What to Do When Your Toddler Finds a Wild Baby Mouse in the Yard
My Tuesday morning began with a half-dead rodent. I was standing in our Chicago backyard, clutching a lukewarm coffee, while my two-year-old proudly held out her hands to show me her new treasure. Our family cat was sitting a few...
When Your Toddler Turns Into a Baby Godzilla Destroying Your House
Yesterday at exactly 4:15 PM, I found myself hiding in the pantry eating stale Goldfish crackers in the dark while my two-year-old stood victorious on the coffee table, roaring at the top of his lungs after methodically sweeping my last...
Surviving a baby coyote encounter with jetlagged twin toddlers
It was 4:17 in the morning in suburban California, and I was losing my mind. We had foolishly decided to drag our two-year-old twin girls on a twelve-hour flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles to visit my wife's brother, operating...
The Brutal Truth About Feeding Baby Carrots To Your Little Ones
I was standing at the kitchen counter hacking these little orange bullets lengthwise with a dull paring knife while my oldest, bless his heart, screamed at my shins because he wanted a snack right that very second. It was four...
Why That Adorable Baby Bunny Is a Terrible Idea for Your Toddler
I was elbow-deep in a basket of mismatched toddler socks last night when a post in my local county Facebook group made me drop my phone right into the laundry basket. Some sweet, incredibly naive mom had posted, "Looking for...
Figuring Out the Baby Booster Meaning Before You Lose Your Mind
It was 8:14 on a Tuesday morning, I was wearing my husband Dave's faded college sweatshirt that smelled faintly of stale Cheerios, and my third cup of coffee was already cold. I was sitting at the kitchen island filling out...
What The Drill Baby Drill Slogan Actually Means For Parents
Dear Sarah from last October, I know exactly where you're right now. Itβs 7:14 AM on a Tuesday. You're standing in the kitchen wearing those tragic gray sweatpants with the mysterious hole in the left thigh, holding your secondβno, let's...
Farmyard Crises and Explaining Baby Sheep to Toddlers
I'm standing ankle-deep in something I'm desperately praying is just mud at Mudchute Farm, trying to wipe half a chewed oat biscuit off Twin Aβs cheek, when Twin B extends a sticky, demanding finger toward the livestock enclosure. The sky...
Why "hit me baby one more time" is my parenting reality
Last Tuesday at our local library's rhythm and rhyme session, Florence landed a shockingly accurate left hook directly onto my nose just as we were gearing up for the second verse of The Wheels on the Bus. The elderly librarian...