Magazine

A dad looking stressed while holding an 11-month-old baby near a wooden play area

Surviving the Lava Monster Phase: A Dad's Take on Baby Moana

The haptic feedback on my Apple Watch woke me from a sleep-deprived trance at exactly 3:14 PM on a Saturday. It was a decibel warning. My living room had just surpassed 90 decibels, which my watch helpfully noted could cause...

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A six month old baby reaching for a hanging wooden toy on a play mat

Navigating infant developmental timelines without losing your mind

We were sitting around a cramped dining table in Rogers Park when the unsolicited advice started rolling in. My mother-in-law casually mentioned that my husband was walking independently at nine months, heavily implying my ten-month-old was somehow defective for still...

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Exhausted mom scrolling a baby meme on her phone in the dark

The midnight baby meme: surviving internet chaos and newborn life

Listen. The absolute worst thing you can do at 2:42 AM when your infant is staring at the ceiling like they owe it money is open a sleep training forum. I used to do this. I'd sit in the dark,...

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Baby covered in mashed sweet potato staring confused at a broccoli floret

What I Wish I Knew Before Feeding My Baby Real Food

Dear Marcus from six months ago: Right now, you're staring at a piece of steamed broccoli, sweating through your gray t-shirt, completely convinced that handing this tiny green tree to your six-month-old daughter is a catastrophic user error. You've spent...

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Organic cotton retro baby joggers with contrast trim lying flat on wood table

Confessions of a Clueless Runner: The Truth About Baby Joggers

I'm three miles deep into a caliche dirt road in rural Texas, sweat pooling in places I didn't know could sweat, pushing a thirty-dollar plastic umbrella stroller that sounds like a shopping cart with a square wheel. My oldest son,...

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A stressed mom folding a baby winter coat while hiding in the laundry room

Baby It's Cold Outside Lyrics Drama & Winter Layering

Dear Jess from last December. You're currently hiding in the laundry room, sitting on a pile of unfolded bath towels, frantically trying to look up the baby it's cold outside lyrics on your cracked phone so you can prove a...

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A stressed dad watching a husky dog sniff around a baby playpen in a living room

How to Survive a Husky and a Human Baby Without Losing Your Mind

There's a very specific type of panic that sets in when a fifty-pound sled dog tries to initiate a play-bow with a sleeping infant. You just freeze, calculating the physics of a rapidly wagging tail colliding with a soft fontanelle,...

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A slightly calcified cool mist humidifier sitting on a wooden dresser next to a stack of baby blankets

A Letter To Myself About The Baby Humidifier Situation

Dear Jess of last November. You're currently standing in the baby aisle of Target at two in the morning, staring bleary-eyed at a wall of plastic water-blowing machines while your four-month-old sounds like a tiny, asthmatic pug in the shopping...

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Toddler playing a baby hazel app on an iPad in the dark bedroom

That Night a Baby Hazel App Cost Me Nine Bucks and Total Sanity

I was elbow-deep in printing shipping labels for my Etsy shop at ten o'clock on a Tuesday night, entirely convinced my four-year-old was dead asleep in his room, when my Apple watch buzzed with an $8.99 charge from the App...

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