Magazine

A stressed British dad holding twin toddler girls while looking confused at a phone

The Truth About Baby Kia: A Letter To My Past Parenting Self

You're sitting in traffic on the M25. The rain is hammering against the windscreen of the Vauxhall Astra, and the heater is blasting a smell that can only be described as warm, wet digestive biscuit. In the passenger seat is...

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Tired tech dad holding a tiny infant gold bracelet next to a silicone teether

Dear Past Marcus: Let's Talk About Baby Gold and Choking Hazards

Dear Marcus of six months ago, I know exactly where you're right now. You're sitting on the edge of the living room rug, staring at a tiny velvet box that Aunt Linda just handed you. Inside is a 14-karat baby...

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Baby doing tummy time on a round vegan leather play mat

When Do Babies Crawl? A Tech Dad's Guide to the Locomotion Update

My mom told me my younger brother was sprinting across the living room carpet at six months old. The barista at our local Portland coffee shopβ€”who has definitely never had a childβ€”insisted that his nephew didn't move an inch until...

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Toddler hands playing with safe silicone toys on a playmat

The ugly truth about the peachy baby slime trend

My sister-in-law swore the viral slime was a sensory miracle that would make my toddler a genius. The neighborhood mom-group president warned us it was highly toxic chemical waste that would melt our floors. Then my old ER charge nurse...

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Stressed mother sitting on a couch checking a video baby monitor in the dark

Why the movie Gone Baby Gone triggered my newborn panic mode

The monitor was finally silent. Kabir had been fighting sleep for three hours, doing that rigid back-arching exorcist move every time I tried to lower him into the crib. My husband and I slumped onto the couch in the dark,...

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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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Sleeping baby wrapped in an organic cotton floral nursery blanket

The Truth About Baby's Breath (And Why Pinterest Lied To You)

My hand was hovering roughly two millimeters above my son's chest, waiting for a movement that seemed to be taking centuries. The clock said 3:14 AM. The baby monitor cast a weird green glow over the room, making everything look...

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A confused dad looking at a baby monitor while holding a folded baby blanket

What Nobody Tells You About Your Baby's Breath

When we brought Leo home from the hospital eleven months ago, I received exactly three pieces of contradictory advice about his respiratory system within a forty-eight-hour window. My mother told me to hold a tiny compact mirror under his nose...

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A frustrated parent installing a convertible car seat in the back of a small SUV.

The Real Story Behind Keeping Your Kid Alive in the Backseat

The discharge nurse was watching me. We were on level three of the Northwestern Memorial parking garage, the Chicago wind was howling through the concrete pillars, and my husband was weeping silently while trying to wrestle a five-pound infant into...

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