Magazine

A stressed dad looking at a baby floor seat instruction manual

The Kitchen Island Incident: Rethinking the Baby Floor Seat

It was 2:14 PM on a Tuesday. I had a P1 server outage flashing red on my left monitor, lukewarm cold brew in my system, and a 4.5-month-old stationed on the kitchen island right next to my keyboard. I had...

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Stressed mom holding a blue baby blanket in a messy nursery

Dear past Jess: Put the eucalyptus baby blue plant down now

Dear Jess from six months ago. You're currently standing in the floral section at H-E-B, balancing a squirming six-month-old on your hip while your toddler tries to systematically crush every bag of tortilla chips in the next aisle. You look...

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A vintage plush dragon sitting on a nursery shelf next to wooden toys

Tracking Down a December 9th Beanie Baby is Total Madness

It started, as most of my parenting anxieties do, with a casual comment over a lukewarm flat white. When the twins were approaching their birthday, my mother-in-law declared I simply had to find a plush toy with their exact birth...

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Close up of a sleeping infant's ear with a tiny yellow gold stud

Choosing safe gold earrings studs for babies without panicking

My mother-in-law cornered me in the kitchen with a pair of twenty-two karat hoops, telling me it was tradition and that I was overthinking it. A few hours later, my old charge nurse texted me to say that piercing a...

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Vintage cat plush toy sitting on a wooden nursery shelf next to baby books.

The Truth About Gifting an October 24th Birthday Twin

My mother-in-law unzipped her floral weekender bag and pulled out a vacuum-sealed plastic pouch with the solemnity of someone handling a transplant organ. Inside was a slightly crushed, orange and black plush cat. She had spent three weeks scouring the...

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A stressed father looking at his hands while holding a baby

The Unexpected Hazard of Press-On Nails During the Baby Years

I was on my hands and knees in the living room, aggressively parting the fibres of our Berber rug like a forensic investigator looking for a microscopic weapon. Chloe, my sister-in-law, hovered above me near the sofa, clutching a lukewarm...

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Sarah holding a coffee cup next to a messy dining booster seat

What Does Baby Booster Mean? My Chaotic Guide To Seats And Sanity

Tuesday, 4:13 PM. It’s pouring rain, my iced coffee is watering down to a depressing beige puddle in my cupholder, and I'm standing next to my Honda CR-V staring at my phone while Leo, who's four and possesses the lung...

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A close up of a baby's hand reaching near a baseboard in a nursery.

What Does a Baby Cockroach Look Like? My 2 AM Nursery Panic

Dear Jess from six months ago, Put down the heavy shoe, stop crying into the clean laundry basket, and take a deep breath. You're sitting on the nursery floor at 2 AM with a flashlight, going down a frantic internet...

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Mom cleaning up a spilled dark craft beer next to a baby play mat and scattered wooden toys.

Dear Past Jess: What You Need to Know About Sweet Baby Jesus Beer

I'm currently sitting on the floor of the den with a bottle of carpet cleaner in one hand and a rag in the other, aggressively scrubbing a dark, sticky stain out of the rug while my one-year-old screams from the...

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