you tried?
We are no contact.
Keep busy as much as possible. Try new classes, see all your friends, do the hobbies and other things you let slip away when you were in the relationship. When you can’t stop thinking about him, try to focus on why it wasn’t working. You may love each other, but you are not right for each other. Focus on that.
I went through a bad breakup about 2 years ago, and it was incredibly hard at the time. We had been together for 3 years, lived together for 2, and I thought we were going to get married. Now, with the distance of two years, I am so glad that we broke up. Without the rose colored glasses of the relationship, I see so many more problems that I overlooked or ignored at the time. I’m still single, but wouldn’t get back together with him under any situation.
No contact is the best way forward. Your task here is to break the attachment, and you won’t be able to do that if you’re still in contact. Other than that, just the usual: “The only way out is through,” “This time next year things will be better.” Also congratulations for ending it instead of staying in the wrong relationship. So let’s add another one: “You can’t be in the right relationship if you stay in the wrong relationship.” And try to keep busy with friends and outings and son on.
Hugs!
Keep the no contact up. The only way out is through.
Get out there and date someone new.
Yep. Go on some dates that aren’t “looking for a husband” dates. Go on a few “get out of the house” dates.
Exercise! Tire yourself out, so you can sleep. Keep your body moving to pass the time until it hurts less – you’ll get there.
Make sure your friends are aware so they can try to help keep you busy and schedule fun activities. I also scheduled a solo trip to Europe after a horrible break up. It gets you out of your element and changes your routine.
Don’t know if this is a tip but I’m sharing my perspective. It has been decades and I still occasionally think fondly of someone and wonder what if and feel a little sad. Like you said, nobody did anything wrong. We just want different things in life. I’m very happy with my husband and my current life, I know I made the right decision, I know I ultimately would not have made him happy and I had to set him free to find his person. Those things help to know. But it’s not easy. Going no contact is a good idea. Hugs to you.
Best cotton underwear that is also seamless?
I like the Enbliss line from Soma, which isn’t 100% cotton, but has a cotton gusset.
https://www.soma.com/store/product/enbliss+soft+stretch+hipster/570292574
I could use some advice from this wise hive. I just received a fourth rejection for a position I had interviewed for in the last couple of months and it’s really hurting my self-esteem. I’m mid-level management trying to move up the ladder, and I always seem to come close second, making me feel like I’m good but not great. This has been a recurrent theme in my life, consistent with going until my mid-thirties with undiagnosed high-functioning ADHD. I previously worked on some feedback about providing more succinct and structured answers in interviews and then got the opposite feedback that I should’ve elaborated more. Do I need a coach, and if so, how do I find a good one? I’m worried that my performance will only worsen if I feel insecure after rejections.
I want you to give yourself some grace. As you move up the ladder, the interviews are harder. The competition is stiffer. If you got four interviews, and went through four processes, your interviewing skills are improving, and you are getting punchier. There is always a silver and bronze finisher for executive roles. The fact that you are in the room, being considered, is huge. Your day will come. Wallow the right amount here, but pick yourself back up and get out there again! You need to not overthink, and interview from a position of strength. All the best.
Unless you’ve received specific feedback, it sounds like confidence is your challenge, not anything you’re doing wrong in the interviews. It happens sometimes that great candidates just aren’t the right fit for the job.
I understand the “good but not great” feeling. That has happened to me with two roles that I was so excited about and were completely aligned with my career goals. Both times, I got bested by someone who was just a smidgen better. And were sort of “famous outsiders” in my field. Hard to explain, but basically they were looking for a career change, and I was looking to advance and had paid my dues in the field. It hurt, not gonna lie. But as time has passed, I’ve realized that these things usually work out for the best. Your time will come. And the above posters are completely right; interviewing gets harder as you move up, not easier.
I used an interview coach after a similar experience of being second choice a couple of times. She really helped me prepare and be more able to sell my accomplishments. I don’t have good advice on how to find one but I highly recommend.
It’s a very tough job market and you have done brilliantly to get four interviews.
I’ve been to final round 6 times. I’m not joking when I say it’s tough out there and not a reflection of you but a reflection of the job market. You have 10’s of thousands of people laid off, coupled with very few job openings.
