Magazine

Baby Whisper Co travel potty set up in the trunk of a family SUV

The Real Truth About The Baby Whisper Co Travel Potty On Road Trips

I was standing in the blistering July heat at a Texas rest stop on I-35, holding my screaming oldest child suspended over a patch of dying grass because he absolutely refused to step foot inside the brick building behind us....

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A dad holding a baby near a pellet smoker on a backyard patio

Before and After: Smoking Baby Back Ribs With An 11-Month-Old

It's 6:14 AM on a damp Portland Saturday, exactly 43.7 degrees outside, and I'm standing on my patio holding a squirming eleven-month-old in my left arm and a slippery rack of raw pork in my right. I'm staring at the...

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A toddler looking at a baby chick in a grassy backyard enclosure.

The truth about moving your backyard chicks outdoors safely

The guy at the rural feed store with the missing thumb told me four weeks. The homesteading influencer on TikTok, who somehow wears pristine white linen in an active barn, said eight weeks minimum. My neighbor who treats her three...

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A small cardboard box lined with a soft blanket for a rescued baby possum

Finding a Backyard Rescue: What Do Baby Possums Eat?

My oldest son, Jackson, is a walking cautionary tale for why you should never let a five-year-old play unsupervised near a woodpile. Yesterday, he came marching through the back door holding something gray, hairless, and wriggling in his hands like...

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A cardboard box with a heat lamp and yellow baby chicks inside.

What I Wish I Knew Before Feeding Our Backyard Baby Chicks

Dear Sarah of exactly six months ago, You're currently sitting in the driver's seat of the Subaru in the Tractor Supply parking lot. Your iced coffee is sweating all over the center console, you're wearing that stained gray college sweatshirt...

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Stressed dad looking out at a backyard wooden deck with a baby monitor

When the Backyard Becomes a Skunk Nursery (And How We Survived)

At exactly 2:14 AM on a Tuesday, I was sitting in the dark, compiling a massive block of legacy code, when I smelled it. It wasn't the usual Portland ambient scent of wet pine needles and artisanal coffee. It smelled...

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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 confused dad looking at a squirrel in a London park while holding twin toddlers

How Many Babies Do Squirrels Have? A Garden Mystery

The incident began on a particularly damp Tuesday in our local park, right around the time I was wondering if it was socially acceptable to drink a lukewarm thermos of coffee at 9 a.m. Maya and Chloe had their faces...

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Dad checking smoker temperature while baby plays on a bamboo blanket with a rib bone

Why Smoking Baby Back Ribs 2-2-1 Actually Works for Tired Parents

Let's talk about the biggest lie on the BBQ internet. If you search for rib recipes, every guy with a beard and black nitrile gloves tells you that the 3-2-1 method is the absolute gospel for your weekend cookout. I...

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