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12-month-old90s nostalgiababy gearchoking hazardseducational toysGen Z
A mom looking confused at a tiny designer art toy while holding a toddler

Why That Viral Cry Baby Popmart Figure Isn't Actually For Your Baby

I was standing at my kitchen sink, elbow-deep in cold oatmeal dishwater, when my 14-year-old niece shoved her phone directly into my face. On the screen was what looked like a perfectly round, tear-streaked child stuffed inside a tiny, fuzzy...

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6-month-oldbaby developmenteducational toyshealthy babymaternal mental healthmotherhood
Raising a brainy baby naturally with simple toys and floor time.

Confessions on Raising a Brainy Baby Without Losing Your Mind

Dear Jess of six months ago: I see you sitting on the rug in our Texas living room, sweating through your shirt, surrounded by Mandarin language flashcards, trying to get a ten-week-old to focus on high-contrast black-and-white shapes while the...

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Babychildhood developmenteducational toyslondon dadmillennial dadtoddler toys
A small acoustic guitar next to some scattered soft rubber building blocks

The Truth About Buying a Baby Taylor Guitar for Kids

I'm currently watching roughly three hundred and fifty quid’s worth of solid Sitka spruce being used as a battering ram against my Ikea coffee table. My twin daughters, who possess the combined destructive power of a small localized tornado, have...

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babyeducational toyshearinginfant safetymillennial mom
Mother covering baby's ears from loud TikTok video music on phone

Why the Dilon Baby TikTok Trend Made Me Rethink Infant Hearing

It was 2:17 AM and I was wearing a grey maternity bra that I really should have thrown out in 2020, sitting in the absolute pitch black of the nursery. Four-month-old Maya was finally, miraculously asleep on my chest, dead...

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11-month-oldauditory safetybaby toysbabyproofingeducational toysmillennial dad
A dad looking exhausted while his baby plays with a plastic electronic toy

My Honest Review of the Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Baby Toys

"Buy the talking dog, it taught your cousin to count," my mom texted me on a Tuesday morning while I was trying to compile code. "Don't let that plastic nightmare into your house, it'll literally nuke his dopamine receptors," my...

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baby mbaby toysearly developmenteducational toysmillennial mom
Small robot toy sitting on a rug next to wooden building blocks

The Late-Night Reality of Setting Up That Baby Miko Robot

It's 11 PM on a Tuesday. I'm sitting cross-legged on my living room rug, holding a microscopic reset pin, violently whispering at a plastic screen that keeps telling me it's thinking. My toddler is asleep in the next room, completely...

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12-month-oldbabybaby sharkeducational toysscreen-free playtoddler development
Toddler playing with handmade popsicle stick puppets on a wooden floor

Surviving the Meltdown: How a Baby Shark PNG Saved My Sanity

The spaghetti water is foaming over the edge of the pot, the dog is rage-barking at the UPS guy, and my three-year-old is lying face-down on the kitchen linoleum. I'm standing there with a wooden spoon in one hand and...

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A wooden tablet holder next to a child's wooden play gym in a messy living room.

The Terrifying Truth About Innocent Kids' Searches

I was sitting on the floor of my laundry room yesterday, using a baby wipe to scrape dried oatmeal off my five-year-old’s hand-me-down tablet. I turned it on just to check the battery, swiped over to the browser he uses...

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baby toysearly developmenteducational toysfine motor skillsmillennial mom
Wooden infant piano sitting on a living room rug surrounded by toys

Dear Past Me: What I Wish I Knew About Buying a Baby Piano

Dear Jess from six months ago, I know exactly where you're right now. You're hiding in the walk-in pantry, sitting on a sack of jasmine rice, pretending to look for the good coffee while actually just trying to escape the...

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