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baby behaviordevelopmenteducational toysparenting humourscreen time
Toddler having a meltdown on the living room rug after a tablet is taken away

The Cocomelon baby shark meltdown and how we survived

It was a Tuesday at 5:15 PM, which in a Chicago November means it had been pitch black outside for an hour. I was standing in my kitchen, staring at an unpeeled onion, trying to figure out how to cook...

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90s nostalgiadevelopmentearly developmenteducational toysparenting humourscreen time
Stressed mom holding a coffee mug while looking at a tablet screen in confusion

A Letter To Past Me: That Cry Baby Movie Was A Huge Mistake!

Dear Sarah from exactly six months ago, Right now you're standing in the kitchen. It's exactly 6:14 AM on a Tuesday, and you're wearing those awful gray maternity sweatpantsβ€”yes, the ones with the mysterious bleach stain on the left thigh...

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baby safetydevelopmentgearparenting tipssafetoddler
Hardware-mounted wooden walk-through baby gate at the top of a modern staircase

The Real Truth About Finding A Hardware Mounted Baby Gate With Door

My mother-in-law told me I didn't need one because, in her day, they just watched their kids. The neighborhood Facebook group insisted I needed a custom, four-hundred-dollar lucite barricade imported from Sweden. Then my old charge nurse from the pediatric...

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baby behaviordevelopmenteducational toysparenthoodparenting humoursafe play
A dad staring at a collapsed block tower while his loser baby cries on a wooden play mat.

Why The Sore Loser Baby Phase Feels Like A Fatal System Error

7:14 PM. The structural integrity of the three-block tower has failed. My 11-month-old son, Leo, is staring at the fallen soft rubber cubes like they just insulted his ancestors. His face turns the color of a locally sourced Portland beet,...

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4-month-old6-month-oldbabybaby carebaby healthdevelopment
Baby lying on a playmat during tummy time looking at a toy

Dear past Priya: Your flat head baby is going to be just fine

You're sitting on the bathroom tiles at 2 AM. You've just zoomed in on the Nanit monitor until the pixels blurred into a gray soup, staring intensely at the back of your son's skull. One side looks distinctly like a...

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baby sleepdevelopmentfourth trimesterlate nightmusicroutines
Exhausted mother holding baby in dim nursery while singing lullabies

The absolute truth about lullabies for babies and infant sleep

I'm standing in the middle of our Chicago apartment and the radiator is hissing that metallic, dry heat sound. It's 3:14 in the morning. My son is four months old, his face is the color of a bruised plum, and...

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baby carebaby milestonesdevelopmentmotherhoodnewborn
A six month old baby reaching for a hanging wooden toy on a play mat

Navigating infant developmental timelines without losing your mind

We were sitting around a cramped dining table in Rogers Park when the unsolicited advice started rolling in. My mother-in-law casually mentioned that my husband was walking independently at nine months, heavily implying my ten-month-old was somehow defective for still...

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developmentfirst walkersfootwearparenting humoursafety tipstoddler
Twin girls wearing flexible toddler walking shoes in the park

The Great Arch Support Myth and Stride Rite Baby Shoes

The lady in the shoe shop was looking at me with a mixture of pity and mild alarm. I was kneeling on the carpet, wrestling with Twin A's left foot, trying to compress what looked like a perfectly round, dimpled...

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90s nostalgiababy dollsdevelopmentsafe playtoddler
A 15-inch soft cloth baby doll sitting on a nursery floor next to wooden toys.

What Pediatric Nurses Actually Think About Your Bitty Baby Doll

I was working the Tuesday afternoon shift at the clinic when a panicked mother brought in her eighteen-month-old and a heavy, suspiciously damp cloth doll. The waiting room was already packed with the usual winter crud, but this case stood...

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