If there's one complaint I have about some eco-friendly toys it's that they tend to look pretty eco-friendly. That's great when you love ecru with a side of pale, but not so much when you're trying to engage your little one with bright f…
One of the best fashion trends to hit children's wear - no, not custom bling shirts - is the use of fair trade organic cotton. The more demand there is for it, the more companies are working hard to come up with really appealing fabrics …
Ever wonder what a butterfly is worth on the black market? According to Alastair Reid, author of A Balloon for a Blunderbuss , quite a bit. Especially if you trade it for a bigger thing and then a bigger thing and then an army. Or any is…
Last year's scandals about lead levels in toys were really a wake-up call for many of us. Toy safety became serious business, and while you can always turn to resources like our Safer Toy Guide (and a new one coming out soon!) what's a M…
Ever since my daughter was pegged as The Budding Artist, she gets about 14 boxes of crayons at every gift-giving holiday. Boy would she love to get her hands on the custom name crayons from Story Blox . For around $5, depending on the le…
It's hard to be one, or so it seems to my one-year-old niece who longs to keep up with her older brother. Try as she may, her wobbly legs are no match for her brother's racy, zig-zaggity gait. Things have changed now that she rides the C…
Today officially marks the beginning of swimwear season. And if there's one complaint that I have about boy's swim suits (okay, make that one of maaaaaaany), it's that it's nearly impossible to find regular length shorts and swim trunks.…
Some of the kids eco-tees we're seeing are a bit heavy-handed for my taste. There's a fine line between a clever slogan and some creepy preachy statement on a preschooler. Junkfood's ultrasoft Live Free/Live Green tee spotted at hip kids…
The Way Back Home , written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, is the most randomly appealing book I've read. For one thing, the main character discovers an airplane in his closet on the second page. For another, he gets stuck on the moo…
As bathing suit season approaches, I mourn that I am not more of a gym person. I am more of a sit on my butt and play Guitar Hero then complain about how bad I look in a bathing suit person. So I decided to give the new Wii Fit a whirl. …
Boy, am I liking this new flowy peasant top trend for kids this season. With any luck it will stick around, while the prematurely provocative belly shirts and tight blingy tees take a permanent hiatus. In hell. As a change-up from the Me…
I don't care how technologically advanced baby toys get, how many bells, whistles, batteries, voice chips or solar panels they have - a baby's favorite toy is still going to be a jingly clutch ball. Also a spatula. Massachusetts mom Kwan…
I am beyond tired of kids clothes that don't hold up after oh, say three washes. The bargain tees I picked up turned out to not be such a bargain when I threw them out before the season was halfway over, reminding me that often times, yo…
Sunglasses are at the top of my list of fun kids' accessories - it's a riot to watch my three year-old push her sunglasses on top of her head "just like Mommy." But fashion aside, sunglasses on kids are really about protection and My Fir…
Self-obsessed much? Despite my best efforts, my daughter is. Thanks to our video camera, she's been watching movies of herself for years. And oh, they are her favorites. Now, thanks to Frecklebox 's personalized Nature Namebook, she can …
La vie really is pretty rose-y if you're looking at it from the pov of new online shop Petit Luxe . If you've got a francophile in you yearning to breathe free - or just super picky taste in baby gifts and gear, you're going to fall in l…
We realize that a good book, be it for your own weary eyes or your kid's, can be pretty hard to come by these days. So, lucky for you, we've rounded up all our past and present book picks into one CMP Book Club and put them all our shop …
I might not be a huge fan of the lacy froo-froo get-ups for my daughter, but that doesn't mean I can't get sucked in by some of our awesome girlie picks - like these custom wool felt crowns from Cakies . Granted, they're not really that …
Considering the BlaBla handknit animal rattles were my son's ultimate favorite, I was super excited to find out about their new line of little birdie rattles. (See, I knew there was a good reason that I got pregnant again). This adorable…
At first glance, the shell-shaped plastic Bilibo seemed sort of odd to me. Is it a seat? A stool? Another container for junk? I was skeptical when it came our way to say the least. But then I gave it to my three-year-old and she literall…
It's bathing suit season and I'm not ready. Not for me (although really, I'm not ready) but for my three year old daughter who, if this year's crop of children's suits are any indication, is supposed to be wearing a string bikini, a flir…
Despite my husband and my efforts to foist sidewalk chalk and softball bats on my daughter, she prefers the sparkly, the frilly, and the delicate. I've often changed the words to fairy tales while reading them to her because they seem so…
I have never seen my 12 month-old daughter take to a doll quite like the handmade cutie that arrived from Poot & Boogie . Mostly she's happy to entertain herself with blocks or turn things like paper clips and dog kibble into playthings.…
Okay so it's like that old joke about grandparents who look at your kids' video games and say VIDEO GAMES? Back in my day we played with twigs and rocks and we LIKED IT. But the truth is, is there really anything so bad about playing wit…