Magazine

A tired mother sorting through practical organic baby gifts for boys on a nursery floor.

Surviving loud baby gifts for boys and what parents actually want

It was 2:14 in the morning on a Tuesday. I was standing in the dark hallway of our Chicago apartment, holding a baby who had finally stopped crying after forty-five minutes of unexplained misery. The silence was thick and fragile....

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A frustrated mom holding a stiff infant outfit covered in spit-up

Why high-end infant clothes usually aren't worth the headache

My oldest son, Wyatt, is the reason I've trust issues with zippers, snap crotches, and the entire children’s clothing industry. When he was about three months old, I got it in my head that we needed professional family photos out...

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Messy stack of folded baby blankets and burp cloths on a nursery dresser

The Great Baby Blanket Confusion: What Are Receiving Blankets?

When I was pregnant with my oldest (bless his chaotic, fiercely independent heart), my mom told me I needed at least twenty flannel blankets because babies are fundamentally leaky creatures. Two days later, my mother-in-law handed me a stack of...

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Stressed mom drinking coffee looking at a pile of baby clothes

Was ziehe ich meinem baby an? A very tired mom's clothing guide

It was 3:17 AM, and I was standing in front of the hallway thermostat wearing Dave’s stained Ohio State college hoodie, holding a screaming seven-week-old Maya. The digital display said 71 degrees. I was sweating. Maya was sweating, mostly because...

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Exhausted dad holding baby while scanning diaper QR code on smartphone

Data-Obsessed Dad Review: The Truth About the Pampers Club App

It's 3:14 AM, the ambient temperature in the nursery is exactly 68.5 degrees, and I've a small LED flashlight gripped firmly between my teeth. I'm trying to smooth out a crinkled plastic wrapper from a fresh sleeve of Swaddlers so...

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Jess folding a mountain of baby clothes while drinking lukewarm coffee

A Letter to Past Jess About Finding a Quality Kids Boutique

Dear Jess from last October. I'm currently staring at a giant black trash bag sitting in the hallway that's full of neon, plastic-feeling shirts that somehow shrank three sizes in a single wash, and pants where the knees blew out...

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A desperately tired dad holding two crying twin baby girls

The baby shower gifts exhausted parents actually want

We were sitting in our ground-floor flat in Zone 3, staring at a six-foot-tall synthetic velvet giraffe named Barnaby that my wife's great-aunt Susan had just proudly manhandled through our incredibly narrow hallway. Barnaby didn't do anything. He didn't hold...

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Pregnant woman sitting on a rug looking extremely stressed holding yarn

My very messy, tear-filled attempt at babydecke stricken

It was 3 AM on a Tuesday in November 2016, and I was sitting cross-legged on our hideous, scratchy brown living room rug. I was seven months pregnant with Leo, wearing my husband Dave’s oversized college hoodie, and I was...

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Toddler wearing a neutral organic bodysuit representing nachhaltige mode

Why your baby skin actually needs nachhaltige mode to heal

Don't buy the fifteen-dollar dinosaur onesie multipack from that targeted midnight social media ad. I know it looks like a steal when you're nursing at three in the morning and your impulse control is completely shot. I did exactly this...

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