An unbiased, scientific review of life in these United States — My three-year-old iPhone has been acting up. Responding slow, hemorrhaging battery life, the usual. I have Apple Care (tech support) so I made an appointment at my local Apple Store. It was busy, full of parka-clad Minnesotans chatting with salespeople and examining demo gadgets. On my arrival, I was greeted…

The psychologist on the other end of the video call is exuberant over the topic of sleep science. Seriously. I feel like I have a personal audience with a motivational speaker. “I’m not going to tell you about sleep hygiene,” he begins. “I’m not going to tell you something you…

Parents, drop what you’re doing and read this book I stopped by my local library one day after dropping my newborn off with my parents and started browsing the new releases shelf. Through the blurry haze of new motherhood, I noticed this dark pink volume with scrolled writing on the title. …

I didn’t realize how much emotional weight I was still carrying I’ve written before about being pregnant and having a baby for the first time during the pandemic, and the impressions it left on me as a person and mother. So I won’t go deep into details here. Suffice it to say that more than 24 hours lapsed between when my…

And what to do instead In my experience, most Americans attitudes toward recycling and green living falls somewhere between disinterest and recycling aluminum cans (most of the time). There are the passionate few on both ends of the spectrum: the zero-wasters and the aggressive consumerists. …

I’m not late to the party, I’m early to the next turning of the Wheel Robert Jordan’s 700-plus-page “Eye of the World” (now part of a major series streaming on Amazon Prime), was published in 1990. I was five, so I think I could be forgiven for not reading it then. …

I don’t care like I used to, and that actually matters — A week ago, I ran into some friends from high school. I hadn’t seen the family in at least a decade, but I knew, through the magic of social media, that one of them is currently battling terminal brain cancer. I wished I had the words to say something profound…

A reflection on parenthood then and now “You’re going to be tired for the rest of your life,” the only grandmother in my class tells my friend, a youngish, first-time mother who has just admitted to nursing her eight-month-old at 40-minute intervals all night, every night. Everyone laughs, but nervously. Of course, she is tired. We all…

Who among us did not become an amateur bread baker at some point in the pandemic? (#BasicBreadB*tch) I borrowed my mom’s Breadman Plus (thank you, the 90s) in the move and it’s taken up permanent residence on the floor of our kitchen. Is it small? No. Is it quiet? No…