Magazine

A baby chewing on a soft plant-based teething toy in a nursery

The truth about tree sap teethers and your baby's weird fevers

I was staring at a thermometer flashing 102.4 in red, convinced my daughter's bottom lateral incisor was trying to kill her. My mother-in-law had already called twice to tell me it was just teething and I should rub a little...

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Jess holding a folded black and white organic cotton penguin blanket

How a Simple Penguin Blanket Saved My Sanity and My Marriage

It was 2:14 AM and I was literally hovering over the Motorola baby monitor, zooming in on my oldest son's pixelated chest to make sure it was still rising and falling. The thermostat in our drafty Texas farmhouse said 62...

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A wooden baby rattle next to a digital caliper and a cold cup of coffee

Dear Marcus: Stop Buying Loud Plastic Toys and Read This

Dear Marcus of exactly six months ago, It's 3:14 AM on a Tuesday. You're standing in the dark hallway of your Portland bungalow, clutching a lukewarm bottle of formula, staring at a flashing plastic boombox toy that's aggressively singing "I'M...

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Baby sleeping soundly in a lambskin stroller footmuff while dad drinks coffee in the freezing Portland rain.

Winterfußsack Kinderwagen Lammfell: A Tech Dad's Honest Review

Dear Marcus from six months ago. It's currently 3:14 AM in October, and Portland is aggressively gray outside. I'm staring at the glow of an Excel spreadsheet where you attempted to map out a synthetic polyester layering system based on...

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Baby reaching for wooden toys on a soft organic playmat on the floor

Ditching the Plastic Jumper for a Real Montessori Activity Space

I was sitting on my incredibly stained living room rug at 6:15 AM wearing yesterday’s maternity leggingsβ€”the ones with the hole in the left kneeβ€”clutching my third mug of desperately black coffee, while my firstborn, Leo, aggressively bounced in what...

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Baby sleeping safely in a bare crib without any loose rainbow blankets

Why that rainbow baby blanket stayed completely out of our crib

I was staring at a pile of crumpled tissue paper in my mother-in-law's living room when I finally unwrapped it. It was a rainbow blanket, heavy and soft, knitted by an auntie who knew exactly what my previous year had...

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A tired dad holding a wooden baby rattle while looking at his laptop

Why I Was Completely Wrong About Rasseln FΓΌr Babys As A New Dad

It was Tuesday at roughly 4:12 PM, and my living room looked like a warehouse explosion at a brightly colored plastics factory. I was sitting on the rug holding a neon green plastic hippo. I shook it. It emitted a...

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A worn out baby security blanket with a stuffed rabbit head on a crib mattress

The 3 AM bunny and blanket crisis that broke me

My hands were elbow-deep in a hamper of sour-smelling sleep sacks at three in the morning. The radiator in our Chicago apartment was making that metallic rhythmic clanking sound it always makes when it drops below zero outside. From the...

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Jess holding a bottle of alcohol free baby conditioner while her toddler splashes in the tub

The Big Secret About Baby Conditioner With No Alcohol Labels

I'm currently sitting on a damp bath mat that smells vaguely of mildew, squinting at the tiny print on a plastic bottle while my four-year-old tries to make a pirate beard out of toxic-looking blue bubbles. He is my oldest,...

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