Dear past me: surviving the botanical shower and the infant year
Dear Priya from six months ago. You're currently sitting on the floor of the living room in Wicker Park, staring at a stack of expensive cardstock. You decided to throw a baby in bloom baby shower because it looked nice...
How To Make Your Baby Laugh Without Completely Losing Your Mind
It was a Tuesday. 4:15 PM, to be exact, and the afternoon light in our living room was doing that weird, aggressive glare thing that makes dust motes look like tiny judgment fairies. I was wearing leggings that hadnβt been...
Why the wild baby lion parenting trend is completely exhausting
I'm standing in the produce aisle at Marianos while my two-year-old arches his back so hard he resembles a freshly caught trout. He's furious because I won't let him bite directly into a raw, unpeeled sweet potato. An older woman...
Notes to myself six months ago on surviving the baby M phase
It's 3:14 in the morning and you're staring at the glow of the humidifier like it holds the answers to the universe. Outside, the Chicago wind is rattling the bedroom window, but inside, all you can hear is the frantic,...
When A Therapy App And A Literal Baby Manatee Saved My Sanity
It was 7:14 AM on a Tuesday, and I was standing in my kitchen wearing my husband's ancient Boston College hoodie. The one that has a crusty, mysterious stain on the left cuff that could be hummus, could be dried...
The Complete Nightmare of Choosing a Baby Girl Name
I was thirty-four hours post-C-section, wearing those horrific mesh hospital underwear and a nursing bra that smelled entirely like sour milk and desperation, just staring at this blank government form. The birth certificate lady was hovering by the door holding...
Dear Past Me: What to Know Before Getting a Pug Puppy
Dear Jess from last October. Youβre currently standing in the driveway holding a cardboard box that contains what looks like a hyperactive, three-pound baked potato with giant eyeballs, and you're entirely too confident about this life choice. I know exactly...
The Absurd Reality of High-End Baby Clothes
When I was eight months pregnant with Leo, my mother sat me down at her kitchen table, tapped her coffee mug with her fingernail, and told me to only buy stark white cotton so I could bleach the absolute hell...
Dear Sarah: What I Wish I Knew Earlier About Bibs for Adults
Dear Sarah from last November, You're currently sitting at your mother-in-law's dining room table. It's exactly 3:14 PM on a Tuesday, and you're wearing those grey Target sweatpants that have a mysterious bleach stain on the left knee from when...