The spreadsheet reality of picking baby boy names with J
I'm sitting at the kitchen island at 2am, staring at a deeply neurotic Excel spreadsheet colour-coded by syllable count. This was three years ago, roughly halfway through my wifeβs pregnancy, before the NHS ultrasound technician cheerfully announced "itβs two girls,...
The Huge Baby Bouncer Myth I Totally Believed With My First Kid
It was a Tuesday in 2017, and I was wearing a pair of black maternity leggings that had a distinct smear of Greek yogurt crusted onto the left knee. Maya was three months old. I was standing in my kitchen...
Who is Actually in Charge Here? Surviving the Boss Baby Phase
It was 3:14 in the morning, and I was wearing a maternity nursing tank that I definitely hadn't washed since Tuesday, staring at the glow of an iPad playing that DreamWorks movie for the hundredth time. My husband, Dave, had...
Why That Viral Froggy Newborn Portrait is Actually a Photoshop Trick
I was scrolling social media at three in the morning during a seemingly endless feeding session when I saw it. A newborn, maybe six days old, propped perfectly upright with their tiny chin resting on their folded hands. The classic...
Why I Finally Stopped Fighting the Whole Pastel Baby Pink Phase
It was late October 2017, and I was standing in the middle of Target wearing a heather-gray maternity sweater that smelled faintly of the iced Americano I had spilled down my front three hours earlier. I was thirty-eight weeks pregnant...
Dear Past Me: Stop Panicking About Every Baby Poo Colour
Dear Past Me, I know exactly where you're right now. You're standing over the changing table in the nursery at 3:14 AM. You're wearing those gray maternity sweatpants with the bleach stain on the left knee, and you haven't washed...
Before And After Nursing School: The Truth About Baby Reflexes
I dropped a metal travel mug on our hardwood floor at two in the morning. The sound echoed like a gunshot through our cramped Chicago apartment. My two-week-old son, who was dead asleep on his back in the bassinet, violently...
Surviving the baby saja costume for kids trend without tears
We were standing in a drafty school gymnasium in Wicker Park when the screaming started. Not the normal toddler whine, but that high-pitched, breathless shriek that makes every parent in a fifty-foot radius freeze. My son was wearing a mass-produced...
Dear Past Me: A Messy Open Letter About Buying Baby Sandals
Dear Sarah from last May, You're currently sitting on the cold linoleum floor of aisle 14 at Target. You're wearing those embarrassing faded black leggings with the tiny hole near the left knee, holding a venti iced cold brew that's...