Magazine

A woman looking stressed at her phone while holding a coffee cup

The Truth About Taylor Swift and the Pressure on Women to Have Kids

When I was twenty-nine, I was sitting in a aggressively air-conditioned Starbucks wearing leggings that hadn't seen the inside of a washing machine since Tuesday, crying into a venti iced macchiato because I had just received three completely conflicting pieces...

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Pediatric nurse mother researching on phone while baby sleeps

The 3 AM Baby Santana Search That Broke My Pediatric Nurse Brain

The drywall was physically vibrating at two in the morning. My fourteen-year-old niece was visiting from out of state, and she decided the middle of the night was the perfect time to blast trap music. My toddler, who was already...

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Jess sitting in a messy car looking stressed while scrolling through baby shower lists on her phone

The Day I Cried Over Target: Why You Need A Baby Registry Finder

I was exactly twenty-six weeks pregnant with my oldest when I had a complete, snot-nosed meltdown in the front seat of my 2008 Honda CRV. I had just waddled out of a big box store holding a scanning gun that...

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A toddler reaching up for a modern lever door handle in a dark hallway

The Great Toddler Escape and Why Door Safety Is So Controversial

My mother-in-law told me to just flip the lock on my toddler's bedroom door around so it secures from the outside. A mom in my local Chicago Facebook group said locking a child in their room is literal abuse and...

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A baby in ribbed cotton pants trying to pull up on a wooden coffee table

Why trying to rush your infant into walking usually backfires

My mother-in-law was holding a samosa in one hand and pointing at my ten-month-old with the other. We were at a Diwali party in Naperville, surrounded by people I see exactly twice a year. Sangeeta's boy is already running, she...

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Messy living room with a baby swing chair and a half-empty coffee mug

Why That Baby Swing Is A Lifesaver (And A Total Anxiety Trap)

It was a Tuesday in November, right around 3 PM, and I was wearing a pair of maternity leggings that smelled vaguely of old spit-up and desperation. Maya was maybe two months old. She had been screaming for what felt...

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A colorful Baby Three blind box toy sitting dangerously close to a baby's wooden play gym.

Why the Viral Baby Three Collectibles Are a Nightmare for Parents

I was elbow-deep in laundry on a Tuesday when the silence hit. Any mom of three under five knows that dead silence in the playroom isn't a blessing, it's a threat. I dropped a half-folded organic sleep sack and sprinted...

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A tired dad looking at his phone in the dark while holding a baby

A Letter to Myself About That Viral Celebrity Baby Drama

3:14 AM. The baby is doing that rhythmic, glitchy half-cry that usually precedes a full system meltdown, and instead of checking the thermostat—which I've strictly calibrated to 68.5 degrees—or logging his last feeding into the overly complex Notion database I...

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Exhausted dad staring at a laptop spreadsheet while holding a crying baby

Raising A Baby Hitler: Why I Stopped Tracking Cries And Held My Kid

Dear Marcus from exactly six months ago, It's currently 3:14 AM in your timeline, and I know exactly what you're doing. You're sitting in the glow of your laptop in the nursery, holding a screaming, five-month-old Maya, and you're logging...

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