Magazine

Mom holding baby outside during mosquito season

Why I Quit Natural Bug Spray for Babies (And What Actually Works)

I was standing on my back porch in East Texas last July, holding a twenty-eight dollar glass bottle of "artisan woodland mist" while a mosquito the size of a Buick casually drank from my oldest kid's leg. Bless my first-time-mom...

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Toddler twins covered in BBQ sauce holding stripped pork ribs at a highchair

The Truth About Chili's Baby Back Ribs For Your Weaning Toddler

It's half past five on a dreary Tuesday, and I'm staring at my twin daughters who look less like children and more like they've just survived a highly localised explosion in a barbecue sauce factory. One of them is wielding...

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A mom looking confused at a tiny designer art toy while holding a toddler

Why That Viral Cry Baby Popmart Figure Isn't Actually For Your Baby

I was standing at my kitchen sink, elbow-deep in cold oatmeal dishwater, when my 14-year-old niece shoved her phone directly into my face. On the screen was what looked like a perfectly round, tear-streaked child stuffed inside a tiny, fuzzy...

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A dad staring at a beanie baby website on his laptop while holding an 11-month-old.

My Beanie Baby Website Search: A Dad's Guide to Winter Hats & Toys

I'm sitting in the artificial blue glow of my MacBook at 3:14 AM, desperately clicking through a retro-looking beanie baby website that looks like it hasn't seen a CSS update since Netscape Navigator was a thing. My 11-month-old son is...

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Mother looking skeptically into a plastic storage bin full of dusty 90s plush stuffed animals

The Hard Truth About Beanie Babies Worth: A Letter to Past Me

Dear Jess of six months ago. Right now, you're standing in the gravel driveway in your pajama pants, squinting in the Texas sun, watching your mom's Honda CR-V idle while she wrestles three massive, dust-caked Rubbermaid tubs out of the...

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A vintage 90s plush toy sitting on a wooden shelf next to modern baby nursery decor.

The Strange Logic of Beanie Babies Birthdays & Safe Sleep

It was exactly 3:14 AM on a Tuesday, and I was standing in the pale, unforgiving light of the open refrigerator, holding a slightly dusty, bright pink plush platypus inside a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. My 11-month-old was finally asleep after...

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A tired mom holding a baby in a sage green swaddle on a neutral playmat

The clinical truth about stealing that baby yoda name for your kid

I'm staring at a hospital bassinet card at three in the morning in the pediatric ward, reading the name Anakin and quietly judging the parents from the hallway. That was me five years ago. Crisp scrubs, zero kids, and heavily...

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A mom and daughter watching the baby sitters club on a laptop on the couch

Why The Netflix Baby-Sitters Club Cast Changed My Parenting

It was exactly 7:43 PM on a Tuesday, I was wearing a fleece robe that smelled vaguely of sour milk and desperation, and my seven-year-old, Maya, was asking me why the girl on the TV was talking on a phone...

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Sarah's half-empty coffee mug next to a 90s boombox and organic cotton baby onesie

Devon Hodge Brenda's Got a Baby: The True Story

Whatever you do, absolutely don't pull out your phone at 2:13 AM while your four-year-old’s foot is pressed directly against your windpipe and search for true stories behind 90s rap songs. Because you'll, like me, end up sobbing into a...

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