Magazine

Tired dad holding twin babies surrounded by wooden toys

The actual nepo baby meaning for severely sleep-deprived parents

My mother-in-law confidently informed me over a lukewarm cup of Earl Grey that it was a highly contagious viral rash sweeping through the North London nurseries. The barista at our local overpriced coffee shop swore it was a new developmental...

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Frustrated dad trying to fold a massive baby stroller in the rain outside a coffee shop.

The V1.0 Stroller Bug: Why My First Hardware Purchase Failed

It's 43 degrees, pouring that specific sideways Portland rain, and I'm violently kicking the back left wheel of a $900 piece of baby gear while my wife Sarah watches from the passenger seat of our Honda Civic. This was my...

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glowing video monitor screen showing a sleeping baby in a dark room

What I got totally wrong about the baby monitor as a pediatric nurse

It's three in the morning and I'm digitally zooming in on a pixelated chest, holding my own breath to see if my son is taking his. I spent five years on the pediatric floor at a Chicago hospital, managing central...

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Baby in an organic cotton bodysuit kicking in a wooden floor bouncer

What I Got Completely Wrong About My First Baby Bouncer Seat

It was a Tuesday at like, 2 PM, and I was sitting on the damp bath mat in my tiny apartment bathroom, wearing a stained gray nursing bra and exactly one sock. Leo was three and a half weeks old....

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A very tired dad staring at a Swedish bouncing baby chair in the kitchen

Dear Past Marcus: You Need a Baby Bjorn Bouncer Immediately

Past Marcus, it's me. You from six months in the future. You're currently standing in the kitchen of our Portland apartment at 3:14 AM. The baby is five weeks old. It's raining outside, obviously. You're trying to rock him while...

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Confused dad holding an infant covered in pureed sweet potatoes

The Great Gerber Baby Myth and The Reality of Infant Parenting

I'm currently staring at a smear of what I think is pureed sweet potato on my kitchen ceiling. I don't know how it got up there. My son is eleven months old, sits exactly thirty-two inches below that spot in...

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A wooden push toy on a nursery rug next to some soft building blocks.

Why that classic seated baby walker is actually a terrible idea

Last Diwali, my mother-in-law cornered me near the samosas with a brightly colored plastic catalog she had acquired from god knows where. She flipped to a dog-eared page and pointed to a massive plastic saucer surrounded by wheels and covered...

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Sleep deprived mom staring at a mechanical baby swing in a dark living room

What I Wish I Knew Before Buying That Magical Baby Swing

It’s 3:14 AM on a Tuesday in November, and I'm standing in my kitchen wearing a pair of Target maternity leggings from 2014 that smell aggressively like sour milk, holding a lukewarm mug of yesterday’s coffee, just absolutely paralyzed while...

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A tired mom holding a cup of coffee while looking at baby clothes

The Only Things You Actually Need For A New Baby (And What To Skip)

"You absolutely need the wipe warmer," my sister-in-law hissed across the table, leaning in like she was giving me state secrets. "If a cold wipe touches that baby's bottom, you'll never sleep again." "Don't buy anything," my hippie neighbor countered...

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