Magazine

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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A folded babydecke aus merinowolle resting on a nursery chair.

The truth about using a decke aus merinowolle for baby sleep

The radiator in our Chicago apartment clanks at exactly three in the morning. That was usually my cue to drag myself out of bed, shuffle across the freezing hardwood floor, and do the two-finger neck check on my daughter. It...

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A simple wooden stacking rainbow and block set scattered on a living room rug.

The Day We Banned Plastic: Why Wooden Toys For Age Two Actually Work

I was sitting on my living room rug at six in the morning on a Tuesday, armed with a tiny eyeglasses screwdriver, aggressively trying to extract a corroded AA battery from a plastic fire engine. This particular toy had been...

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A tired dad holding a silicone pacifier case while reading a contract on his laptop

Demystifying the Brand Ambassador Job Description for Parents

The biggest myth the internet ever sold to my generation is that getting paid to post baby photos is easy money. Currently, I'm hiding in our hallway with my laptop balanced precariously on a laundry basket because my eleven-month-old is...

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A frustrated dad looking at a thick knit baby romper without crotch snaps.

The Day a Snapless Sweater Romper Broke My Parenting Firmware

I'm standing in the incredibly cramped, dimly lit bathroom of a Stumptown Coffee on Belmont, holding my 11-month-old son suspended in mid-air like a ticking bomb. He has just experienced a Level 4 containment breach. The payload has escaped the...

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A messy living room floor with a round waterproof baby mat and wooden toys.

How I Finally Found a Play Activity Mat That Did Not Drive Me Crazy

When I was pregnant with my oldest, Tucker, I swear everybody had a loud opinion on where exactly the baby was supposed to exist when I wasn't holding him. My grandmother told me to just throw a handmade quilt on...

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A confused dad holding a toddler's anti-allergy duvet while looking at a smart room thermometer.

Debugging infant sniffles: My search for an allergie bettdecke

It's 3:14 AM and I'm watching the infrared feed on the baby monitor like a security guard waiting for a museum heist. The audio feed is just a continuous, wet, whistling sound. My eleven-month-old sounds exactly like our espresso machine...

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A dad looking confused at a thermometer while his baby sleeps under a wool blanket

Why I Googled Decke Merinowolle at 3 AM to Stop Baby Sweats

It was 2:43 AM on a Tuesday in late November. Rain was furiously hammering the window of our Portland duplex, and I was standing over my 11-month-old son’s crib holding a digital infrared meat thermometer. He was screaming, obviously, but...

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Priya holding a folded knit baby blanket next to a wooden crib

Finding the perfect grâße babydecke without losing your mind

We were somewhere between Terminal 3 and the long walk to the American Airlines gates at O'Hare when I realized my mistake. It was January. Chicago was doing that thing where the air hurts your face and the ground is...

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