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These expert tips could help save you money on your next vacation | Spawned Ep 163
With summer travel season in full swing, it's the perfect time to hit the road, or, if you're working ahead, get your holiday travel all planned and booked. There are definitely tricks that can help you save money, from booking your flights on specific days, to...
Kids and nutrition: The good, the bad, and what we can do better | Spawned Episode 162
As parents ourselves, we know how hard it can be to keep up with what we should be feeding our kids. That's why were so pleased to chat with our guest, nutritionist Nicole Turner Ravana, who has spent her career helping people understand nutrition and food better. On...
Wait, moms are funny? A delightful conversation with Ophira Eisenberg | Spawned Episode 161
We've always said that if we weren't laughing about motherhood, we'd be crying. Hey, parenting is hard. And from what we learned from our chat with comedian and NPR Ask Me Another host Ophira Eisenberg, we're not alone. Have you ever wondered what it's like being on...
The Evangeline Lilly interview that will convince you she’s one of the coolest moms | Spawned Ep 160
As it turns out, Evangeline Lilly is not just an Orc-defeating Tolkien elf, badass desert island survivor, or quantum realm-traveling Marvel superhero. She is also a super cool mom, and author of the darkly comic, wonderfully inventive new young reader series, the...
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver writer Jill Twiss on finding the funny in tough times | Spawned 159
Does it feel hard to laugh sometimes with all that's going on in the world? You'll love this episode of the Spawned Parenting Podcast. This week we're talking to Jill Twiss, Emmy-winning Last Week Tonight with John Oliver staff writer, and best-selling children's...
So much coolness. Where to start…
25 beautifully illustrated free printable summer coloring pages for kids. We found them!
It's been a while since we put together some of our favorite free printable summer coloring pages for our kids. With the weather fairly unbearable around the country right now, seemed like a good time to find some new printable coloring pages with summer themes -- but...
Presenting our NEW Ultimate Birthday Gift Guide: The coolest gifts of the year for kids of all ages
We are so excited to announce our brand new Ultimate Birthday Gift Guide! Whoo! For years we've been combing the web, talking to kids and parents, and carefully curating the very coolest birthday gifts for kids each year by age. Well now it's back, with a major...
7 fantastic new summer books by women authors to add to your beach tote, stat
Summer is one of the rare times each year that I have time to read for pleasure, and this year I am taking full advantage with these new books, all by women authors. It's such a diverse group of writers, offering diverse perspectives and themes, and wow, I really...
How to get teens into therapy? This online platform puts it right on their phones.
As someone who was trained as a creative arts therapist, and has been in therapy myself for many years, I fully understand the value of counseling. Particularly during those extremely difficult teen years. I also know how challenging it can be to get a teen into...
3 different ways to make DIY balloon arches for your next party. Make your entrance!
Lately I've been seeing a lot of gorgeous DIY balloon arches in my Instagram feed that have me inspired to figure out how to try my own. And after sleuthing around for tips from my favorite craft bloggers, I've discovered that it's actually totally doable. Even for...
How to Break Up with Your Phone: Cool Mom Picks Book Club Selection 6
We've been having so much fun with the Cool Mom Picks Virtual Book Club so far, and it's been amazing getting so much feedback from all of you, what you're learning, and how some of the ideas we're sharing are impacting the way you look at parenting, too. So we're...
In support of our duly elected American Congresswomen
On a personal level, this week has been really rough for me. The news is just filled with horrific racism, bigotry, and xenophobia directed towards elected American Congresswomen of color. And too many leaders, including those who should know better, have been bending...
We’re cheering for Target’s new adaptive Halloween costume collection!
Target has been pretty ahead of the mass retailer curve in terms of sensory-friendly and adaptive clothing for kids. And I'm so happy to see they're adding new adaptive Halloween costumes this year, made for to help ensure that all kinds of kids get to live out their...
What are the safety standards of the U.S.’s biggest baby brand? | Sponsored Message
Before we agreed to partner with Johnson's on this series, we did our own research about their growth and evolution in terms of ingredients, practice, and transparency. As parents ourselves, we are incredibly conscientious about the brands we work with and we felt...
These expert tips could help save you money on your next vacation | Spawned Ep 163
With summer travel season in full swing, it's the perfect time to hit the road, or, if you're working ahead, get your holiday travel all planned and booked. There are definitely tricks that can help you save money, from booking your flights on specific days, to...
The best Amazon Prime Day deals July 15 and 16: Just the good stuff
Yep, Amazon Prime Day is here. It's that day on Amazon that it either looks like someone emptied out your great-grandmother's junk drawer and put it for sale on the internet...or the day that thing you wanted/needed/discovered is on massive sale and you do the happy...
Kids and nutrition: The good, the bad, and what we can do better | Spawned Episode 162
As parents ourselves, we know how hard it can be to keep up with what we should be feeding our kids. That's why were so pleased to chat with our guest, nutritionist Nicole Turner Ravana, who has spent her career helping people understand nutrition and food better. On...
Our favorite space themed toys and kids’ gifts to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing on July 20th, and our kids are so excited about it. Considering it's an event that happened way before they were born, I love their enthusiasm. In fact, my son just checked out a bunch of moon landing...
Illustrators see the beauty and meaning of Halle Bailey as Ariel and we’re here for it.
With the announcement of the inspired casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel in the upcoming Little Mermaid live action reboot, certain people in certain corners of the internet lost their GD minds. I alternated between bemusement and more uh, intense feelings, about those...
These 8 cool new kids’ activity books are screen-free boredom busters for every interest
We're already hearing, "I'm bored," from the kids this summer, which is where we turn to all the cool kids' activity books available. Having a stash around our house for them to choose from is one trick that's helped around our house; it usually gives them a good 30...
Paris with teens: 8 of our favorite off-the-beaten-path attractions and activities
Our family of four with two teenagers recently returned from a five-day trip to Paris. While we did hit most of the major attractions -- the Louvre, Notre Dame, Versailles, and of course the Eiffel Tower -- we also found some fun, less touristy places to visit with...
3 new books for kids that make you proud to be American
With July 4th coming, up, this is a time my family often discusses what it means to be American, how we can make the country better, safer, and more equitable for other Americans, and what we can do to help live up to our nation's promise of liberty and justice for...
Cool Mom Picks Book Club Selection 5: The New Childhood by Jordan Shapiro
We’re back with our fifth selection for the Cool Mom Picks Book Club with The New Childhood: Raising Kids to Thrive in a Connected World a book by Jordan Shapiro I've raved about for months over on Cool Mom Tech. It covers the topic of digital parenting unlike any...
Wait, moms are funny? A delightful conversation with Ophira Eisenberg | Spawned Episode 161
We've always said that if we weren't laughing about motherhood, we'd be crying. Hey, parenting is hard. And from what we learned from our chat with comedian and NPR Ask Me Another host Ophira Eisenberg, we're not alone. Have you ever wondered what it's like being on...
Can holding a potato help prevent car sickness?
Earlier this year, I read somewhere that holding a russet potato can help prevent car sickness. I had no idea how or why, but I thought it was worth a shot. Because if you have kids who get car sick, you know that you will try anything. Like...anything. On a long...
Aluminum in deodorant and antiperspirant: Health issue or internet rumor?
For a long time I had been hearing about a terrible link between aluminum and deodorant. We have even had writers through the years who have insisted on only using natural deodorants, which, cool. Because we believe in choices. But several years ago, I did my own...