Keep going. I applied for roles at smaller companies and start ups with ideas that I think will take off. Good roles but slightly lower pay. I think long term it will pay off. I’ve told myself I’m channeling my inner Sheryl Sandberg, ‘if you’re offered a seat on the rocket ship, don’t ask what seat just get on.’
I don’t know if this next role will go on my resume or LinkedIn profile. It might. It might not. Time will tell. It normally takes at least 18 months to find an upper mid management role.
Any favorite ergonomic keyboards out there?
I have long used a Logitech Wave because the shape minimizes hand fatigue when I have large amounts of typing to do (a frequent occurrence in my role). The keys are starting to stick, though, and I will need to replace it before long. The current model has a different layout so I wonder if it is time to try something new. I can and do migrate between different keyboards and layouts, just prefer an ergonomic one for heavy use.
I have a goldtouch split keyboard and really like it. It is not as clackety as the other ones I have tried.
Same. I also use the Goldtouch split and really like it.
I use the wired Microsoft Natural ergonomic keyboard 4000, the wireless is just too small for my large hands. plus no batteries to replace, don’t have to worry about bluetooth.
I don’t normally use credit cards, but I want to get one for some home purchases for my new home. Things like furniture, decor, ceiling fans, maybe appliances. What is a good card for these items? I don’t travel so a card with travel benefits isn’t for me.
If you have a particular home goods store you like, you may want to get their store card for a discount on your initial purchase and ongoing rewards to spend on more furnishings. If not, I’d search for a card that gives a flat 2% back (or more? Not sure what is the highest rewards limit offered). Though FYI, if you are going to make mostly online purchases, BoA offers a card where you can set a single category as 3% back, and I’ve chosen online shopping.
I’d look on nerdwallet for the best cashback card you can find.
Wait until you need those appliances and then get either the Home Depot or Lowes card they offer you, usually in conjunction with a deal to spread the charges for your big purchase over a few months. Normally I wouldn’t do store cards, but you will spend so much at those stores the first year that it makes sense.
Do you use Fidelity for your retirement plans/investments?
I use their credit card which gives 2% cash back on everything. I don’t travel much either.
If you buy a lot at Costco or Amazon, it is worthwhile to have their credit cards, which give better cash back with you buy from them.
I love my fidelity card. Free investment money.
opening a store-branded credit card (like Lowe’s or Home Depot) will often give you a 10-15% off discount for initial purchases, so can save you a ton if you’re planning on a big one-off buying spree. However if you don’t have a credit history, I’m not sure what limit you’d be approved for — and you wouldn’t want an unpleasant surprise at checkout.
Yesterday PM someone asked about cataract ops and how to cope between surgeries. I had double lens replacement last year (correcting short sightedness not cataracts, but its the same op), with eyes being done a week apart. I was VERY short sighted before.
Don’t buy any glasses in advance as how you adapt to the new imbalance whilst waiting on the second op depends on your prescription. Some people arent too bothered by the difference and can cope ok whilst waiting for the second eye to be done whilst some find it harder to deal with. wait and see how tour mother reacts.
Because my original prescription was so high, I knew I’d need something in the meantime and assumed I’d just pop the glasses lens on the operated eye and wear my old glasses. It didnt work out like that. Because the difference was so great between my eyes it made me dizzy. My optician said the difference was so great that my brain couldn’t process the images, so I just had to try and cope without any glasses (using my newly operated eye). luckily I was off work. I ended up buying an over the counter pair of readers to allow me to use the operated eye whilst I waited the week for the second op.
I know people who have been able to see brilliantly straight away, but they tend to have less strong prescriptions. if its a stronger prescription, just play it by ear.
The only thing I’d recommend getting in advance is a good pair of wrap around sunglasses as you tend to be very light sensitive for a good while afterwards.
And perhaps take a hoodie to wear on the way home in case it’s bright. For my second eye it was a bright and sunny day and that was very unpleasant on the way home. I literally sat in the car with my hood pulled down over my eyes (you can’t wear sunglasses for the first day until the eye shield is gone). as I left the hospital I had my arm across my eyes and had to be led to the car as even a little light was intollerable the second time. But that only lasted a day.
