Try

    git checkout -b wip-syncing
    git commit -m "wip means work in progress"
    git push <whatevs> wip-syncing

on your laptop, then

    git fetch --all
    git checkout <whatevs>/wip-syncing -- .
    git push <whatevs> :wip-syncing

on the desktop. of course, this "rewrites history", but only in a very localized way.

In general, you're going to be fighting against git if you take an absolutist stance against rewriting history. Which is fine! But a little bit of controlled rewriting can open up a lot of options.

Edit: and I'm typing this from memory on my phone so please don't copy and paste the commands without verifying that they work correctly first!