Magazine

Anxious dad holding a cardboard box with a tiny rescued bird while looking at his phone

What to Feed a Baby Bird: A Panic-Googling Dad's Rescue Guide

Dear Marcus from last May. You're currently standing in your damp NE Portland yard by the rhododendron bush. Your eleven-month-old son is strapped to your chest, actively chewing on the zipper of your jacket, and you're staring down at a...

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Confused dad holding a smartphone while twin babies chew on a wooden toy

What is the baby boo challenge? (And why I nearly called 999)

It’s 7:14 am. I’m currently wearing what used to be a relatively clean grey t-shirt, now aggressively Jackson Pollock-ed with mashed banana and something I strongly suspect is yesterday’s sweet potato. The twins, Maya and Lily, are simultaneously screaming because...

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A sleeping newborn baby wearing an organic cotton bodysuit in a crib.

Decoding Weird Baby Breaths: A Nurse's Guide to Not Panicking

3:14 AM. My phone flashlight was pressed flat against my palm to dim the glare, casting a weird, jaundiced shadow across the bassinet. I hadn't blinked in what felt like forty minutes. As a former pediatric nurse in Chicago, I've...

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Mother sitting in dark nursery holding a crying baby.

The Late Night Triage Guide for When Your Baby Won't Stop Crying

The radiator in our Chicago apartment was hissing that metallic, rhythmic sound it only makes in mid-February. My son was exactly six weeks old and screaming so hard his face was the color of a bruised eggplant. I spent six...

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An exhausted dad holding a crying baby in a dark Portland living room

My Desperate Midnight Troubleshooting Guide for Baby Colic

It was 11:14 PM on a Tuesday, and I was holding my screaming daughter at a bizarre forty-five-degree downward angle over my left forearm because a guy named VapeLord88 on YouTube swore this specific posture would instantly "vent her chassis."...

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Stressed dad holding a calm 4-month-old baby girl after getting her ears pierced.

How We Survived Baby Ear Piercing: A Clueless Dad's Field Guide

I was sweating completely through my gray flannel shirt while sitting on that crinkly white paper they put over pediatric exam tables, gripping a color-coded spreadsheet I'd made about titanium purity levels. My wife, Sarah, was sitting next to me...

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A thoughtful mother sitting in a nursery looking out the window

The Emmanuel Haro Case: Facing The Real Threat To Our Babies

I was sitting on my living room floor knee-deep in a pile of shipping mailers for my Etsy shop, trying to desperately fold laundry with my other hand while the baby was miraculously asleep for five consecutive minutes, when the...

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Sarah looking exhausted on the rug surrounded by hundreds of light blue paint swatches

Dear Past Sarah: The Truth About That Perfect Light Blue Paint

Dear Sarah of exactly six months ago, It's 2:14 AM on a Tuesday, and you're sitting on the gross beige rug in the living room wearing Dave’s stained Villanova hoodie. You're drinking lukewarm French roast from a mug that has...

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A stressed mom holding a coffee mug and looking at a TV remote

The Terrifying Two-Hour Rule That Changed My Entire Parenting Paradigm

I was literally elbow-deep in the darkest, crumb-filled recesses of our gray sectional sofa, wearing my zombie-apocalypse sweatpants that had a questionable yogurt stain on the knee, while my daughter Maya was happily rolling around on the rug. She was...

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