Omg that was me. Thank you!!!! Such great tips. My has a really high prescription too and she’s really looking forward to getting the lens implants. I’m driving her to all the operations and post ops appointments. Will bring a hoodie or something for the sun. Luckily she’s retired and can take it easy during the month in between.
Shopping help wanted! Looking for leather black loafers for year round wear and am especially thinking summer looks that years ago I would have paired with black flats, like skirts and relaxed pants. Ideally a chunky or platform sole. I have the Ecco modtray loafer in the pinkish color and get compliments all the time, but the sole on the matte black leather has a white detail that I don’t love, and I am not convinced patent is the right style for me (I’m tough on my clothes and shoes). I like the Everlane lug loafer look but am dubious of the comfort aspect. Oh, I have a narrow-ish foot but don’t require a narrow size. Any suggestions?
Bass has a lot of options, including Weejuns that don’t look like their original penny loafers. For example: https://www.ghbass.com/lianna-super-bit-super-lug
Also, Franco Sarto is a tried and true player in the chunky loafer space.
Sadly, due to my narrow heels and wider forefoot I can’t wear most chunky loafers.
I have the Portland Zoe loafer and find it really comfortable with good padding and arch support. I have tricky feet with a bony, narrow heel. I wear one of two sizes and needed the larger of them in this shoe. I see they have BOGO right now. Hmmm https://www.portlandleathergoods.com/collections/womens-leather-flats
Sperry might have something. My feet are also narrow-ish and that brand works well for me. I have two pairs of the Seaport loafers in gray and camel, and I really like them. I have been considering whether I should get a pair in black.
Check out the Madewell Corrine – very comfortable, and runs slightly narrow. My foot is normal width and I wore them around the house with thicker socks for several days to stretch the leather, now they are perfect.
I LOVE my Madewell shoes—decently priced, leather lined and they hold up very very well. I have some older loafers and they’re a staple in my shoe wardrobe.
I found patent leather indestructible. You can clean it with Windex.
I like the Vionic Kensley loafer.
Now that the weather is warming up and I’m outside well into the evening, my nighttime sleep has gone to c rap. I just cannot settle my mind down. Also, the house is warm for sleeping, and that’s not helping. It’s truly not time to turn on the AC yet; nighttime lows are still in the 50s but the daytime temps have been in the 70s and 80s.
I can deal with the temperature and have already switched to my summer bedding, but it’s like my body wants to keep on going. I am tired but can’t fall into a deep sleep.
Turn the AC on until your room cools down. If it’s affecting your sleep it’s worth running it for 20 minutes. Signed, sleeps best at 68F.
If my bedroom is too warm, I am restless all night. This time of year is hard: it’s cool outside but not inside. Because of my window placement/prevailing winds, it’s very hard to pull outside air into my open windows in order to cool the house off, even when it’s cool outside. I have caved and now turn on the AC when I need to cool the house down. My suggestions for you: Open windows for cross-ventilation, and put fans in them in order to get cool air into the house (unless you have allergies, and pulling in outside air just means pulling in humidity and pollen). Sleep with a fan blowing across you (or the ceiling fan on). If that doesn’t work, turn on the AC.
There are window fans designed to pull outside air in and vent hot air out. They fit in your window and have two little fans. I love mine.
70s and 80s is hot enough to turn the AC on even though it’s “not time.”
Why not open the windows and get some of that cool night air? That’s perfect sleeping weather!
I am, but it doesn’t really cool down until the middle of the night.
Try a box fan in the window to pull in the cool air fast, or cave to the A/C
When it’s “time” to turn on the AC depends on indoor temperatures, not outdoor temperatures. The exception is if you have an older AC unit that will be damaged if it runs in cool outdoor temperatures.
Either turn on the A/C or use a window fan, which you start running the moment it’s cooler outside than inside. (Do not run it when it’s warmer outside; the breeze might feel nice, but you’re only bringing in warmer air.) If that’s 7 pm, open up that bedroom window, load in the window fan, keep the bedroom door open, and put it on high.
Or use the A/C.
