What to Do When Your Kids Find a Tiny Opossum in the Backyard
Tuesday morning. 7:14 AM. I'm standing in the damp grass wearing my husband's oversized flannel bathrobe, one fuzzy sock because the dog stole the other one, and holding a mug of coffee that has already been microwaved three separate times....
So Your Kid Found Baby Owls in the Yard (Put the Bird Down)
I was elbow-deep in cold soapy dishwater trying to scrape crusty oatmeal out of a bowl when my oldest marched through the back door with her hands cupped together like she was holding a sacred treasure. "Mama, I found Hedwig's...
Debugging My Yard: Surviving the Juvenile Copperhead Panic
I was standing completely frozen in the wet grass holding a plastic watering can like it was a broadsword, staring intensely at a patch of overgrown clover. My smartwatch was aggressively buzzing on my wrist, alerting me that my heart...
That time my twins found a baby cardinal in the garden dirt
"Put the potato down, Florence," I said, barely glancing up from my lukewarm cup of tea. We were two weeks into our summer holiday visiting my wifeβs parents in upstate New York, and my primary goal for the afternoon was...
What to actually do when you find a baby raccoon in the yard
Listen, I was trying to pull dandelions out of the garden beds last Tuesday while Maya sat on the grass. She pointed a sticky finger toward the fence line and made a noise that sounded like a question. I thought...
That time we met a stranded sea sausage on the Norfolk beach
We were halfway across a devastatingly windy, aggressively grey stretch of the Norfolk coastline when one of the twins pointed a sandy, half-eaten breadstick at what appeared to be an abandoned sleeping bag. It was a bleak Tuesday in October,...
That Time I Found a Baby Black Widow in My Garage Nursery Stash
I was elbow-deep in a cracked Sterilite tub, breathing in that stale, hundred-degree Texas garage air, when a little pale thing dropped out of my oldest sonβs 2T winter sweater. It didnβt look like much of anything at first. It...
What I Wish I Knew Before Buying a Bike Seat for My Baby
Dear Jess from six months ago, You're currently sitting on the concrete floor of the garage, sweating through your favorite oversized t-shirt in this humid Texas heat, trying to decipher an instruction manual that appears to be written entirely in...
Why Your Outdoor Baby Bee Sting Panic Is Statistically Flawed
We were sitting on a patch of semi-dry grass at Laurelhurst Park, and I was holding a lukewarm pouch of what the label optimistically called baby beef and sweet potato puree. My 11-month-old son was violently refusing the spoon, slapping...