Dear Jess: Please Stop Panicking About That Prickly Baby Rose Bush
Dear Jess from six months ago, I know exactly where you're right now. You're standing at the kitchen window, staring out at the sweltering Texas yard with a cup of coffee that went cold three hours ago. Youβve got a...
Before you get quail chicks for the kids, read this
At 3:14 am on a Tuesday, I found myself dropping glass marbles into a milk bottle lid while two frantic, thumb-sized birds watched me with what I can only describe as big suspicion. In the next room, my two-year-old twin...
The Truth About Baby Nike Shoes From a Mom Who Learned the Hard Way
I'm standing in the middle of Target, holding a pair of tiny, sixty-dollar sneakers that weigh more than a sack of flour, while my phone blows up with conflicting text messages. My mom is telling me my ten-month-old needs sturdy...
Who Are The Baby Monster Members? (From K-Pop To Toddler Tantrums)
Yesterday at a Sunday pub roast, over a sticky table covered in mashed peas, I casually mentioned we were dealing with a massive "baby monster" situation at home. I received three entirely contradictory pieces of advice in the span of...
My toddler found baby mario and my screen time rules evaporated
The console was just sitting there on the coffee table, a glowing rectangle of temptation my husband forgot to dock the night before. It was 6:15 in the morning. I was in the kitchen trying to make coffee with one...
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...
Why this skeptical pediatric nurse finally bought a baby wagon
It was mid-July at Montrose Beach, the kind of Chicago summer day where the humidity feels like a wet wool blanket draped over your shoulders. I was dragging a premium traditional stroller backward through the sand, my sandals sinking with...
The 3 AM Panic Over an Imaginary Baby Wolf and Real Spiders
Itβs 3:14 AM and Iβm standing in the hallway wearing my husbandβs stained college sweatpants, entirely unable to process what's happening. The baby monitor is just blinking this angry little green light at me, and through the static, I can...
Baby You Got Something In Your Nose: A Toddler Survival Guide
I was standing at the kitchen sink yesterday, frantically trying to scrub crusted oatmeal off a plastic dinosaur plate while three loads of laundry soured in the washing machine. I had the radio playing, and I was actually singing the...