Confessions on Raising a Brainy Baby Without Losing Your Mind
Dear Jess of six months ago: I see you sitting on the rug in our Texas living room, sweating through your shirt, surrounded by Mandarin language flashcards, trying to get a ten-week-old to focus on high-contrast black-and-white shapes while the...
The Real Rules of the Bouncy Seat (And Why They Can't Sleep In It)
I was standing in my tiny, mildew-speckled master bathroom shower at exactly 6:14 AM on a Tuesday, wearing nothing but a layer of dried overnight spit-up and deep, bone-deep exhaustion, staring through the water-spotted glass at my three-month-old son, Leo....
The Murky Truth About Fetal Digestion and Prenatal Poop
I was halfway through a slightly stale samosa in the L&D breakroom at Northwestern Memorial when I heard a first-time mom down the hall completely lose her mind. Her water had just broken, and instead of looking like a clear...
Why I Finally Let My Kids Listen to Fantastic Baby Lyrics
It was 2:14 PM on a rainy Tuesday, I was wearing a nursing tank top that smelled strongly of old milk and desperation, and my husband Dave was having a full-blown basement rave with our then six-month-old daughter, Maya. Like,...
What to Do When You Look Outside and See a Baby Rat Near Your Kids
It was 6:15 on a freezing Tuesday morning, and I was standing in my kitchen wearing a pair of inside-out Target leggingsβyou know the ones with the side pocket that always sags?βdrinking my third espresso because Maya was going through...
Surviving The RS Virus With A Baby: What I Wish I Knew Sooner
I was wearing my husbandβs college track sweatpantsβthe ones with the embarrassing hole right at the kneeβand a t-shirt that literally smelled like sour milk and desperation. It was 3:14 AM on a freezing Tuesday in November. Maya was four...
Dear past Priya, please stop trying to scrub baby skin raw
You're sitting on the cold tile of our Chicago apartment bathroom. It's February, which means the air inside the apartment is roughly as humid as a saltine cracker. The green plastic infant tub is taking up the entire shower floor,...
The Absolute Real Truth About Having a Sugar Baby 2024 Edition
I was literally standing in the middle of the Target baby aisle on a Tuesday at 9 AM, wearing yesterday's yoga pants that definitely had dried oatmeal on the knee, holding a pouch of pureed pear and spinach, when my...
The Leaks Lil Baby: Surviving The Midnight Diaper Blowouts
The smell of ammonia always hits you before the wetness does. It was three in the morning. My toddler was standing in his crib, sobbing softly, completely drenched from the ribs down. I stood there in the dark, calculating how...