Kids' Uniforms...which brands last?

It's November and I've already started shopping for next year's uniforms. Perhaps, I'm a bit early, but I like to buy year round. I'm starting to figure out which uniforms will hold up and which ones will not. Partly this is because my daughter now comes home FILTHY from her new daycare. I'm going to do a brief review of my favorite items. My other review has good tips on where to find these items online.

Skorts/Skirts

As expected, the skorts and skirts I bought from Land's End are holding up beautifully. I bought some brand new skorts from Children's Place that are not holding up as well as the gently used skorts I've purchased that are Land's End. My favorite skorts are the canvas pull-on that have the elastic waist in back. You may pay more up front for the items if you buy new, but they will last. I've also purchased leggings from here. However, I'm not sure they are worth the extra cost. 

Leggings/Undershorts

While the skorts I've bought from Children's Place are not holding up so well, I love the leggings, especially for the price. If you hit one of their sales, you can get them for $5-$7 a piece. I also got shorts for under skirts from there and they are great. I like the stretch in the leggings.They are a combo of cotton and spandex. I also bought some Gymboree leggings and Carter's leggings. The Gymboree leggings are just as thick, but stretch out too much because they are 100% cotton. The Carter's leggings are a bit thinner and just not as great quality wise. 

Polo Shirts

I'm still figuring out here which polos are the best, but I'll give you my thoughts. For the price, you really can't beat Children's Place or Old Navy. They seem to be holding up pretty well. They aren't the softest out there, though. If you want softer polos, go for Gymboree or Gap. I can't comment on the polo shirts from Land's End, but I did break down and buy a couple of their long sleep polo dresses at my daughter's request. They are soft, but not as soft as the other places. Dockers and Izod also have decent shirts. The advantage of the rougher polos is they pill much less. My daughter hasn't complained that they are rough at all, by the way.

Other Pants

Because my daughter can't do buttons and zippers great yet, I really had to search around to find some pull-on pants. I finally found some made by Gap and Gymboree. Gap makes come cute corduroy pull-on pants. I've owned them before and they are well made. Gymboree has some pull-on ponte pants in navy that seem pretty thick. I'll update you if they don't last, but I've generally found Gymboree items hold up well.

Socks

So far the winners here are Gap and Gold Toe socks. I bought the Gold Toe socks on Amazon.

Jumpers

I don't have any clear favorites here yet. I do like the knit ones from Target. I think that they are nice because they have a bit of stretch in them. Children's Place also has some jumpers with spandex in them that are nice. 

Car seats...and vomit

If you have a small child, at some point, he or she will vomit in your car. It's the most dreaded parent task you will ever have...cleaning out the car seat. Yesterday, my youngest came down with the latest daycare pukey bug and of course, she managed to vomit less than five minutes from home in her seat. After getting her home and in the bath, it was time to clean the seat. Here are a few tips you might find helpful:

1. Get yourself some long dishwashing gloves, if you have some available. The vomit will get on your arms and, frankly, it's pretty gross. They help.

2. Remove the car seat cover, pads, etc. to take to washing machine. Try to clean the undigested pieces off the cover before throwing it in the washing machine because otherwise, you will find these pieces in your machine. Yuck.

3. Use vinegar in the wash. It helps get the smell out.

4. Get yourself a good pet enzyme spray and drench the heck out of the car seat. The enzymes eat the vomit bacteria and help get rid of the smell. Use toothbrushes or old chopsticks to remove vomit from the crevices.

5. Repeat with pet spray as many times as necessary to get the vomit smell out of the straps, etc. it helps to let it fully dry and then you can tell if you need to do another round.

6. Put car seat back together once clean. Pray you never have to do this task again. Curse car seat makers that do not allow car seat straps to go in washing machine. Curse car seats for being so expensive that you can't just throw the whole thing away and buy a new one every time your child vomits in it.

7. Relax and try to enjoy your day off with your sick pukey child.

Mommy, I feel "nervousited."

"Nervousited," I ask? 

