The brutal truth about chunky baby sweaters and keeping infants warm
You're thirty seconds into trying to shove a rigid, uncooperative little arm through the tiny sleeve of a thick cable-knit pullover when you realize you've made a terrible mistake. The baby is screaming. You're sweating. The dog is staring at...
The Reality of Buying a Baby Blanket With Name for Your Nursery
I was thirty-four weeks pregnant with my oldest, sweating completely through a maternity tank top in the middle of a Texas July, staring at a gift box the size of a mini-fridge. My husband’s Aunt Linda, bless her heart, was...
Why The Right Toddler Sweater Stops Winter Car Seat Panic
"Put a proper heavy coat on those girls," my mother-in-law announced last Tuesday, eyeing the twins as if I were deliberately trying to freeze them to death on our walk to the park. "They'll completely overheat in the boot of...
Why looking up kids stores near me usually ends in disaster
The wind off Lake Michigan is currently performing a hostile takeover of the sidewalk. My toddler, who fit perfectly into his heavy coat exactly three days ago, is now hulking out of the sleeves like a tiny, irritated bodybuilder. The...
How to survive the kinderzimmer einrichten phase without losing it
I was thirty-eight weeks pregnant when I sat on the bare floor of our second bedroom in Chicago and cried over the smell of a dresser. We had just assembled a suspiciously cheap piece of nursery furniture I bought online....
The Truth About Fall Baby Clothes (And What Actually Works)
The biggest lie the internet ever told us about fall is that your infant needs to look like a miniature adult lumberjack. I'm just gonna be real with you, the idea of stuffing a four-month-old into a tiny, stiff denim...
My Sweaty Journey to Find the Best Cooling Blanket for Babies
It's three in the morning in mid-July. The ancient window AC unit in my Chicago apartment is rattling like a dying lawnmower, and my toddler is plastered to my left side. He feels like a baked potato fresh out of...
A Clueless Dad's Guide to Surviving Sunscreen for Babies This Summer
I'm currently pinning my eleven-month-old son against my chest with my left forearm while my right hand desperately tries to smear a thick, chalky white paste across his nose. He is thrashing like a crocodile in a death roll. He...
The No-Nonsense Guide to Buying Secondhand Baby Stuff Safely
I was standing in a humid church gymnasium at 7 AM on a Saturday, seven months pregnant with my oldest son, fighting a woman in a denim jumper for a plastic bouncy seat that smelled faintly of sour milk. I...