There are a lot of things I want to do as a mom, but a big one is to raise the kinds of kids (and eventually, adults) who think about others' needs before their own. It's something we talk about a lot in our house -- especially around th…
The holidays are fast approaching, which means it's party season! I'm thinking all about Halloween this week, but before you know it we'll be planning New Year's parties. Not to mention the, oh... 1,285 family birthdays that my family se…
When my kids were small I somehow had the time to make their costumes by hand -- things like princess dresses, a lion, and one amazing Nacho Libre costume. However, last year I literally pulled together a costume for my oldest in about 5…
The first-ever gift I gave my daughter was a beautiful handmade doll I found on Etsy, and ever since then I've had a thing for gifting my kids one-of-a-kind dolls . Of course, she has her fair share (and then some) of American Girl every…
I'm barely getting to the store before all the good candy is gone, so I'm definitely not looking for over-the-top complicated crafts and activities that are going to impress my friends at our annual Halloween party. And when I'm charged …
October is my favorite month, because: hot cider, changing leaves, and sweater weather. And let's go ahead and add International Babywearing Month to that list of loves too. As a new mom, I had plenty of unwelcome advice from strangers t…
I like to stock my daughter's wardrobe with lots of leggings when the weather gets cooler. She can wear them under anything from dresses to long sweaters, and they're definitely way more comfy than jeans. So, I spent a couple hours click…
For the last few years, we've been loving the Navajo-inspired designs in everything from jewelry to home decor, and so it's no surprise we are big fans of the fringe trend for fall that we're seeing on gorgeous handbags from top designer…
Sara Blakely has been fantastically successful helping us hide our post-baby bellies with her magical Spanx products, but now she's asking women to show off their bellies all in the name of charity. Her new book, The Belly Art Project , …
From the new kids' movie Pete's Dragon to Game of Thrones, dragons are getting a good rep these days. Our kids are even talking about being dragons or dragon trainers for Halloween, so when we saw that these dark, edgy dragon gloves at T…
I have no problems with princesses and more traditional Halloween costumes for my daughter, but I admit I do have a bit of a bias toward strong girl Halloween costumes. So when my daughter told me she wants to dress up as a Greek goddess…
If you've ever had this tune stuck in your head, "We've got the whole wide world in our yard to explore...", you can thank Dan Yaccarino. He designed Pablo, Uniqua and the rest of the Backyardigans crew, and he's also the creator of the …
Not everyone has kids that want scary Halloween decorations around the house. Like mine, for example. Hosting a trick-or-treat party is one of my kids' favorite traditions of the year, and they totally love Halloween, but they'd prefer w…
Two years ago, when I learned about Parents magazine lifestyle editor Amanda Kingloff's cool, modern crafts book Project Kid , I flipped. For joy. These were crafts my kids could easily make , and I'd actually want to keep. (Sorry, glitt…
When you've got a little one, you probably know that means you have a whooooole lot of preschooler birthday party gifts to look for over the course of the year. One gift for each party for each kid in your child's preschool class? Yeouch…
After 11 years of parenting, I'm a pretty big believer in not buying baby gear that doesn't grow with your child . That means floor mats dedicated exclusively to, say, tummy time isn't at the top of my priority list. (As cute as they may…
My youngest child is still learning to tie his shoes. He can get it right about 50% of the time -- just enough to be absolutely confident he can do it himself with no help from me thankyouverymuch. As you can imagine, this makes it hard …
My favorite fall break destination with the kids is unquestionably Asheville, North Carolina. Even though it isn't a kid-centric destination per se (no Mickey Mouse for miles), there's still so many fun, family-friendly activities we can…
This summer my family hit a new milestone on our bikes: my youngest learned to ride without training wheels, and my oldest is now big enough to be trusted to ride his bike a couple blocks to his friend's house on his own. (Although I sti…
We're all huge fans of The Good+ Foundation , which was started 15 years ago by Jessica Seinfeld -- and you may know it by its original name, Baby Buggy . (In fact, our Editor-in-Chief Liz is so committed, she's a member of the Friends o…
My absolute favorite feature on my iPhone isn't the smart to-do list that keeps my life sane or the ability to look up random facts on Google whenever I want -- it is, of course, the camera. I take thousands of pictures each year, and as…
If you've been reading Cool Mom Picks for long while now, you know how much we love to support small indie shops that make amazing gifts for kids or families -- like the beautiful handmade jewelry at Julian & Co or geeky wooden teething …
I never used a white noise machine with any of my kids when they were babies, which may explain why they were such terrible nappers. Compare that to my friends, who'd come over for dinner and board games with their babies in tow. Their k…
I've never actually forgotten to send the invites out to one of my kids' birthdays, but I've definitely waited until the very last minute to plan their parties. The thing is: if your child's birthday happens to land during one of the cra…
