The chore chart that has worked the best for my family so far been a (not-so-pretty) laminated list with my kids' pictures that I made myself. But even then, I can't really add or change jobs unless I make a whole new chart, which made t…
We have wood crates, with toy fruit and veggies, crafts , blocks, trains, etc., but no way to store or organize them. Do you have a toy storage solution? Do you dump everything by category into bins or baskets, and shelve them that way? …
I love looking at a fresh, crisp, blank calendar. There's something about it so filled with promise--and unfilled with scribbles and scratch-outs and reminders of stressful days. I think our friends at Red Stamp Cards feel the same way, …
While some people think of us as shopping blog, we're not only about shopping. We love tracking down the helpful websites and resources that make our lives easier. Yeah, okay, and things that make our shopping easier too. Consider me a n…
Since we're all about shopping online here, we're also about ways to make online shopping easier. And more affordable. And more fun. We've been eagerly following Rightcliq by Visa in the last few months since their launch and it seems it…
Now that I've gone through a total kitchen renovation and upgraded to a fancy schmancy stainless steel refrigerator I've---gasp!---lost the ability to hang my beloved paper calendar with a magnet from the front. Fortunately a cool paper-…
Okay, what do you get when you cross a container junkie and an ex-Art Director? Someone who is madly in love these Pantone tin storage boxes , that's what. In other words, me. These boxes are ample in size so they're great for storing ev…
Every year, I make my Mother-in-Law a calendar with photos of the kids and she ooos and ahhhs over it as any good grandmother would. But, after doing this for the past ten years, I am feeling a little ho-hum about the whole thing and won…
Just when I think I'm over diaper bags, I see the new It diaper bag and I think I must have it. However, what I really need is a non-diaper bag diaper bag. In other words, one that functions like a diaper bag, but really is just a cool b…
I'm generally a good gifter. However, I've been a little stumped about what to buy a good friend's little girl for her first birthday. They live in a tight NYC apartment, so their toy situation is extremely edited. Her stylish wardrobe, …
Anyone with kids know how important it is to label every single item they have. How else are you going to identify all the stuff that winds up in the lost and found bin? Over the years I've tried many different labeling methods and have …
I'm so high tech that, sometimes, I need to go low tech. For those of you like me, or those who just plain reject iPads and online organizers and anything with a plug, may I recommend the MEpad from LobotoME? Okay, so you can't surf the …
True Parent Confession: Life is so hectic that I once served crackers to my toddler in one of her own shoes. I couldn't give her the giant, store-fresh bag of cheesy crunchers in her car seat, but I had promised her a snack. So she had a…
I really enjoy cooking for my family. What I don't enjoy are the non-cooking parts of cooking - deciding what everyone is going to eat, and all that chopping, mincing prep work. Well we just found a really revolutionary service that take…
5 ways to watch movies at home, since we parents never get to the theater! (Hmph.) A simple web based to-do list organizer designed by a mom, graphic designer, and one of our favorite bloggers. Great video cams under $500. Or really, und…
I don't know about your kids' book collection , but my son's always looks like a cyclone tore through it. And as I've found out the hard way, toy trucks make pretty rotten bookends. Enter these insanely cute forest friends bookends from …
I'm off to the park and I have my twelve-month-old in one arm, diaper bag on my shoulder, another hand holds the sand toys, my three-year-old needs my hand to get down the stairs and maybe we'll need a blanket to sit on... wait, I'm out …
Woe betide the mother who doesn't have a Band-Aid in her purse when the need arises. And the thing is, I've gotten the hint over the years, and sure, there's usually a bandage or two smashed down in the bottom of my bag somewhere. But do…
Bookends for a kid's room are one of those challenging decor finds, or at least for me. A lot of bookends that I see and like are either too expensive (like, $100 a bookend), or they don't actually hold up your books. In which case uh, w…
What's cooler than a write-and-erase message board? Well, a lot of things. But for something that's cooler and just as useful, check out the most outrageous message board we've ever seen. This Dedo message board from Portuguese artist Go…
At the NY Gift Show last week, there were so many fabulous things I couldn't wait to run back and tell you all about. (These blisters? All for you, dahlings.) One of the very first booths I stumbled into featured the simply wonderful hom…
I don't know about you, but my friends have been popping out babies pretty regularly for the last few years and it's getting tricky to always think of an original new baby gift . (They expect a lot from a Cool Mom Picks reviewer, let me …
I'm in a bit of a storage kick these days, trying to get all of the toys and games and stuffed animals and books that are out in our apartment, into something. Anything. Aaaaanything at all. Okay, maybe something pretty. Is that too much…
You may already know that Mint.com is a fantastic one-stop destination for money management on the Net; it's as close to a bookkeeping genie as most of us mere mortals are going to get. I love that you can sync up your bank accounts, cre…