You're probably familiar with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital -- you've seen the ads with the adorably sweet, brave children, featuring Marlo Thomas, daughter of actor and St. Jude's founder Danny Thomas. You may have caught some o…
Oh bless you, Chrissy Teigen . Because for every perfectly retouched celebrity baby photo all over Instagram, every "look how hot I am in a bikini 6 seconds after giving birth" celebrity selfie, every quote from a sanctimonious lucky-gen…
By this point in the school year, my kids know not to expect the sorts of lunchbox love notes they got from me daily in September. But there are a few days on the calendar that inspire me to scribble something special to surprise them: V…
We can never have enough irreverent books about parenting to keep us laughing, amirite ? If you're with me, you have to check out the brand new, very dark and very hilarious Hurts Like a Mother: A Cautionary Alphabet , by Jennifer Weiss …
We've been friends and fans of Asha Dornfest, and her brilliant website Parent Hacks , for a full decade, since we both got started at the very same time. In fact, if you click that link, you'll see we first touted the brilliance of her …
Is there one kid in the world who isn't fascinated by animals? (Answer: no.) So today, Jane Goodall's birthday, is a perfect opportunity to cozy around your tablet or computer together and dig into her life just a bit. Especially if you …
We admit it, we're not always the perfect models of healthy behavior. And we know our kids take in eeeeverything. But old habits die hard, whether it's making a few questionable food choices in front of our kids (ahem), or driving two bl…
I've always been a big advocate of keeping my kids' games and videos put away at the dinner table. Especially in restaurants, which is why I have a special place in my heart for those that provide crayons to kids -- in particular the sma…
This is a sponsored message from Upromise by Sallie Mae Saving money for college just got a whole lot easier thanks to the Upromise MasterCard , which can help you earn up to 10% cash back just by shopping the way you already do. With 5%…
When I first got wind of the Kickstarter for Peanut Gallery Comics , how could I not smile? The idea is so simple and smart -- commissioning one of four illustrators to create an original comic strip or frame of some funny, quirky, wonde…
I'm a huge fan of grabbing little indulgences or surprises for my kids here and there to help make them feel better after a bad day or, you know, just make them feel special. But when it comes to me, I have gotten pretty good at rational…
I still remember car shopping when I was pregnant with my third child, trying to figure out which cars for big families would be right for me. As in, I didn't want a minivan, and I wanted my car to safely fit three car seats, for my thre…
I'm not sure whether it's because I'm tall or because I sit hunched over a computer all day long , but I have terrible posture. This isn't necessarily a new discovery, but what is new to me is how much bad posture can actually affect you…
If you're following along with me this month, you know I'm trying to make some positive changes in my life related to stress , something I've been struggling with both emotionally and physically for quite a while now. Over the last coupl…
As your kids get older, you realize you don't have to ply them with gifts or offer extra ice cream at dessert just to be The Cool Parent. (And despite what you may have learned from Amy Poehler in Mean Girls , you don't have to serve the…
Last week, I wrote pretty candidly about the stress in my life and how it's been affecting me both emotionally and physically, so it's probably no surprise that one of my New Year's resolutions (yes, I really do make them!) is to do some…
We admittedly get a little nostalgic looking back through our entire calendar year worth of posts each December to see which ones most resonated with our readers. All we can say is, looking at the top ten posts of the year? You all have …
Hi, I'm Kristen and I'm stressed out. Why is it hard to admit that? As if I'm somehow not as competent or together as I'm supposed to be, whatever that means. Yes, I'm a single mom with four kids and my own business, so you might say, we…
As busy parent with Christmas right around the corner (ten days as of today, to be exact), I am thankful for places that make it easy to get all the last-minute stuff that I forgot to get but really, really need, in one handy place, like…
This is a sponsored message for Totspot. Whether you're looking to add to your own wardrobe on a budget, shop for your kids, or just clean out your closets to make some extra cash for the holidays, Totspot lets you do all of that with ju…
With the holidays right around the corner and our 2015 Cool Mom Picks Gift Guide almost here (tomorrow!), we're excited to be teaming up with our gift guide sponsor Sudo for a fun Twitter Social to chat about online holiday shopping, one…
( This post has been updated, August 2017 ) It's been a somber mood around here lately, as it surely been for many of you. When I first wrote this post, our hearts were going out to the people of Paris. We each have been hoping and prayi…
If you're a fan of great parenting blogs, you may be familiar with the difficult story of our friends Mike and Heather Spohr, of the popular site The Spohrs are Multiplying. They experienced the unimaginable after the death of their daug…
With cold weather pretty much here for lots of us, and on the way for the rest of us (wah!), this is the time of year we start getting more reader questions about baby and kids' skincare. I know it's hard to weed through all the info; I'…