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Babybuying guideorganicsafety tipsShoppingsustainable
Stressed parent looking at phone searching for kids stores near me while holding a baby

Why looking up kids stores near me usually ends in disaster

The wind off Lake Michigan is currently performing a hostile takeover of the sidewalk. My toddler, who fit perfectly into his heavy coat exactly three days ago, is now hulking out of the sleeves like a tiny, irritated bodybuilder. The...

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A baby wearing a soft organic cotton bodysuit instead of stiff designer infant clothes

The Truth About Designer Infant Clothes and Scratchy Tulle

I was sweating straight through my postpartum mesh underwear in the back seat of a Ford F-150 somewhere on Highway 290, frantically trying to unfasten fourteen microscopic pearl buttons while my three-day-old newborn screamed like a banshee. It's funny how...

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Babybuying guideorganic cottonparenting tipssafewinter
Baby bundled in bright winter gear sitting confused in the snow

Dear Past Marcus: The Skianzug Kinder Survival Guide I Wish I Had

Dear Marcus of exactly six months ago, currently staring blindly at a wall of synthetic winter gear at the REI in the Pearl District while Sarah texts you asking if you've found anything waterproof yet. I'm writing to you from...

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A mother inspecting the tag on a discounted infant bodysuit in a store.

The brutal truth about shopping a baby clearance warehouse sale

The wind off Lake Michigan was whipping my hair into my mouth while I stood in a line wrapping around an industrial park in Skokie. I was six months pregnant, freezing, and holding a lukewarm decaf coffee, waiting for the...

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Babybuying guidenewbornorganic baby clothesparenting tips
A tired dad looking at a massive spreadsheet of newborn products on his laptop

The Only Realistic Baby Inventory A Panicked Parent Actually Needs

At week 24 of the pregnancy, I made the catastrophic mistake of asking three different people what we needed to buy for our impending human. My mom told me all we needed was love and a massive stack of cloth...

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Confused dad holding a tiny, stretched-out synthetic baby onesie.

Why My Spreadsheet Strategy For Budget Baby Clothes Completely Failed

At 2:14 AM on a Tuesday, I was staring at a pivot table I'd built to calculate the exact cost-per-wear of an infant's wardrobe. My son was three months old at the time, and I was treating his closet like...

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Priya examining a green organic cotton baby boy romper on a changing table

Why Baby Boy Rompers Are The Only Outfit You Actually Need

I'm standing over the changing table at what feels like three in the morning, trying to thread a miniature leather belt through the belt loops of three-month-old corduroy pants. He is doing the alligator death roll. There's a very specific...

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Mother organizing a minimalist baby depot of clothes and gear in nursery

Building A Bulletproof Baby Depot For Surviving The Newborn Chaos

It was three in the morning in the dead of a Chicago winter when I finally lost my mind. I was standing in my living room holding a screaming infant, staring at a corner of the house that looked like...

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baby safetybuying guideorganic baby clothesparenting tips
Sarah holding a massive iced coffee looking stressed inside a brightly lit infant store aisle.

Losing My Mind Inside Infant Stores (And What You Actually Need)

My mother-in-law cornered me at my own baby shower, pointed at my seven-month belly, and told me I needed to buy absolutely everything brand new or the baby would contract some kind of Victorian wasting disease. Twenty minutes later, my...

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