Giving birth is a major medical event . Sure, millions of people do it, and some people do it with very little medical interference, but it's still a big deal. You're in an immense amount of pain and discomfort, and it takes every bit of energy you've got. Not to mention, it's a visceral experience. Your body is doing things it has never done before. All that to say it's understandable that you would be choosy about who's in the delivery room when you're getting it done. Common sense says it sh…

No grandchildren? No problem!

Choosing a baby name is no easy task . You want to strike the right balance of pleasing, interesting, and most of all, respecting your child and their future endeavors in the working world. I'm all for off-beat names, but you can only go so far before you're making life hard for your kid down the line. Remember when Gwyneth Paltrow named her daughter “Apple” and everyone freaked out? Boy, how far we have come as a culture since then. Now Apple seems like a comparatively normal name compared to…

She could have chosen differently

She has a point

Be for real

Having similar names in the same family can be a little confusing . Sometimes there are so many Johns that one of them needs to become “Johnny,” one of them needs to be “Big John” or “Little John," depending on their age and size, and one of them just needs to go by their middle name, Stew. But we compromise for each other because we're family, and ultimately everyone has the right to name their baby whatever they'd like to. Odds are, you're not going to have a totally unique baby name unless y…

Babysitting is no simple task, that's why we pay babysitters and nannies the big bucks. Children, especially toddlers, can be notoriously difficult to wrangle. You need the right amount of patience, level-headedness, and willingness to tire yourself out. Not to mention it's a huge amount of responsibility. If something goes wrong, you need to be ready to snap into action. This is why it's no fun to ask someone to babysit at the last minute. Unless you're a seasoned pro or a parent yourself (eve…

This isn't true friendship

Sometimes a grudge comes up for seemingly no reason . Someone just starts to treat you differently and you have no idea what happened. You rack your brain for reasons you might have spited them and you come up empty. Did you fail to wave back at them on the street one day? Did you accidentally say something off-color at a party? Did you just happen to look at them the wrong way and now everything is different? You may never know. It's especially hard when this happens in your own family because…

That's not his decision

He sounds like a real winner

As any parent can tell you, parenting is a full-time job . It may not pay the bills, but it sure takes a lot out of you. It doesn't stop when you go to sleep, or when you're watching TV, or even when you're on vacation. You're a parent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You don't get to choose whether or not you're ‘on duty’ if you're a parent, you just always are. And for couples parenting together, it's important that you both understand that. Otherwise, conflicts are bound to arise. That's what…

Babysitting is a profession for a reason . It's not easy work. Sure, millions of mothers do it without being paid, but that's because it's their kid. If you're tasked with watching a child you are not responsible for, that's skilled work. You need to know what to do in an emergency, how to get them to go to bed, how to clean them, and how to keep them entertained. And if you've ever been a kid, you know it's not easy. That's why parents pay good money for babysitters and nannies. They deserve t…

Gender reveals are always a dubious idea . At worst, they literally start wildfires. At best, they're random celebrations. I sort of understand wanting to event-ize finding out the chromosomal makeup of your baby, but if that's the case, then you have to prepare yourself for either option. You can't be disappointed in the news if you're going to find out in a public setting. You're setting yourself up for failure. Crying at your own gender reveal is like crying at your own vow renewal. Nobody t…

Ah yes, that's the problem.