Magazine

Toddler taking first steps in flexible lightweight sneakers at the park

Why the Nike Swoosh 1 Changed How I Think About Baby Shoes

It was a random Tuesday, maybe 9 AM, and I was wearing leggings that definitely hadn’t been washed since Sunday. I was hovering by the microwave, nursing my third cup of aggressively mediocre dark roast, when my mother-in-law dropped a...

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A pile of baby shoes never worn sitting next to a barefoot 11-month-old

Baby Shoes Never Worn: Why Barefoot Is Always The Smart Move

I'm currently sitting cross-legged on the floor of our hallway in Portland, staring at a plastic storage bin filled to the brim with tiny, immaculate, aggressively rigid footwear. It’s raining outside, the house is hovering at exactly 68.4 degrees because...

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Toddler wearing soft knit baby shoes while walking on a wooden floor

The Truth About Baby Feet: Why Those Tiny Shoes Are a Scam

My mother-in-law held up a pair of hot pink, patent leather, miniature high heels at my baby shower like she had just extracted a rare diamond from a mine. I smiled, nodded, and immediately mentally categorized them as biohazard waste....

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A pile of brand new stiff infant footwear in a cardboard donation box

The Real Story Behind Those Unworn Infant Shoes on Resale Apps

I'm currently staring at six pairs of stiff, leather infant oxfords sitting in my donation pile. Hemingway supposedly wrote a famous six-word tragedy about unworn baby shoes, but honestly, any mom on a local buy-nothing group will tell you it's...

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A barefoot baby pulling to stand next to a pair of flexible first walker shoes.

The Real Deal on Finding Walking Shoes for Babies

I was standing in the middle of the Target shoe aisle with my oldestβ€”who's now four and still an absolute terror, bless his heartβ€”when I realized I had three completely different voices echoing in my head about what to put...

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Baby in organic cotton pulling up on a coffee table while mom watches

That Midnight Panic Over Exactly When Babies Are Supposed To Walk

It was 2:13 AM on a Tuesday, and I was sitting on the floor of my bathroom in the dark, violently scrolling through parenting forums on my phone while my 14-month-old oldest child, Beau, slept blissfully down the hall. We...

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Toddler taking first steps outside wearing flexible soft sole baby sneakers on grass.

Why those stiff miniature adult sneakers are ruining baby feet

We were at Maggie Daley Park, right in the middle of a brutal Chicago November, and my son was bleeding from his mouth. I'd dressed him in these incredibly expensive, highly structured miniature basketball shoes. They looked exactly like my...

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A toddler wearing flexible baby shoes while trying to stand up next to a living room couch.

The Truth About Baby Nike Shoes From a Mom Who Learned the Hard Way

I'm standing in the middle of Target, holding a pair of tiny, sixty-dollar sneakers that weigh more than a sack of flour, while my phone blows up with conflicting text messages. My mom is telling me my ten-month-old needs sturdy...

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Sarah's daughter Maya wearing flexible soft sole sneakers while learning to walk.

The Absolute Mess of Buying Baby Girl Shoes That Actually Work

I'm currently sitting here at 9:45 AM on my third cup of lukewarm French roast, trying to remember exactly when I lost my mind over miniature footwear. I think it was October 2018. My sister was getting married in upstate...

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