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Shatterproof wooden baby's first christmas ornament on a pine branch

Surviving the drama of your baby's first christmas ornament

I was sitting on the floor of our freezing Chicago apartment with a vacuum in one hand and a bleeding thumb in the other. My mother-in-law had just left. Her gift had lasted exactly four seconds out of the tissue...

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6-month-oldmental healthmotherhoodParenting Guiderelationship
A tired dad sitting on the floor trying to figure out how to put together a wooden baby play gym

Dear Past Me: Surviving Your Husband's Grumpy Anime Dad Phase

Hey Jess from six months ago. I know exactly where you're right now. You're hiding in the laundry room, sitting on top of the humming dryer for warmth, stress-eating a bag of stale Goldfish crackers you found in a toddler's...

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6-month-old90s nostalgiababy healthhealthmotherhoodparenting humour
Tired mom sitting in a nursery rocking chair holding a digital thermometer

Surviving Midnight Fevers: The Thermometers That Actually Work

I was standing in the master bathroom completely naked at two in the morning, trying to read a plastic pacifier thermometer by the light of my iPhone flash while my firstborn screamed like I was actively torturing him. That was...

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Expectant mother looking skeptically at a massive tray of cold cuts

The brutal truth about catering for heavily pregnant women

At my own party, I stood at the edge of my sister-in-law's patio staring at a three-foot wooden board covered in prosciutto, unpasteurized brie, and what looked like homemade mayonnaise dip. My mother-in-law nudged my elbow. Beta, you need to...

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Priya sorting through a pile of useless baby shower party trinkets in her kitchen.

The Brutal Truth About Shower Gifts That Guests Actually Keep

I'm standing in my kitchen, staring at a tiny resin carriage I just found in the back of my junk drawer. I honestly don't know whose party it came from. Before I had my own kid, I thought you had...

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baby showereco-friendlygiftingmotherhoodnewbornsurvival
A woman holding a pen over a blank baby shower card next to a gift

What to write in a baby shower card without losing your mind

I'm sitting in the passenger seat of our sedan, balancing a small square envelope on the dashboard while my husband dodges Chicago potholes. We're twenty minutes late to my cousin's baby shower. The pen I dug out of the glovebox...

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Babygearmotherhoodsafety tipstoddler
Tired mom holding a toddler and a coffee next to a car seat in a messy minivan

The Great Baby Seat Illusion (And What Actually Worked For Us)

It was 87 degrees, I was exactly four days postpartum, and I was sobbing into a half-eaten blueberry muffin in the back of our Honda CR-V. Maya was screaming in her brand new car seat like we were torturing her,...

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baby registrygiftingmotherhoodnewbornorganicsustainable
A messy nursery floor with empty cardboard boxes and a wooden play gym

The Real Truth About People Actually Finding Your Baby Registry

I was sitting in a literal pile of bright pink cardboard boxes on my living room floor, four days after my first baby shower, ugly-crying into a burp cloth because not a single person bought the organic crib sheets I...

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6-month-oldboundariesearly developmentmaternal mental healthmotherhoodparenting tips
Sarah holding a cold coffee looking stressed while reading about generational trauma

What The Gypsy Rose Baby Taught Me About Generational Trauma

It’s 3:14 AM. I’m sitting on the cold tile of my bathroom floor wearing Dave’s gross college sweatpants with the mysterious bleach stain on the left knee, holding a sleeping Leo who currently feels like a thirty-pound sack of wet...

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