Magazine

A baby girl in a smocked dress looking suspiciously at a bowl of carrots

A Letter to Myself About the Absurdity of Smocked Baby Clothes

Dear Tom of six months ago. I know exactly where you're right now. You're standing in the upstairs bathroom at your mother-in-law's house, holding Maya at arm's length over the porcelain sink. You're staring at a Β£75 hand-smocked, pale blue...

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A folded organic green baby tee resting on a nursery chair next to a silicone teething toy

The real deal about that green baby tee and toxic wellness fads

I was three hours into a night shift in the pediatric ER when a very tired, very trendy mom rushed in with an eight-month-old who was vibrating like a cheap pager. His resting heart rate was through the roof. After...

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A confused dad holding a wool baby sleep sack next to a thermostat

Sweating bullets over baby wool in a Portland heatwave

It was mid-July, the Nanit camera was flashing a menacing red 81 degrees, and our 1924 Portland craftsman was doing its best impression of a pizza oven. I was frantically trying to program a portable AC unit with one hand...

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A pile of scattered organic infant socks on a wooden floor next to a half-empty coffee cup.

The medical reality of organic cotton baby socks for infants

The day we brought my son home from the hospital, I received three distinct, entirely contradictory mandates about his feet. My mother, wielding her generational aunty logic, informed me that exposing his bare toes to the Chicago autumn would invite...

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A wooden toddler plate with a silicone suction base covered in messy spaghetti.

The Truth About Bamboo Kids Plates (And What Actually Works)

I was standing barefoot in my kitchen at 7:00 AM, staring at a splatter of oatmeal slowly dripping down my newly painted cabinets, while my oldest son looked incredibly proud of his throwing arm. Jackson was two at the time,...

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A messy crib mattress featuring a soft, rumpled bamboo toddler blanket draped over the edge.

Dear Past Me: The Bamboo Toddler Blanket Is Actually Worth It

Dear Jess of six months ago. You're currently sitting on the floor of the nursery at 2:14 AM, using your teeth to try and unjam a zipper on a fleece sleep sack that somehow got stuck on a blowout-ruined diaper...

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Me trapped under our kuscheldecke groß with a coffee and two kids.

The huge family blanket mistake we made (and what actually works)

It's exactly 3:14 AM and I'm sitting in the dark nursery wearing sweatpants that haven't been washed since Tuesday and a faded Nirvana t-shirt that smells vaguely of sour milk, stale coffee, and total desperation. Maya is maybe seven months...

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A pile of faded retro band tees next to folded organic cotton baby pants.

The Great Dry Rot Disaster: A Mom’s Guide to Vintage T Shirts

It was a blistering Tuesday afternoon in my Texas driveway, and I had just wrestled my oldest childβ€”who's now basically a walking cautionary tale for my parentingβ€”into a pristine, never-worn 1982 Journey tour tee. I found it at Canton Trade...

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Toddler wearing ribbed organic cotton summer bottoms at the playground

The Truth About Heat Rash and Organic Cotton Shorts

Chicago humidity in July is a specific kind of atmospheric violence. I had dressed my son in these adorable sage green bottoms I bought off an Instagram ad at three in the morning, thinking I was nailing the whole effortless...

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