Magazine

A frustrated mom holding a stiff infant outfit covered in spit-up

Why high-end infant clothes usually aren't worth the headache

My oldest son, Wyatt, is the reason I've trust issues with zippers, snap crotches, and the entire children’s clothing industry. When he was about three months old, I got it in my head that we needed professional family photos out...

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Dad trying to put a quarter-zip sweater on a squirming 11-month-old baby boy.

A Letter to Past Me About Surviving The Boys Sweater Phase

Dear Marcus from six months ago: You're currently standing in the baby apparel aisle holding a tiny, adorable, heavily patterned wool pullover. Put it down. Seriously, drop it right now before your wife sees it and you both convince yourselves...

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Messy stack of folded baby blankets and burp cloths on a nursery dresser

The Great Baby Blanket Confusion: What Are Receiving Blankets?

When I was pregnant with my oldest (bless his chaotic, fiercely independent heart), my mom told me I needed at least twenty flannel blankets because babies are fundamentally leaky creatures. Two days later, my mother-in-law handed me a stack of...

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Mom folding a bamboo toddler sleep sack in a nursery

Why the Toddler Sleep Sack is the Only Way We Survive Bedtime

It was 2:13 AM on a random Tuesday when I heard the unmistakable, bone-chilling thump coming from the nursery down the hall. I dropped the Etsy shop packing tape I was holding, sprinted down the hardwood floor expecting the absolute...

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A messy family kitchen table with spilled coffee, toast, and baby feeding bowls.

The Sandwich Generation Survival Guide to the Adult Bib

I was wearing my husband Dave's faded Syracuse hoodieβ€”the one with the fraying cuffs that smells faintly of old garlic because he refuses to let me wash it on hotβ€”when the coffee went airborne. It was exactly 9:14 AM on...

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Confused dad holding up a tiny organic cotton bodysuit in a baby clothing store

The Absolute Biggest Myth About Finding a Good Baby Clothing Store

The greatest lie ever sold to expectant parents isn't that you'll eventually sleep again (though that's a massive, highly documented falsehood). It's the entire concept of the baby clothing store. Before the twins arrived, I had this hallucination of wandering...

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Jess folding a mountain of baby clothes while drinking lukewarm coffee

A Letter to Past Jess About Finding a Quality Kids Boutique

Dear Jess from last October. I'm currently staring at a giant black trash bag sitting in the hallway that's full of neon, plastic-feeling shirts that somehow shrank three sizes in a single wash, and pants where the knees blew out...

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A frustrated mom holding a stained yellow baby bodysuit.

The Great Blowout Disaster: What I Learned About Baby Clothes

I was standing in the glow of a turtle-shaped nightlight at 3:14 AM, holding a screaming Jackson at arm’s length like he was a ticking bomb made entirely of mustard-colored liquid. He was exactly four weeks old. The blowout had...

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A tired mom changing a baby onesie during a blowout at night

3 AM Blowouts and the Brutal Truth About a Baby Onesie

It was three in the morning in our drafty Chicago apartment when the smell hit me. Not the standard sweet-sour milk smell, but a toxic, biological hazard level stench that wakes you from a dead sleep. I flipped on the...

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