The National Parks Junior Ranger Program is a brilliant and easy way to get kids excited about your next family vacation
If you’re planning a family trip to one of our amazing national parks this summer, I want to recommend that you schedule some time to let your kids take part in the National Parks Junior Ranger program. This is a wonderful educational program that helps kids...
Tips for travel with tweens and teens: More fun, fewer eyerolls | Spawned ep 152
We are big advocates of travel with tweens and teens as you know. And now that we have older kids of our own — and have a new travel contributor focusing on teen travel — we thought we’d cover some great tips for parents who travel with older kids,...
The 20 most affordable travel destinations for families right now. Pack your bags!
As you may know, one of our top tips for affordable family travel, especially on an extended trip, is to rent an apartment or home instead of forking out big bucks for a hotel — let alone renting two hotel rooms, if you’ve got a bigger family. Linda even...
The 2019 Tony Awards are announced: Here’s which new Broadway shows to see with your older kids and teens
I often feel the resident New York City local mom whose inbox and DMs are filled with requests for “what Broadway show should I take my kids to?” And I don’t mind a bit. With two kids obsessed with musical theater, all of us lucky enough to live a...
How does Disney’s Disability Access Service card (DAS) work? This mom lays it out for you.
I recently described my 10 tips for a Disney vacation with a special needs child, to help you ensure that the trip is as magical for all of you. But I wanted to give more details about the totally free Disability Access Service (DAS) card for those of you looking into...
10 tips for a Disney World vacation with kids with special needs. It can be magical!
Disney World is supposed to be the happiest place on earth, but as I was preparing for our family’s recent trip, I admit I was dreading parts of it. It would be the first trip for our youngest daughter, who has cognitive special needs, and I had no idea how we...
Barcelona with teens: 6 tips to make your family vacation worth the investment
If you’re considering traveling to Barcelona with teens or older kids, I can help! As a diplomatic family now living abroad in Germany, we have the amazing opportunity to live and travel around Europe. Traveling with kids at any age brings a certain set of...
Paris with kids: Tips, tricks, and helpful advice for a memorable Paris family vacation
Over the Thanksgiving break, we enjoyed a vacation in Paris with kids, and wow, I’m still thinking about our amazing time. I have to admit that I was worried taking my family of six to Europe for the first time, but thanks to lots of research and planning, we...
Traveling to Iceland with kids: Everything you need to know and more!
If you’re thinking about traveling to Iceland with kids like we did last summer, let me just say you’re in for a special treat. Our trip in August 2018 was one of my all-time favorite family vacations. Whether you’re currently planning an Icelandic...
How not to make yourself crazy this holiday season.
I always start the holiday season with good intentions, like this will be the year that we have lots of fun and don’t stress about the cookies not getting baked and the tree not getting up until the week before Christmas. But then I’m not sure if...
How many times do we tell our kids, STOOOOOOP!
I have to admit, I never thought about my car’s tires a whole lot. I guess your tires are the kind of thing you don’t think about a lot — until they stop working properly. In which case…yikes. So I’m truly happy to support our fantastic...Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz!
We started Cool Mom Picks in 2006 to help make life cooler, more meaningful, and more fun for parents of all kinds.
Trivia: It was called Cool Mom Sh*t for the first two days. (Yeah, we rethought that.)
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