Magazine

Old stuffed bear sitting on a nursery shelf away from a crib

The vintage toy bin disaster and why 90s plushies stay away

It was a Tuesday afternoon when my mother-in-law hauled a massive plastic tote up from her basement. The lid snapped off to reveal a sea of crushed velvet, holographic tags, and that unmistakable scent of damp cardboard. She was holding...

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A tired mom holding a teething baby at a wedding while wearing a formal gown

Sachin and Babi: Why I Finally Stopped Buying Cheap Event Dresses

I was locked in a sweltering utility closet at my cousin's wedding in East Texas, wrestling a static-cling polyester wrap dress off my milk-leaking chest while my oldest, bless his heart, methodically smeared wedding cake icing onto my only good...

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A frustrated mom holding a baby with red bumps on their neck in the summer heat

The Southern Mom's Guide to Clearing Up Baby Summer Skin Bumps

It was July 2019, the thermometer on my back porch in rural Texas read 104 degrees, and my oldest son looked like he had been attacked by a swarm of invisible fire ants. He had these tiny, angry red bumps...

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Tired mom drinking cold coffee while her baby chews on a silicone panda teether

Doctor Boss Is My Baby Daddy and Other 3 AM Realities

Dear Sarah from exactly six months ago, It's November 14th, 3:14 AM. You're sitting in the freezing corner of the nursery on that peeling faux-leather glider. You're wearing the grey Target nursing tank with the weird bleach stain on the...

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Baby doing tummy time on a round vegan leather play mat

When Do Babies Crawl? A Tech Dad's Guide to the Locomotion Update

My mom told me my younger brother was sprinting across the living room carpet at six months old. The barista at our local Portland coffee shopβ€”who has definitely never had a childβ€”insisted that his nephew didn't move an inch until...

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Messy baby eating sugar baby watermelon slices

What the Heck is a Sugar Baby (And Why My Kitchen is Sticky)

I was standing at my kitchen island yesterday, scraping dried oatmeal off the counter with a thumbnail while trying to fulfill three Etsy orders for custom nursery signs, when I nearly dropped my phone into a lukewarm mug of coffee....

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A messy living room floor with a half unwrapped wooden baby gym

How To Survive The Santa Baby Phase Without Losing Your Sanity

There I was, sweating profusely through my favorite flannel shirt in a seventy-five-degree Texas December, trying to wedge my screaming firstborn into a faux-fur trimmed sequin outfit while Eartha Kitt purred the santa baby lyrics from my phone speaker perched...

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Tired dad singing to his 11-month-old baby in a dark Portland nursery

Hush Little Baby Bribes: A Late Night Letter To My Past Self

Hey Marcus of exactly six months ago. You're standing in the dark right now, aren't you? It's 3:14 AM. The nursery thermostat reads exactly 68.4 degrees because you checked the app three times. Your left shoulder is completely numb, you've...

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A stressed husband holding a tape measure next to a pile of maternity dresses

The Impossible Physics of Finding the Right Baby Shower Dress

I was standing in our narrow Portland hallway with a flexible tape measure, trying to calculate the cubic volume of my wife's third-trimester bump. She was holding three different dresses on hangers, crying softly because none of them accounted for...

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