"Yes, "my 5-year old says. "That means I feel nervous and excited about starting Kindergarten. "

Boy does that describe how I feel about her starting Kindergarten!  I explain to my daughter that both of those feelings are very normal and that most of the other children are probably feeling that way,  too. 

She doesn't start Kindergarten for two weeks, but today is her first day at the new daycare she will attend after school.  Because she's attending a charter school,  they don't have after school care available.  So,  she will be moving to a daycare closer to her school that can pick her up afterwards.  At 9:15, I phone my husband to see how the drop-off went. Good,  he says.  At 10:00, I phone the daycare to check on her.  All is well, of course.

My Mama Bear instincts are in overdrive right now as I worry about the older kids at the new daycare and my barely on the chart petite daughter.  I try to remember that there are teachers there to supervise and different isn't always bad.  It's just different.  My doesn't worry about anything husband reminds me that everything will be just fine. Of course,  I also remind myself, we can remove her and find a better option if things don't work out.  Phwww! When did becoming a parent become so hard?   

Cleaning for the Cleaning People

Today is our postponed cleaning day after being out of town for a week. It's time to clean up before the cleaning people come to the house. It's a wonderful feeling walking into a clean home after work.

I've had several people ask why I have to "clean" before they come. "Isn't cleaning what you pay them to do?" Clearly, these people have never had children and do not understand the sheer amount of mess children can make in a short amount of time! I give you:

Exhibit A: Great Room Playing Area

We don't have a playroom in our house, so the space near our TV watching area is where most of their toys are stored. I usually try to have them clean up their toys every evening before bath time, but if we skip even one or two days, the area quickly turns into a disaster. 

This morning's picking up of their toys was complicated by my cat leaving me a "treat" nearby. Ugh. And, yes, I know my daughters have a lot of toys. I don't really allow them to play on my iPad or phone, so I suppose we've compensated with toys...though not on purpose! Believe it or not, twice a year I donate toys to our daycare or our local women's shelter. Looking at these pictures is making me think a clean out is in order soon...

So, if you've ever wondered why people have to "clean" before the cleaning people, now you know...

When your Husband is Out of Town

My husband left yesterday on a trip to Europe. I'm meeting him next week. My parents will watch my children for about a week. I'm looking forward to the trip, but I have to confess, I hate when he's out of town. I'm one of those women who is blessed to have a husband that helps a lot with the children. Most mornings, he wakes them up first and then me. We head to the kitchen and he'll start breakfast for the girls and then get ready for work. I finish breakfast, get girls ready, and send them out the door with him to daycare. Then, it's time for me to get ready...

If you are a parent, you know that life with kids is a hectic combination of joy and exhaustion. So, when one parent is gone, the chaos increases exponentially! The day before my husband was leaving, my youngest spiked a fever. That means no daycare. Time to call my mother in law to see if she can help. Luckily, she's available! Then, my husband gets in a car crash on the way to the airport. Thankfully, he's fine, but the car is probably totaled. 

This morning, my youngest spiked a fever again. I spent my first bathroom trip with her collecting a urine sample to take to her pediatrician because she refused to pee yesterday when there with my mother in law. Then, I race through the house getting both girls dressed, my youngest to my mother in law's again, my oldest to daycare, the urine sample to the doc's office, and, phwww! I am lucky to make it to my office by noon! It's only day one of my husband being gone and I'm missing him already. 

I have the utmost respect for single parents who do it all. Parenting is the hardest thing I've ever done, and that includes getting my Ph.D. So, when my husband is gone, I think I appreciate him even more because it reminds me that I'm very lucky to have him in my life. And, it also reminds me to be grateful for the blessings I do have. 

Mother's Day...and why I'm now going to all school activities

My oldest daughter just turned 5. She's been in daycare since about 5 months of age. Initially, she was in a daycare that was located at my job. I loved the convenience of her being on site and I frequently visited her during the day to play. Right before she turned 2, our site notified us it had to close. I was sad. I loved having her so close.

We found a new place, but unfortunately, the convenience of having her on site was gone. We like our new place and they frequently have parent-child events. Of course, it's not so easy to go now in the middle of the day to visit my girls. We do usually go to weekend or weeknight events.