I’m in a similar climate and also can’t sleep in a hot room. As soon as the sun gets low in the sky and the temperature stops dropping, we open all the windows and turn on the ceiling fans to cool the house down and we can usually get the house down into the upper 60s by bedtime. We keep the windows open all night so we start with a very cool house in the mornings, which also helps. If the temp is much above 80, you may need the AC to get it appropriately cool. Don’t sacrifice sleep in the name of not running AC.
Commiseration. I’ve had pretty good luck with Soma’s cooling PJ’s to help me stay cool throughout the night.
Also friendly reminder, don’t over look talking to your PCP about it if this is something that’s lingering or really disrupting your life.
I am just like you.
On cooler nights I just open the window.
But often I will turn on the AC to get the room cool, and then turn it off, or leave it on the energy saver program to turn off automatically when the desired temp is reached.
Sleep is so important.
We turned the AC on at night this week. Whether it’s “time” depends on the weather, not the calendar!
I commented up thread – you need one of these. They bring in the cool air a lot faster than just an open window.
https://www.target.com/p/holmes-9-digital-window-fan-with-remote-control/-/A-89771260
Do you have a furnace fan you can turn on, without actually engaging the AC proper? Mine turns over all the air in the house in only a few minutes, which helps cool things down quickly once the night temps drop.
I also find it helpful for sleeping if I keep to a pre-bedtime routine, even if it has to be abbreviated due to evening activities. That seems to get my mind to admit that it really is time for sleep.
I mean, if it’s too hot to sleep it’s time for AC. It doesn’t matter what the calendar says.
Said gently, it’s time to turn on the air when it’s too warm to sleep well at night.
I need to send a few gifts of alcohol to people in Minnesota, and have previously used Drizly. Apparently, they’re out of business.
Any leads on who to use for this? My google searching all leads to places that don’t deliver there, so appreciate help from anyone who has sent alcohol specifically to Minnesota recently.
Are they in an urban area? If so, you can use Doordash or instacart most likely.
I’m in Minnesota and frequently have alcohol delivered to my house using Shipt. You may have to pay a delivery fee and it won’t come wrapped with a ribbon, but I find it to be reliable! I generally order from Target for the basics or Kowalski’s if I want something higher end.
Buy from Surdyks. Longtime local staple in Minneapolis, they deliver.
Great ideas! Thanks everyone!
They’re not out of business. They were acquired by and then consolidated under Uber/UberEats. Functionality is in that app now.
anyone complete any challenges for the month of April that they want to share? my goal was to complete 290,000 steps over the course of the month, which i did. i find daily challenges hard for me bc if i mess up for one day i lose the motivation to continue.
Need help. We have a 4-year-old Sheepadoodle (Male). When DH is on travel/out of the house dog can be out of control and aggressive at times; he sometimes behaves like this with DH anyway. We are close to the point of re-homing him, but I’d like to avoid that if possible. We sent him to training camp (twice) somewhere rural when he was <1, but it's been a long time.
We have a busy household, 2 busy jobs, 2 kids <6, and not a huge yard…but I am willing to figure out/invest in trying to make this work. I know a huge part of it is his breed – he just needs *more* things to do – so happy to take suggestions on that and anything else. Please be kind.
It sounds like you may want to throw money at the problem by tuckering him out with a group outing or walk a few days a week. I know that’s a pricy solution, but a tired dog is a well-behaved dog.
Alternatives–is there a safe dog park or an off-leash area where you can meet a friend who has a dog, in the mornings, early, before work? Dogs need at least two twenty minute walks a day to stimulate their smell sense/brains. Or, you need to find the time to take your dog for a walk. And some doodles are crazy, and need to be run out with a hard game of fetch daily to behave.
Have you tried sending him to doggie day care to wear him out? A tired dog is a good dog.
Do you have dog daycares near you? Our dog really thrived at an outdoor day care, one day a week; he often just slept the next day he was so worn out. We stopped sending him as he got older and lower energy but it was great for his younger years.
I would do doggie daycare M- F, 9-5 whenever your DH travels.
FWIW we see a vast difference in behavior when our Lab is not properly exercised and stimulated. For us that looks like a 20 min neighborhood walk in the morning before work, 1/2 hr of training/tricks with our teenager in the afternoon and a half hour off leash trail run with DH after supper.
When we go on vacation she goes to doggie daycare in the daytime so she’s tired out enough for my older parents in the evenings.
