Magazine

My toddler climbing on a wooden Montessori jungle gym in our living room next to a soft playmat.

Why I Finally Bought a Montessori Jungle Gym (And If It's Worth It)

"Get down from the television stand before you crack your head open and I've to explain to the ER nurse why you've a volume knob imprinted on your forehead." That was my Tuesday morning, shouted over the sound of the...

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Toddler opening geschenke fΓΌr 1 jΓ€hrige wooden toys

Geschenke fΓΌr 1-JΓ€hrige: Honest First Birthday Gifts You Need

My mom called me the week before my oldest turned one and proudly announced she was buying him one of those plastic sit-in walkers so he could chase the dog around the kitchen. Two hours later, my crunchy sister-in-law texted...

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Frustrated toddler girl in a bathroom trying to unfasten a complicated summer romper.

Why Traditional Toddler Rompers Are Actually A Complete Nightmare

I'm balancing my lukewarm iced vanilla latte on the edge of the incredibly questionable diaper changing station in the Target family restroom while my then two-and-a-half-year-old, Maya, is doing the frantic, knee-knocking pee dance. She is wearing this absolutely precious,...

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Toddler wearing bright orange waterproof chest bibs sitting in a muddy puddle

Why Your Kids Need Heavy-Duty Fishing Bibs This Year

I'm watching my three-year-old sink waist-deep into a clay puddle out by the barn, wearing what some beautifully curated Instagram ad promised me was the ultimate Scandinavian toddler rain suit. The jacket has ridden up to his armpits, the pants...

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Baby sitting on a rug throwing a wooden baby block while parent drinks coffee

The Great Baby Block Myth (Why Your Kid Only Throws Things)

It's 6:15 AM on a Tuesday, and I'm wearing yesterday's yoga pants and holding a mug of coffee that has already been microwaved twice. Leo is ten months old, sitting on the living room rug. I've just constructed a magnificent,...

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A wooden balance board and blocks scattered across a messy living room rug

Decoding Jungen Spielzeug 4 Jahre: An Anxious Dad's Play Guide

Dear Marcus of six months ago, you're currently standing in the toy aisle at Target, sweating through your gray hoodie, holding a plastic dinosaur that roars and flashes strobe lights. Put it down immediately. Dave's kid Leo is turning four...

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A wooden train track scattered across a living room rug next to a cup of lukewarm coffee

Spielzeug fΓΌr Jungs ab 4 Jahre: Surviving The Plastic Chaos

The sole of my left foot was bleeding, my two-year-old twin girls were screaming in stereo because someone had stolen a deflated balloon they didn't even want, and a plastic fire engine was blaring a siren that sounded suspiciously like...

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Toddler twins playing with Kianao wooden sorting cube on an organic playmat

PΓ€dagogisches Spielzeug ab 1 Jahr: A British Dad's Guide

It's exactly 5:43 in the morning, four days after the twins’ first birthday party, and I'm sitting on the living room rug staring at a plastic farm animal that has been singing the same off-key rendition of 'Old MacDonald' for...

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Wooden blocks scattered on a rug next to a sleeping three-year-old boy.

Finding spielzeug fΓΌr jungs ab 3 jahre without losing your mind

I was holding a bucket of toddler vomit in my left hand and a feverish thirty-pound boy in my right when my bare heel found the stegosaurus. It pierced the fascia of my plantar surface in the dark at three...

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