Magazine

Tired mom sitting in a nursery glider looking at her phone in the dark.

Why That Reality TV Baby Drama Actually Made Me Scream

It was 3:14 AM, and I was pinned under my oldest son in a rocking chair that squeaked every time I shifted my weight. My C-section incision felt like it was actively unzipping, I smelled like sour milk, and my...

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A highly suspicious infant looking at a plastic spoon covered in beige oat mush

Surviving the great weaning transition of 2022

It was precisely 11:14 am on a Tuesday, and I was standing on a dining chair trying to scrape what appeared to be organic beige cement off the kitchen ceiling with a silicone spatula. The twins were exactly six months...

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A vintage plush toy sitting safely on a high nursery shelf away from the crib

Why gifting a vintage november 24th beanie baby gives me hives

I watched my sister-in-law unearth a vacuum-sealed plastic bag at my baby shower, her eyes shining with that specific millennial nostalgia that usually precedes a terrible financial decision. She pulled out a dusty plush turkey from 1997. She proudly announced...

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Exhausted dad doing a crossword puzzle while twin toddlers chew on sustainable silicone teething toys.

Why The Baby Beluga Musician NYT Clue Destroyed My Sleep Entirely

The glowing rectangle of my phone was the only light in the nursery at 3:42 am last Tuesday. Twin A (Maya) was draped across my left shoulder like a heavily sedated sack of potatoes, occasionally whimpering and aggressively gnawing on...

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Toddler playing with wooden toys on the living room floor

Raising a Gemini Baby Without Losing Your Mind Or All Your Friends

"Don't tell Mr. Henderson that his grass looks like garbage. I don't care if that's what Daddy said in the kitchen, you keep your mouth shut because your wife is my friend and I've to sit next to her at...

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Golden spaniel puppy chewing on a toy next to twin toddler girls.

When Do Dogs Lose Their Baby Teeth? A Twin Dad's Survival Guide

I stepped on it barefoot at exactly six in the morning. It was sharp, cold, and entirely unyielding, which naturally led me to assume I had discovered yet another rogue piece of plastic from the twins' supposedly tidied toy box....

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Sliced soft cooked pear pieces on a divided silicone suction plate for baby

That First Slippery Baby Pear And The Constipation Chronicles

My thumb was covered in aquaphor and desperation. It was day four of the great solid-food bowel strike, and my son was looking at me like I had betrayed him. Starting solids at six months is heavily romanticized on the...

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Exhausted parents looking at a complicated written birth plan on a table.

Megan Walerius, Birth Plans, and the Chaos of Expectations

When we announced the twins were on the way, I received three distinct pieces of advice within a forty-five-minute window at my local pub. My mother, clutching a small glass of sherry, told us to simply let nature take its...

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A pile of white cloth diaper inserts next to a bathtub

The ugly truth about deep cleaning your reusable cloth diapers

I was standing over the changing table last November, the Chicago wind rattling the windowpanes, pulling a supposedly fresh cloth diaper off my toddler. It smelled exactly like the gerbil enclosure at a rundown pet store. I had washed that...

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