In my oldest daughter's class, they announced a Mom event for Mother's Day. My daughter told me, "Mom, you never go to school stuff." It hit me that even though I go to the after work things, the day things that are smack during work hours, well, I don't always go to them. I realized that the during the day events were very important to her. So, I told her I would go. She was so excited!

Yesterday was the event. She talked about it all morning before we got to school and was so excited to have me there. I've now made a pledge to try and go to all events. I'm lucky enough to have a job where I can go. I want her to know that she's important. I didn't realize before how important these events were to her, which is sort of silly. I had a great time and even brought my younger daughter over to her class. I often tell people that being a parent is the toughest job there is. Good thing that having children is worth it.

Goose Egg from Hell and Why Being a Parent is Scary

Since I work full-time, both girls are in daycare. I like the place they go to and genuinely believe the teachers love and care for my girls. I like the teachers, too. Today was one of those days when I arrived to one of them crying. I walked into her classroom and my youngest daughter was curled up on the teacher's lap crying for Mommy. I walked over to pick her up and then saw this:

My first question is "What happened?" The teacher says she doesn't know. She turned around for a minute and my daughter was crying. Sigh. It's one of those accidents. The ones that can happen anywhere, any place, to any of us. My daughter calmed fairly easily once I picked her up and thus far, has been acting fairly normal tonight. Thank goodness!

When I first saw the bump, I really thought it looked like a blood vessel was going to burst and it scared the heck out of me. As soon as my daughter stopped crying, I started to realize that it probably looks much worse than it is and reminded myself that kids fall every day. I confess that on the drive home, I kept talking to her and assuring myself she was okay. She's sitting on the couch now eating an orange and watching Scooby Doo with no other signs that she fell other than the goose egg from hell.  Sigh. Being a parent is sometimes the scariest adventure a person can take. 

Road Trip

My husband is away in Spain for a week (poor him, right?) I'm home with my two kids...and my parents came in to town to help me out since taking care of two toddlers by yourself for more than a few days can be tasking. I don't know how single parents do it! After more than a couple of days by myself with the kids, I miss my husband dreadfully. Heck, who am I kidding??? I miss him sooner than that.

We decided to check out Gilroy Gardens since my friends with young kids say it's a lot of fun . Gilroy also has some outlet malls, which will be fun for me and mom:) I decided to leave a day early so we could get an early start the next morning at the park.

We start the drive and decide to stop at one of my favorite places, Casa De Fruta. Casa de Fruta is a total tourist trap and I love it. Besides fruit, they have ice cream, candy, fruit, and other goodies. They also have  a little train that you can ride on, and a carousel. I always like to buy candy there. They have lots of sour gummy candies and chocolates of all kinds. Yummy!!! It isn't cheap, but it's fun. My sister calls it Casa de Expensiva:)

We finally arrive at the hotel and, after a late dinner, we get in bed around 9 p.m. Now, if you have kids, you know that stays in hotel rooms are never fun. Kids are out of their usual space and they never seem to want to go to sleep. I had the foresight to book the family suite. It has 3 queen beds, one of which is in a second room with a half bath. I figured one girl would sleep with me, one with my mom, and my Dad would sleep in the 3rd bed.

This arrangement would have worked great, had my oldest not wanted to sleep with me, too. So, we all three decided to try and sleep in the same bed, with me in the middle, of course. Two hours and several bed changes later, I fell asleep. My mom informed me later that my 2-year old didn't go to sleep till around 11:30 pm. I fell asleep a little after 11, when I thought she fell asleep.

As you might have guessed, both girls were exhausted today. They actually did pretty good at the park today, to my surprise. Near the end of the day, my 2-year old started to exhibit signs of complete exhaustion and I knew she was going to crash soon. Sure enough, she fell asleep shortly after we left the park.

Here is a pic of her napping after we got back to the hotel room:

Pictures like this remind me of why I decided to have kids. Of course, it's now 9:24 p.m. and I'm now listening to both girls argue over who gets the Ariel doll. Sigh. Here we go again.