Magazine

Engraved wooden memory box and organic cotton baby swaddle

The honest guide to personalized baby gifts

I was three days postpartum, sitting on the floor of my Chicago apartment in mesh underwear, weeping openly over a cardboard box. My aunt had sent a gift. It was a massive, aggressively pink velvet pillow, roughly the size of...

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Exhausted mom holding a coffee while her baby sleeps on her chest on the couch

Real Geschenk fΓΌr Mutter zur Geburt: What Moms Actually Want

Before I had my son Leo, three completely different people cornered me with their brilliant gifting strategies for my impending motherhood. My sweet but clinically insane coworker Susan handed me this massive, scratchy, hot-pink tulle tutu in the breakroom and...

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A folded dark cotton adult clothing protector resting on a dining table next to tea.

LΓ€tzchen fΓΌr Erwachsene: Why My Stance on Adult Bibs Changed

Tuesday night. Mashed sweet potato on the wall. A spreading tea stain. It's the classic sandwich generation clichΓ© brought to life in my dining room. I'm cutting grapes into symmetrical quarters for my toddler while simultaneously pretending I don't see...

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A soft babydecke merinowolle draped over a crib rail next to a half-empty coffee mug

The Truth About Why Every Parent Needs a Babydecke Merinowolle

It was a Tuesday, I think. Honestly, those first few weeks are a blurry hallucination, but I remember I was wearing my black maternity leggingsβ€”the ones with a faint spit-up stain on the left knee that had been there since...

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Wooden baby play gym with three minimalist hanging sensory toys

Why Spielbogen AnhΓ€nger Don't Need to Be a Vegas Light Show

My mother-in-law meant well when she handed me a massive cardboard box wrapped in pastel elephant paper. I ripped it open and stared at a neon plastic contraption that looked like a miniaturized carnival ride. It had six different blinking...

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A wooden baby play gym set up in a living room next to organic clothing.

What a Screaming Backyard Wild Bird Taught Me About Motherhood

It was 102 degrees in the shade, the kind of Texas summer afternoon where the air feels like hot soup and you sweat just blinking, and I was up to my elbows in diaper cream when the back screen door...

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A beige organic washable nursery cushion sitting next to a wooden rocking chair

The Honest Truth About Buying a Baby Pouf for Your Nursery

It’s 3:17 AM, and I'm physically stuck in a velvet floor cushion. My mother-in-law insisted this giant, overstuffed monstrosity was a nursery absolute necessity, and right now I'm trying to extract my left leg from its sinking depths without waking...

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Toddler wearing a comfortable pink organic cotton Kianao outfit

Dear Past Jess: That Baby Pink Bell Sleeve Turtle Neck Dress Is Bad

Dear Jess from October. It's me, Jess from April. You're currently standing in the Target parking lot with three kids sweating in the backseat, staring at your phone, about to hit 'buy' on that trendy boutique website. I need you...

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Vintage diaper fasteners next to an organic cotton baby bodysuit.

The vintage baby pin fantasy versus the pediatric triage reality

I spent three weeks of my third trimester trying to match my baby pink nails to the exact baby pink hex code I wanted for the nursery accent wall. I had this whole vision board happening. I was going to...

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