Congratulations! You are going to share your home with a cranky little man or woman. This site is a repository for all the information I wish I'd had sooner about how to do this. When my son was born, I realized that the advice I had been given during pregnancy was drastically inadequate and impractical. I kept asking, "Why don't they TELL you about this?" I don't know many people with babies, and I had no idea what they really like to play with, what kinds of clothes are easy to put on them, how my day would be structured, or what kinds of help I might need. I was lucky enough to find a supportive group of young mothers like me, and we struggled through all this by trial and error together. Since then, I have met so many women who wanted to know about our findings, that I decided to devote a little website to them.

My early-parenting philosophy.

Having a baby is less like acquiring an exotic pet, and more like being a contestant on Survivor. You may be surprised to find that the actual birth is not the hardest part, but simply the introduction to the host of the show. Don't assume that your fascination with him will make it easy to get through the subsequent series of physical and emotional trials! The first three months might be awful instead of amazing; one day a stranger will smile and say "Isn't it so wonderful?" and your first impulse will be to hand over the baby to this deluded idiot and run away. It's okay though. You are doing fine. It will get better soon.