The Firmware Update I Needed On Finding The Best Baby Sun Hat
We're standing in the middle of a park in southeast Portland, the wind's blowing cottonwood seeds right into my open mouth, and I'm desperately trying to tie a floppy piece of UPF fabric under my 11-month-old's chin while he thrashes...
How to Find the Best Baby Sunscreen Without Losing Your Sanity
I'm sitting on a blistering hot dock at the lake with my oldest pinned firmly between my knees, my middle kid is actively trying to eat a handful of wet sand, and I'm staring at a bottle of aerosol "sport"...
To My Past Self: Troubleshooting the Coppertone Baby Dilemma
It's currently 94 degrees in Portland, and I'm hiding under a nylon pop-up canopy at Laurelhurst Park, desperately tracking my son's core temperature while he aggressively tries to eat a handful of dry woodchips. I'm writing this to you, Marcus...
The Truth About Baby Heat Rash (Even in the Middle of Winter)
It was Thanksgiving day, forty degrees outside here in Texas, and I was unpeeling my oldest son, Hunter, from his fleece bear suit like a sweaty little tamale. My mother-in-law had insisted he needed a long-sleeve onesie, a heavy sweater,...
What I Wish I Knew Before Buying The Baby Bogg Bag Last Summer
Dear Sarah from last June. You're currently standing in the gravel parking lot of the municipal pool, wearing those distressed denim shorts you swore you were going to throw away in 2019, holding a soggy canvas tote that just aggressively...
The Huge Infant SPF Lie I Completely Fell For With My First Baby
It was July 2017, I was wearing these god-awful maternity jean shorts that I stubbornly refused to retire, and I was sitting on a sandy towel in Cape May, New Jersey, furiously painting my four-month-old daughter Maya with what can...
Raising a Sun Baby: A Pale British Fatherβs Guide to UV Survival
Maya is currently doing an impressive impression of an oiled piglet at a country fair, streaking across the scorched grass of Clapham Common while I trail a few paces behind her with a handful of thick, chalky white zinc cream....
The Honest Truth About Taking a Disney Baby to the Theme Parks
My mother-in-law cornered me in the kitchen, squinted over her coffee mug, and told me I was throwing money straight down the drain because "the child won't remember a single second of it." Two hours later, my best friend from...
Smoked Baby Back Ribs: Safely Feeding Your Messy Little Ones
My neighbor Jim handed my nine-month-old a giant, sticky rib bone last summer at a Fourth of July block party. "Look at him!" Jim yelled over the sound of a lawnmower, completely ignoring the sheer, unadulterated panic on my face....