Magazine

Dad holding a baby girl wrapped in a subtle terracotta rainbow bamboo blanket next to a pram

Surviving the pink tulle avalanche: Practical presents for girls

I was staring at a mountain of aggressively pink tulle that had somehow swallowed our entire living room. It was day four with twin girls, the house smelled vaguely of sour milk and sheer desperation, and the delivery driver had...

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A dad looking exhausted in a brightly lit toy store aisle.

A Letter to Myself: What I Wish I Knew Before Entering the Toy Store

Dear Tom from exactly six months ago, You're currently standing in the middle of aisle four of a massive, warehouse-style toy store just off the M25, sweating profusely into your supposedly breathable cotton t-shirt while the twins double-team a meltdown...

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Marcus's 11-month-old baby reaching for a wooden block on the living room floor.

Why I Stopped Trusting the Internet About Early Development Toys

When my son was about four days old, my mother-in-law bought us a plastic command center that flashed strobe lights and yelled the alphabet in a robotic British accent. "He needs cognitive stimulation," she told me with absolute certainty. The...

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A bewildered dad staring at a massive list of baby registry items

Surviving the Buy Buy Baby Registry (And Other Twin Tales)

It was a Tuesday evening, somewhere around week nineteen of the twin pregnancy, and I was staring at my iPad with the kind of mounting dread usually reserved for unexpected tax bills. My wife had just handed me the tablet,...

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A messy stack of folded baby receiving blankets sitting on a wooden nursery chair

Why You Are Totally Confused By Those Tiny Receiving Blankets

I was sitting on my living room floor a few days after my oldest son's baby shower, completely surrounded by a mountain of these tiny, square flannel blankets that someone had lovingly rolled up like little burritos and tied with...

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A dignified floral adult dining scarf protecting a woman's blouse during a messy family dinner

How to Buy Good Bibs for Adults Without Sacrificing Dignity

We were twenty minutes into Thanksgiving dinner two years ago when it happened. My grandmother, who has always dressed like she’s about to have tea with the Queen, was trying to lift a spoonful of gravy. Her hand gave that...

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Toddler sitting on the floor next to an open cardboard box of Kianao baby products

Exposing the Real Job of a Brand Ambassador in the Baby World

I was sitting on my living room rug at two in the afternoon on a Tuesday, trying to bribe my screaming toddler with a half-eaten graham cracker so he would hold a wooden rattle for exactly three seconds. The natural...

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Mint green infant silicone squirrel teether on a wooden table next to a pacifier clip.

Why Infant Silicone Replaced Every Plastic Bowl In My House

I was sitting on my kitchen floor at two in the morning, staring at a warped plastic breast pump flange floating in a pot of boiling water. It had melted just enough to look like modern art. The smell of...

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A very tired father attempting to fasten a baby onesie in the middle of the night.

The Utter Chaos of Trying to Dress a Very Small and Angry Newborn

Before the twins arrived, I was cornered at a family gathering and given three entirely contradictory pieces of advice regarding infant wardrobes. My mother-in-law insisted on knitted cardigans with actual, functional miniature buttons (a stylistic choice I'm still unpacking with...

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