Sometimes you want to donate to a good cause , and sometimes you want to buy cute stuff. And sometimes someone gets a fabulous idea like The Emancipation Network did, and they start selling cute stuff made by the very folks the profits g…
I'm always looking for ways to get more organized, but I cannot abide the sort of "helpful" service that makes me feel like I'm a slacker just for being there. The newly relaunched Buttoned Up never skewers me with guilt; this website (f…
There's nothing quite like those halcyon days with the new baby; the staying awake for hours on end, the endless crying, and -- my personal favorite -- the occasional complaint from a (usually childless) friend that you've fallen off the…
Maybe you're in the mood to daydream, or maybe you've had your near-limitless wealth stuffed in your mattress all this time (in which case: Hi! I'm available for adoption!), but either way, if you want to let your most fanciful kid decor…
Maybe my children have exceptionally pointy knees (entirely possible), but I'm forever pulling holey jeans out of the laundry and setting them aside for mending. But then I remember that 1) I have no time, 2) I don't sew. Oops. Thank goo…
Cool Mom Picks internet crush (we would totally braid each other's hair at summer camp) Indie Fixx has done it again with indie coolness for the masses; this time, founder Jen Wallace has set her sights on affordable art for all. In fact…
The name is something of a misnomer, because everything at designer Susan Fisher's utility:home is a bright, shiny reminder that even the ordinary can look extraordinary. Their greeting cards are fabulous, of course -- the patterns pop, …
I used to draw on my sneakers as a child. It drove my mother crazy. Guess what my kids do with their sneakers? (I think my mom put them up to it.) With Graffeeti shoes , though, kids can color away. The special markers work together with…
The stuffed animals I painstakingly selected for my babies as to be "loveys" were never the ones they ended up dragging everywhere. When it comes to that special attachment, kids don't care if it's pretty or where it came from--they care…
When I go to teacher conferences, the thing I hear the most about my son-- always said with great reverence-- is, Wow, he sure likes to read ! I come from an entire family of readers, so this doesn't seem odd to me... but it is odd, beca…
They say hell hath no fury like a child denied a Band-Aid, but that's only because they've not seen one of my kids offered the wrong Band-Aid (which is even worse). Heaven forbid I have nothing left but butterflies when my son has an inv…
Just when I think there can't possibly be any more ways to make animals into wall art that make me want another baby purely for the decorative accessories, someone goes and proves me wrong. This time it's Milk Moon Kids , purveyors of li…
What I remember most about the early days was that the money I spent on batteries for the swing could have easily funded a semester in private college . Because my baby didn't sleep unless he was in motion. For months. Know what I needed…
You didn't forget that the class party is on Friday and you're baking cupcakes and, by the way, your kid needs 24 cards to share with her friends. Of course you didn't; you were just waiting for us to tell you where to find the best prin…
Okay, before you laugh, allow me to tell you why you totally want the Time-Out Application for your iPhone. You can pre-program this iPhone App for up to four kids with associated time-out durations, and then-- this is the beautiful part…
You know that woman who's always at school functions, the one who walks up while you're manning the ticket table or dishing the chili, and says, "Oh, I should've signed up to help! I must have missed the flier!" Hopefully her flier is cr…
The soft, fleecy blanket with a satiny trim is a nursery staple-- not only did my kids have them as babies, I had one as a baby, too, about a hundred years ago. And now Organic Blankees is offering up a new and fabulously earth-friendly …
If the big wall o' children's Valentine's cards at your local big box store fills you with dread, don't despair. You've heard of DIY, but have you heard of DIYBWALHFTWD? This acronym came to us from Three Wheels Design owner Vicki Shield…
So you want a canvas or two for baby's room, and you're trying to figure out something bright and colorful, with animals, that doesn't look like the circus threw up on your walls. Leave it to Tiny Decor to find just the right mix of mod …
Insulated lunch totes are bulky (and often of dubious origin; some vinyl ones contain lead). Paper lunch bags often rip (and aren't all that eco-friendly). What's a gotta-be-cool tween to do? Reach for 3 R's lunch sac perhaps? Made of wa…
We've been raving about graphic artist Lisa Masterson's various works at Avalisa for... well, a long time, and Liz recently marveled over her stunning stretched wall art. So you can probably only imagine my glee at learning that more tha…
When you think Eames you probably think wood, but for kids raised around the Eames Elephant , they'll grow up to associate the designer with a rainbow of colored plastics. It's a stool, it's a bench, it's decoration. It's pint-sized mode…
After a busy time fraught with lots of be-booping electronics, rushing to and fro, and various shiny things, there's really no substitute for a bit of Zen. While you're decompressing, consider turning to the ingenious Buddha Board , spot…
Let's be clear, here--I'm a from-scratch baker. I like to bake, and I like to know exactly what's in the foods I'm feeding my kids. So when I first came across the baking mixes from Matisse & Jack's , I thought maybe they'd be good... fo…