Adding that we use an xpen with a doggie bed and not a kennel. She gets fed in there and goes in there with a licky mat when we are having dinner and with a bully stick when I’m doing the kids bedtime routine. She does much better with a consistent routine and will often put herself to bed at 11pm even if we are up late watching a movie on the weekend.
Training needs to be practiced and reinforced continually. He needs exercise on top of that. Do you have or want to make time to be the owners of a large, active dog? You either need to adjust your lifestyle to include the stimulation your dog needs, or rehome him before he is put in a position where rehoming becomes difficult.
Doggie day care to tire him out and hire a trainer to train you on how to manage him
doggy daycare if he is dog-friendly, and/or hire a dog walker that can take him on a LONG walk or jog. Have you looked into scent work at all? It’s another great way to tire out dogs.
Also – please don’t send him to a training camp again. They almost always use out of date, dominance theory training that gets ‘results’ quickly just by scaring & traumatizing the dog. look into a in-home positive reinforcement trainer if you go that route.
They need a mix of mental and physical stimulation that is tailored to their breed traits – a tired dog is a well behaved dog. Adding to the list of suggestions would be to use the feeding time to train. Build routines with food and training treats – for example, we make our pup sit, stay and wait until we release her before she can get her dinner.
These are great suggestions – thank you!!!! Since my post, I’ve found options for training and dog daycare. I’ve also thought through times for fetch and a potential weekly trip to a dog park.
I am kind of sad that we haven’t been meeting his needs (and yes, I know this is just a dog so I feel silly saying it), and then just have gotten into this unvirtuous cycle of being frustrated at him/the situation vs. focusing on the joyful parts of pet ownership.
There’s nothing silly about wanting to take good care of a pet.
What about those calming chews? I’ve seen them be pretty effective for smaller dogs–it might be worth trying to find some “big breed” calming chews and invest in the hormone plug in’s if they’re available for dogs (which I’m not sure they are! but it’s worth a check).
Also with dogs, I think positive reinforcement is best–wait until they are quiet and behaving to initiate the walk, turn away firmly if they’re jumping up and pawing, and then return back to them when they’re quiet and give the approval they seek, etc.
does this look like an outdoor jacket or could it worn as a soft/casual blazer-like jacket?
https://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=885601002&cid=99915&pcid=99915&vid=1&nav=meganav%3AWomen%3AWomen%27s%20Clothing%3ACoats%20%26%20Jackets&cpos=12&cexp=2252&kcid=CategoryIDs%3D99915&cvar=17249&ctype=Listing&cpid=res24050109938606440992377#pdp-page-content
That looks like an outdoor jacket to me. It’s beautiful!
I think you could wear it in place of a leather jacket. So out to dinner and drinks with friends but maybe not a presentation at the office?
It’s gorgeous.
I think this is one of those jackets that straddles the line and works for either purpose.
I think you could wear it like a blazer, depending on what is underneath and if you aren’t in a very formal office. But in this case I would probably size down so it’s a bit more fitted than how the model is wearing it
While I know the answer is probably “you can’t,” has anyone ever seen a school PTA or booster club de-toxify?
Our leader basically tries to bully anyone they don’t like out of the organization, which is irritating but mostly manageable. The real problem is a set of volunteers that only care about one issue and basically try to sabotage anything else. Personally, I’ve started being real, real direct with people, but nearly any declarative statement from me (or anyone outside the set of volunteers) is interpreted as “mean.”
Could it be possible that we’re all real tired of each other and it might be better next year? Is there anything that might make it better going forward?
The great thing about schools is that, unless you’re at a private K-12 school, there are always a lot of students graduating and new students entering so there’s a fair amount of turnover. If the bully has a kid the same age as your kid, that will help less, but school culture can change a lot in just a year or two as people leave and new people come in. Try recruiting people you actually like?
Unfortunately, the bully has kids that are my kids’ age AND there is a long-running school culture issue that it’s OK for people to stay on after their kids leave (I think this is absolutely insane). The recruitment idea is a good one.
People stay on the PTA after their kids leave the school?! I have never heard of such a thing! It sounds like you may be fighting an uphill battle…
Yeah, I don’t understand it at all. There was a person with really specific responsibilities that stayed on a year after their kid graduated, but it was during COVID. I still think it was weird.
