Magazine

Tired dad looking confused at a laptop while an 11-month-old baby plays with a wooden play gym.

What Is An Anchor Baby? Debugging A Toxic Immigration Myth

My 11-month-old son had just figured out how to forcefully eject his mashed peas across our kitchen island when my wife Maya’s college roommate, Sofia, started quietly crying over her water glass. Sofia is six months pregnant. Her husband, Leo,...

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Dad trying to apply thick white mineral sunscreen to an actively squirming baby.

Debugging Baby Sun Safety: The Great Sunscreen Firmware Update

There's currently a streak of stark white zinc oxide smeared across the black upholstery of my Subaru, a matching smudge on my favorite dark t-shirt, and a suspicious clump stuck in my eleven-month-old’s left eyebrow. Somehow, despite dispensing what felt...

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A frustrated dad looking at a white floral crown in a nursery

System Error: Why We Banned the Baby's Breath Flower at Home

My mother-in-law texted me four massive paragraphs about how Gypsophila represents everlasting love and is a hard requirement for the nursery design if we wanted to respect tradition. Three hours later, our Portland neighbor—a guy who brews his own seasonal...

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Twin baby pulling up on a sofa while holding a wooden teething ring

First Steps and Bruised Knees: A Twin Dad's Guide to Walking

I used to think there was a specific, magical day when it happened. I genuinely believed that sometime around their first birthday, I’d be sitting on the sofa with a lukewarm coffee, and one of the twins would simply stand...

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Exhausted mom holding a newborn in a sustainable Kianao bodysuit

Reclaiming The Title Of Baby Mama And Surviving Year One

My wife is asleep next to me, emitting a low, rhythmic wheeze that means she’s currently in deep REM, and I'm sitting in the dark, furiously scrolling through a Wikipedia rabbit hole about billionaires. I literally caught myself googling how...

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Stressed mom holding baby in a simple cotton Halloween outfit

Surviving Baby's First Halloween Without the Scratchy Tears

I was standing in the middle of a damp Texas pumpkin patch in 2019, wrestling my oldest out of a $65 synthetic lion suit while he screamed loud enough to wake the dead. The zipper was stuck in a tuft...

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A tired mom stepping over a baby gate holding a cup of coffee

The Great Staircase Panic: A Messy Guide to Baby Gates

It was 7:14 AM on a Tuesday in November, I was wearing one wool sock and one ankle sock, and I had my back turned to the living room for exactly four seconds to pour my second cup of coffee....

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A messy coffee cup on a table next to a baby monitor and scattered baby toys.

What The Baby Garnet Case Taught Me About Postpartum Survival

Dear Sarah from six months ago, You're currently sitting on the cold bathroom floor at 3:14 AM. You're wearing Dave’s oversized gray fleece—the one from college that smells vaguely of sour milk and desperation—and you're staring at the grout lines...

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A confused dad looking at his baby pointing at a wild animal in the grass

The Portland Backyard Bug: Debugging Encounters with Baby Animals

I'm standing in my perpetually damp Portland backyard at 6:15 AM, holding a lukewarm mug of coffee like a shield, while my 11-month-old son, Leo, points a chubby, sticky finger at what appears to be a vibrating pile of dead...

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