Jungle love

by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings

If your kids are like my kids, then it doesn’t matter what the toys were intended for, they all still end up in their mouths. Hence my appreciation for the new sets of pretending and teething toys from Little Alouette. Hand carved from maple wood with...

Packing school lunches gets more fun. And more eco-friendly.

by Susan | School Gear

I pack school lunches for my kids every day. I don’t mind actually making the lunches; it’s the packaging that gets me, all those little plastic bags bound for the trash, stored in a garish character tie-in lunchbox. That part is depressing.CMP has brought...

Love me tender

by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings

After inheriting yet another useless stuffed animal courtesy of my in-laws, I have officially put the kibosh on any and all such toys. With one exception, of course. The King.If you’re an Elvis lover, his spirit and likeness can now live on in your own home with...

The gift the kids will love to ruin

by Mir | Books for Kids

With the kids heading back to school, the birthday party circuit will be starting up again. If your kid is old enough to read, you may understand my temptation to give other kids books rather than more toys. The problem is that while their parents might love you for...

Back to school dresses that go way beyond dresses

by Cool Mom Team | Kid Style

Yes, I know that the dresses from Pink Chicken are not the least expensive in all the land, but I’ll tell you why I love them beyond nearly anything else in my girls’ wardrobe:They’re well made, the styles are adorable and I can toss them in the wash...

Shake, rattle and bark

by Cool Mom Team | Toys + Playthings

I make no apologies about dissuading people from giving stuffed animals as baby gifts because the damn things just seem to spawn and multiply overnight. But I could easily make an exception when it comes to the gorgeous plush baby rattles that are a result of an...

Threadless + Childhood = BFFs

by Mir | Kid Style

I have a giant soft spot in my heart for Threadless, already–my kids and I all wear the community-centered shop’s artist designed shirts–but now there’s one more reason to love them. Threadless Kids has recently teamed up with Babycenter to...

Backpacks and lunch boxes and monograms oh my.

by Cool Mom Team | School Gear

So okay, we’ve been fawning over Dante Beatrix way too much lately. First it was their fabulous eco-backpacks made out of 100% recycled bottles which now come in little kid sizes. Then it was their adorable wheelie bags for kids. Next up it was their super cute...

Invisibelt goes girly

by Liz Gumbinner | Kid Style

We totally dug the Invisibelt when it first came out (seriously – half of our writers bought one and they all rave about it) because it lies flat and gets rid of that lumpy bumpy crazy stuff that goes on under your untucked shirt. And now, behold! For there is a...

When is a stuffed animal not just a stuffed animal?

by Betsy | Toys + Playthings

The only thing more impressive to us than an adorable handmade stuffed animal is one with an awesome do-gooding backstory. Like the one behind Kathy Chereck’s “critters” at the shop Ashley Petite.When Kathy Chereck lost her grandson, Nicholas, to a...

The post feminist princess crown

by Cool Mom Team | Kid Style

Despite the fact that we have managed to stay fairly clear of the princess movies, princess dress-up clothes, and princess storybooks around my place, my girls are still enamored of the whole princess thing. I give up! But if I do give up I want them to play Princess...

An apple a day keeps the rat’s nest away

by Cool Mom Team | Kid Style

Oh happy day; it’s taken four whole years and my daughter is at last allowing me to stick hair clips in her crazy hair – and not pulling them out four seconds later. In fact she seems to like them. (And I say this hesitantly knowing I’m probably...