Magazine
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...
The Real Baby Steps Uncensored: Surviving the Messy Parenting Journey
My mother-in-law cornered me by the kitchen island last Thanksgiving while I was wearing a sweater that actively smelled like sour milk and told me that Leoβs occasional toddler swiping needed to be handled with "immediate, absolute authority." Two days...
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...
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...
What I Got Entirely Wrong About The Whole Teething Nightmare
It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday, and I was standing dead in the middle of my kitchen wearing a stained Britney Spears baby tee from 1999 that I'd somehow repurposed as pajamas, holding a screaming four-month-old Leo while my...
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...
The Real Baby Traps (And Why I Googled Billionaires At 3 AM)
Last Tuesday at 2:14 AM, I found myself trying to gently fold my sonβs thigh like a piece of origami just to get it out from between the wooden bars of his crib. Baby T had managed to wedge his...
Dear Past Me: The Completely Messy Truth About Baby TV & Screens
Dear Sarah from exactly six months ago, You're currently hiding in the tiny downstairs half-bathroom. It's 6:14 AM on a Tuesday, and you're wearing Daveβs giant gray flannel shirtβthe one with the missing buttonβand mismatched socks, clutching a lukewarm Yeti...
The Honest Truth About Putting Tiny Ugg Boots on Your Infant
I was standing in the slush outside a Starbucks in 2018, clutching my third iced latte of the morning because uninterrupted sleep was a literal myth, staring down at my six-month-old son's foot. Or rather, his empty foot. Leo was...