Magazine

Tired dad sitting on floor holding a flashing plastic toy and a simple wooden ring

Surviving the great baby toy invasion without losing your mind

My mother-in-law arrived on a Tuesday afternoon with a battery-operated plastic farmyard that screamed distorted animal noises at 120 decibels, proudly declaring it highly educational for the twins. The very next day, my heavily bearded friend who lives in Hackney...

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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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A disassembled toy doll next to a sink full of soapy water and a scrub brush

The ugly truth about that baby alive doll hiding in your playroom

I'm standing over my kitchen sink at eleven at night with a pair of surgical tweezers, trying to extract a solid black clump of fermented synthetic cherry mush from the plastic esophagus of a toy. This is not how I...

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A frustrated mother holding a wooden teether while her toddler watches a screen

Surviving the baby shark song without losing your entire mind

Dear Priya from six months ago. You're currently sitting in the pediatric ICU breakroom, eating a stale protein bar, pregnant, smug, and swearing your future child will only listen to classical music and ambient nature sounds. I need you to...

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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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A hyper-realistic reborn baby doll sitting in a wooden play gym.

The Truth About Reborn Baby Dolls (And Why I Bought One)

I was standing in my kitchen at 7 AM, wearing yoga pants with a mysterious white stain on the knee, aggressively stirring my third coffee of the morning, when I casually mentioned to my mother-in-law that I was thinking about...

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Mom sitting on the floor with baby surrounded by scattered colorful baby blocks

The Big Myth About Childrens Stacking Blocks

I'm currently sitting on the floor of my living room, nursing a bruised heel because I just stepped on a rogue wooden square while carrying a laundry basket the size of a small car. My youngest, who's nine months old,...

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A minimalist wooden baby play gym set up on a soft living room rug.

Why I Finally Ditched the Neon Plastic Baby Play Gym

It was a Tuesday, roughly 2:15 PM in late October 2017. Maya was exactly fourteen weeks old, and I was wearing a pair of dark grey maternity leggings that I had absolutely no intention of retiring anytime soon. They had...

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Baby chewing on a wooden rattle while lying on a playmat

Finding the right Rassel fΓΌr Babys without losing your mind

When Maya was about twelve weeks old, my mother-in-law marched into my kitchen and handed me a literal sterling silver rattle that weighed as much as a kettlebell. "It's an heirloom," she whispered reverently, tracing the engraved initials of some...

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