Run as fast as you can as far away from these people. Heck I’d be open to paying tuition to avoid the woman. Who stays on after their child has left the school?!?
I am so lucky that the moms in my eldest’s daughter class have been consistently amazing women. Some have careers, some work jobs, others stay home. All of us are focused on giving our children the best experience possible. My son’s class is one grade below and about the same, we just aren’t as close. I have so much fun volunteering with the moms from the eldest’s class and it’s always our group that steps in to help, fundraise and provide.
My youngest child’s class has consistently been a drama filled toxic mess. There is a cross over to a new generation and you can see the influence realty TV and social media has had on these women. One of them slept with my ex husband (ok we were divorced, well separated, but who does that and tells me about it because he ghosted her after, which should have not been a surprise). Another mother lives in my building and invited my ex husband and kids over for a play date at their apartment after school when they knew it was his week with the children. Of course my kids were upset because they were not allowed to knock on my door and it was awful for me because I could hear them but didn’t want to show my face because the whole set up was messed up. No no no to the drama. They can go drown in their own wine/whine.
The principal is great. She came over and told me she didn’t think a Catholic school needed a divorced parent’s etiquette guide but after the nightmare of my ex husband sleeping with multiple divorced moms here we are with a rule book that suggests the parents demonstrate the values of the Catholic Church in their relationships with other parents where sexual relationships are saved for the sanctity of marriage.
Re: private school, I just don’t have the money, tbh. And my eldest kid would probably skin me alive if I tried. She loves her friends and her high school and is routinely put off by the kids she meets who go to the local private schools (which she knows through other activities).
While I used to wonder if it was the middle/high school thing because preschool and elementary were extremely drama-free (I mean there were issues but not half the crazy), I think it’s about the people. There is definitely a generational shift (I’m tail-end Gen X and the younger parents are DIFFERENT) plus there are a lot of helicopter and steamroller parents.
This sounds tough, I’m sorry. I’ve only seen it happen when there’s a significant turnover in people involved, which could happen in a PTA as kids grow up and change schools, but takes time.
This is why I don’t engage with the PTA or the booster club.
not until the toxic leader is gone. I was part of the new guard – and I like to think that I helped to detoxify! – but we were tremendously aided by the difficult personality taking her toys and going home (i.e., having zero input the year after her departure as she hated all of us for taking over her vacated spot even though she chose to exit).
you can try to dilute influence by bringing in new people who don’t have the same mindset.
good luck. it shouldn’t require this level of strategy to manage a volunteer org, but it often happens.
PS everyone gets to decide how they want to spend their time, but I think working parents with big jobs are a welcome addition to these type of organizations because they don’t feel like the PTA is *their legacy* in ways that those with less going on do. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this SS, but if that dynamic is at play too, know it’s not a “you” issue.
Yeah, I’m one of the few with a full-time, big job, and having more people like that has been real helpful.
I’m late to this thread, but no, the toxicity had to weed itself out as the kids aged out of the school. In my personal case, the PTA clique (and it was a clique) was SAHMs who had given up their corporate jobs to stay home, so I feel like they were doing PTA leadership more for their personal satisfaction and fulfillment than for the kids.
I was a working parent so couldn’t attend most of the meetings, but my husband was a SAHD for a while and did attend many, but they didn’t want his input on anything, and mostly seemed to want to be b1tches to me whenever they saw me about how I was still working and “not mothering” my own children. Eye roll.
I saw the worst one in the local grocery store the other day and she was holding court talking to/at her acquaintances she had run into (including me) at the store, completely blocking access to the dairy case with her cart for upwards of 15 minutes. If that isn’t her in a nutshell, I don’t know what is.
Yeah, I definitely get flack for not being a SAHP. And it’s barely about the kids for the most toxic ones – more about scoring points and face time with VIPs.
Could you campaign to modify the bylaws to require X% of the board to rotate out every Y years?
There are term limits for some, but not all, positions. And I’m going to fight like hell to keep the term limits we have then add it for appointed positions and standing committees. It’s also a leadership thing – I wish there were people who would work on transition and making it a good volunteer experience.