Magazine

Tired dad looking at a smartphone while holding an 11-month-old baby with a messy uneven haircut

Why My Wife Wanted the 1980s Baby Shalini Haircut at Midnight

At 1:14 AM on a Tuesday, my wife shoved a glowing iPhone into my face displaying a grainy 1980s photo of a child with a perfectly symmetrical, brutally blunt bowl-cut bob. I was barely conscious, trying to reboot my brain...

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Exhausted mother holding a crying baby in a dimly lit nursery

Surviving the Hell Baby Phase When You Are Running on Empty

The microwave clock says three in the morning, the only light in your kitchen is the green digital glow, and you're bouncing on a yoga ball so hard your knees ache while holding a rigid infant who sounds like a...

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Jess sitting on her Texas porch folding baby clothes while reading news on her phone.

Exactly How Many Baby Mamas Does Elon Musk Have? A Mom's Guide

Dear Jess from six months ago: put down the phone and step away from the billionaire gossip. I know exactly what you're doing right now. You're sitting in the dark in that creaky rocking chair, elbow-deep in the smell of...

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A toddler playing with wooden building blocks on a rug instead of an iPad

The Ugly Truth About Those Viral Baby Hazel Games

It was 4:13 PM on a Tuesday and I was wearing my husband Dave’s oversized college hoodie that smelled faintly of old garlic, holding a lukewarm mug of French roast that I had already microwaved three separate times. I was...

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A dad staring at a collapsed block tower while his loser baby cries on a wooden play mat.

Why The Sore Loser Baby Phase Feels Like A Fatal System Error

7:14 PM. The structural integrity of the three-block tower has failed. My 11-month-old son, Leo, is staring at the fallen soft rubber cubes like they just insulted his ancestors. His face turns the color of a locally sourced Portland beet,...

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A tired mother holding a fussy infant in a dimly lit nursery

Why that cheer up baby dailymotion search won't fix the crying

The glow of a smartphone screen at three in the morning is uniquely depressing. My son was doing that arched-back, red-faced screaming thing. I had a bottle in one hand, a pacifier clamped in my teeth, and I was frantically...

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Stressed mom sitting in a rural Texas kitchen holding a fussy newborn baby

Why the "Bad Baby" Myth is Ruining Your Peace of Mind

I was sitting on the floor of my pantry, wedged between a fifty-pound bag of flour for my Etsy shop baking orders and the dog food bin, eating a stale strawberry Pop-Tart while my firstborn screamed his lungs out in...

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A small infant rabbit resting near a patch of grass in a backyard

Note to Self About That Backyard Bunny Incident We Barely Survived

Dear Priya from last April. You're currently standing frozen in the damp Chicago grass, holding a weed whacker in one hand and a half-eaten string cheese in the other. Your toddler is strapped to your back in the ergonomic carrier,...

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A frustrated mom holding a toddler while pinkfong baby shark plays on a tablet.

Pinkfong Baby Shark: How to Survive the Doo-Doo-Doo Toddler Phase

I was wedged between a fifty-pound sack of flour and my bulk box of paper towels in the pantry, stress-eating a handful of stale Goldfish crackers, while the muffled sound of "doo doo doo doo doo doo" echoed through the...

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