Magazine

90s nostalgiababy toyshumormotherhoodsurvival
A disassembled plastic doll sitting next to a damp cloth and forceps

The surgical reality of buying a baby alive doll for your kid

It's eleven at night. The lighting in my guest bathroom is deeply unflattering. I'm holding a pair of stainless steel tweezers in my right hand and my phone flashlight in my left. Pinned firmly beneath my elbow is a rigid...

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90s nostalgiababy registryhumormotherhoodorganic cottonParenting Guide
Frantic dad trying to shop for baby gear online with twins

The Great Megastore Myth and What Babies Actually Need

The most long-standing lie of modern parenting is that you can't safely extract a newborn from the hospital without first making a pilgrimage to a brightly lit, warehouse-sized retail behemoth. I distinctly remember sitting in the dark at 3am, furiously...

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90s nostalgiababy safetyeducational toyssustainable
Toddler chewing on a modern silicone teether toy instead of vintage plush

The day my mother's vintage toy hoard almost ruined our lives

I was elbow-deep in a bowl of lukewarm oatmeal on a miserable, sleeting Chicago afternoon when my mother dragged a black Hefty garbage bag into my apartment. She had the frantic, secretive energy of someone smuggling contraband across a border....

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90s nostalgiababy toyseducational toyssafe sleepscreen timesensory play
A glowing baby einstein sea dreams soother attached to a wooden crib

My toxic relationship with that glowing Baby Einstein aquarium

It's 3:14 AM on a Tuesday in November. I'm standing barefoot in the hallway, wearing a stained nursing tank that I still haven't washed even though my son Leo is three and Maya is eight months old, and I'm practically...

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90s nostalgiababy teethingorganic cottonparenting humourwinter
Mom holding a silicone baby teether instead of a dangerous ice cube

When Ice Ice Baby Goes Wrong: Teething, Choking, and Cold Fails

I was standing in my kitchen at two in the morning in a ratty t-shirt, sweat dripping down my back because Texas in July is basically a swamp, watching a piece of ice slide out of my fingers and straight...

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90s nostalgiababy registrygift ideasnurserytoysvintage clothing
A vintage Beanie Baby sitting on a wooden nursery shelf next to a coffee cup.

Why I Spent Three Weeks Hunting for a Beanie Baby Birthday Twin

When I was pregnant with Maya, I was sitting on my living room floor in those terrible maternity leggingsβ€”you know the ones, the ones that pill between your thighs after literally three hours of wearβ€”when I received three distinct, entirely...

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90s nostalgiababy sleepeducational toysnew bornscreen timeteething
A tired dad holding a wooden baby gym while staring blankly at a tablet screen

The Baby John Phenomenon: Decoding Screen Time & Newborn Life

"Just put on that little animated kid, it's basically a mute button for crying," my lead engineer told me over Slack while I bounced a screaming infant on my knee. "If he looks at a screen before he's two, his...

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90s nostalgiaBabybaby sleepbaby toysmotherhoodParenting Guide
Baby in organic cotton sleeping peacefully while listening to vintage music

Why Those Vintage Pretty Little Baby Lyrics Actually Work

It's currently 2:14 PM on a Tuesday, I've exactly three minutes to move laundry from the washer to the dryer before my youngest wakes up from her nap, and my oldest is somewhere in the living room pressing a button...

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90s nostalgiaBabydevelopmenteducational toysParenting Guidesustainable
A wooden baby guitar next to a vintage record player in a messy Chicago apartment

The Baby Beluga Musician Was Right About Everything All Along

The radiator in our Chicago apartment was making that rhythmic clicking sound it only makes at three in the morning. My toddler was executing a flawless, rigid back-arch scream, the kind that usually shows either a dropped pacifier or a...

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