Magazine

A realistic look at navigating crowded baby product expos and TV screen time rules for infants

The brutal truth about baby shows: Expos, screens, and survival

Listen. I was thirty-four weeks pregnant, my ankles were swelling over the tops of my sneakers, and I was standing in the middle of McCormick Place in downtown Chicago. A very enthusiastic woman with a microphone was trying to sell...

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A folded stack of soft earth-toned organic baby bodysuits and blankets

The Honest Truth About Switching to Neutral Baby Clothing Basics

I'm standing in my laundry room right now, staring at a hot pink, tulle-skirted monstrosity that says "Daddy's Little Princess" in scratchy sequins. My oldest daughter wore it exactly once. She screamed for forty-five minutes straight until her face was...

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A tired parent holding a Sachin Babi dress while twins chew on a silicone teether.

The Sachin Babi Dress Red Tag Incident & Occasionwear Survival

My wife Sarah was standing in the middle of our disaster-zone living room, holding a pair of kitchen shears perilously close to a massive, glaringly obvious red security tag, while Florence (twin A, the escape artist) was actively attempting to...

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A single baby chick standing under a radiant heat plate

The 3 AM Reality of Raising a Baby Chick With a Toddler

It's three in the morning on a Tuesday. I'm standing over my bathroom sink with a warm, damp paper towel, delicately wiping dried feces off the backside of a baby chick. My husband is asleep. My toddler is asleep. I'm...

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Stressed mom looking at a smartphone calculator with a coffee mug nearby

Why Every Baby Math Formula Is Basically Lying To You

It was 3:14 AM, and I was sitting on the nursery floor wearing my husband Mark’s oversized gray college sweatpants—the ones with the mystery bleach stain on the knee—aggressively typing numbers into my glowing phone screen while my coffee from...

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Close-up of organic bamboo baby blanket next to a painted nursery wall showing the exact baby blue hex shade.

How to Debug the Exact Baby Blue Color Code for Your Nursery

Three different people gave me completely conflicting advice while I was standing in an empty room holding a dry paint roller. My mother-in-law called to insist I needed to find something she referred to as "stork blue" because it supposedly...

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Toddler throwing a massive tantrum in the middle of a bright toy aisle

Dear Past Sarah: The Local Kids Store Is A Complete Trap

It's Tuesday, 10:45 AM, and you're currently sweating through your favorite grey Madewell tee while standing in the middle of that aggressively aesthetic boutique downtown. Your four-year-old, Leo, is lying starfish-style on the polished concrete floor, screaming something that sounds...

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A confused dad holding up a tiny, overly complicated baby dress with too many snaps.

The Tactical, Data-Driven Reality of Buying Baby Girl Clothing

My daughter's left foot is currently wedged somewhere inside the armhole of a tulle skirt that somehow features six different layers of synthetic mesh, and she's screaming at me like I just tried to permanently delete her favorite stuffed animal....

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Mother scrolling phone in dark nursery holding a sleeping baby

Surviving the baby markt: what I bought versus what actually works

The screen brightness is turned all the way down to a sliver, but it still burns my retinas. It's 3:14 in the morning. I'm trapped under a sleeping ten-pound dictator who will wake up if I shift my left leg...

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