A Patagonia Baby Reality Check: The Gear And The Travel Truth
The wind in southern Chile doesn't just blow, y'all. It actively tries to rip the hope right out of your chest. There I was, standing on a rocky trail that looked like the surface of the moon, holding my nine-month-old,...
Dear Jess: Please Stop Panicking About That Prickly Baby Rose Bush
Dear Jess from six months ago, I know exactly where you're right now. You're standing at the kitchen window, staring out at the sweltering Texas yard with a cup of coffee that went cold three hours ago. You’ve got a...
The Day a Fuzzy Yard Invader Taught Me About Triage
I was holding a lukewarm cup of chai, watching my toddler try to eat a fistful of Chicago dirt, when I saw it. A tiny, masked face peering out from under our cedar deck. It looked like a stuffed animal...
Surviving a Baby Praying Mantis Hatch With an 11-Month-Old Kid
It was 6:15 AM on a Tuesday, and I was staring at a plastic mesh butterfly pavilion on my kitchen counter like I was waiting for a server to reboot. I held a plastic spray bottle in one hand, completely...
Why this skeptical pediatric nurse finally bought a baby wagon
It was mid-July at Montrose Beach, the kind of Chicago summer day where the humidity feels like a wet wool blanket draped over your shoulders. I was dragging a premium traditional stroller backward through the sand, my sandals sinking with...
To My Past Self: Troubleshooting the Coppertone Baby Dilemma
It's currently 94 degrees in Portland, and I'm hiding under a nylon pop-up canopy at Laurelhurst Park, desperately tracking my son's core temperature while he aggressively tries to eat a handful of dry woodchips. I'm writing this to you, Marcus...
Parking Lot Panic and the Anxiety Behind the Baby Emmanuel News
My keys were somewhere under the passenger side of my Honda Odyssey, my oldest son Carter was actively trying to lick the handle of the H-E-B shopping cart, and the baby was screaming so loud I could feel it in...
What I Wish I Knew Before Buying The Baby Bogg Bag Last Summer
Dear Sarah from last June. You're currently standing in the gravel parking lot of the municipal pool, wearing those distressed denim shorts you swore you were going to throw away in 2019, holding a soggy canvas tote that just aggressively...
What to do when your toddler finds a bird in the garden
It was a Tuesday afternoon, roughly forty-five minutes before I usually cave and put the television on, when Florence trotted up to me holding what appeared to be a very angry, moldy tennis ball. She deposited it directly onto my...