Magazine

Frustrated toddler in a dance studio trying to pull off a scratchy synthetic long-sleeve bodysuit.

The Great Dance Recital Rash and Why I Burned That Nylon Bodysuit

We were wedged in the stall of the tiny, non-air-conditioned bathroom at Miss Patty's School of Dance, and my four-year-old was screaming like I was actively peeling off her actual skin. Lily had just finished the dress rehearsal for her...

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A toddler boy in a neutral organic cotton sweater playing outside in the cold

Toddler Sweaters Boy Edition: What Actually Works for Winter

My mother-in-law told me to put three layers of thick wool on him or his lungs would freeze the second we stepped onto the Chicago pavement. The moms in my playgroup swore by fifty-dollar beige cashmere rollnecks that require dry...

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Dad trying to put stretchy hosen kinder on an actively rolling 11-month-old baby.

Hosen Kinder: Why Stiff Baby Trousers Are a Hardware Failure

There I was at month four, holding what looked like a perfectly scaled-down replica of my own selvedge denim jeans, staring at my son while he executed a perfect, continuous death roll on the changing table. I had exactly three...

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Toddler girl sitting on a playmat wearing ribbed baumwoll leggins.

My Honest Review on Why We Finally Switched to Baumwoll Leggins

I'm currently sitting cross-legged on the floor of my guest roomβ€”which is actually just my Etsy shipping room masquerading as a guest roomβ€”staring at a plastic tote bin full of toddler clothes my oldest daughter wore three years ago. I...

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A crumpled Pippi lΓ€tzchen bandana bib on a coffee table next to a half-empty mug.

Why Pippi LΓ€tzchen Saved Us from the Teething Drool Nightmare

I'm standing in my kitchen at 4:12 PM on a Tuesday in late November. I'm wearing my husband's oversized grey fleece that smells vaguely of stale coffee and desperation, and I'm holding my five-month-old son, Leo. He is screaming. Not...

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A sage green silicone baby bib covered in smashed sweet potato on a white table.

LΓ€tzchen Silikon: Why I abandoned the cloth bib fantasy

It was day four of baby-led weaning. My son had managed to work a single wedge of roasted sweet potato into his hair, his ears, and the space between his toes. But the real tragedy was his chest. He was...

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Sarah hΓ€lt eine ZahnbΓΌrste fΓΌr Kleinkinder im Badezimmer

Die richtige ZahnbΓΌrste fΓΌr Kleinkinder finden (ohne Drama)

Meine Schwiegermutter drΓ€ngte mich am Dienstagmorgen in der KΓΌche in die Ecke – sie trug diese furchteinflâßende SchΓΌrze mit den riesigen Sonnenblumen, an der noch etwas Mehl klebte –, fuchtelte mit einem Pfannenwender herum und meinte: β€žRubbel einfach mit einem...

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Mom drinking coffee in a fitted shirt while toddler plays on the floor

My Complete Breakdown Over The Trendy Baby Tee Crop Top Phase

It was exactly 9:43 AM on a Tuesday, and I was bent at a perfect ninety-degree angle over the damp sand at Centennial Park, frantically trying to dig what looked like a half-chewed cigarette butt out of my four-year-old Maya’s...

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Two toddlers attempting to eat a wooden block while a tired dad watches

A Letter to Past Me About the Reality of Wooden Toys

Dear Tom of six months ago, You're currently standing in the nursery, aggressively arranging a set of aesthetically pleasing, neutral-toned blocks on a floating shelf. You're exhausted, operating on perhaps four cumulative hours of sleep, but you're deeply smug. You've...

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