As a professional decorator, one of my favorite spaces to take on is a kid's room . You can go as creative and whimsical as you want; where else could I use every color in the rainbow and indulge in prints that are easily deemed "funny?"…
I've got four words for you: Steampunk. Lego. Monster. Fighters. I haven't even gotten to the part about the castle. Thank heavens I was alone when I found the new Lego Monster Fighters display at Target this week. Why? Because I blurted…
Whether or not my kids will one day stand on the podium of some future Olympics is not yet determined----have they started a category for intense video gaming or speed LEGO building? For now, though, I love these shirts that let them pro…
There were moments in my children's earlier years that all I wanted to do was cover them in a full body raincoat. It seemed like meal times turned into "let's get as covered with food as we possibly can" times. Thankfully, a brilliant mo…
City Threads is a great little clothing company that I've raved about before. You can recognize their "Brooklyn" bucket hats on many a hipster kid at the nearest playground in my (nowhere near Brooklyn) neighborhood. Now they are finally…
Poor Bun-Bun. I received the stuffed pink rabbit at my first baby shower for my first baby, and he's been around and loved ever since. Two houses, two kids, and one horrifying overnight stay in the litterbox had turned Bun-Bun from a che…
An insane number of crafters on Etsy are making all manners of barrettes, hair bands and baby bows, some with adornments larger nearly as large the actual baby. (I never got that, I have to say.) Searching for something tasteful can be a…
Between the heatwaves and the crazy downpours, I feel like we've been getting more use out of our creative indoor toys this summer than our scooters. And now here's one more that I'm just smitten with, because it's more than just a build…
Sally Ride was the first woman in space, and saying that the space she's left behind is hard to fill is an understatement. But we've found a beautiful kids' book to help your little girl dream big, just like Sally. My Name Is Not Isabell…
With so many of us on the verge of Olympics fever, a Summer Olympics party is such a great way to get older kids into the spirit of the games. Whether you're just trying to make the opening ceremonies more exciting on Friday, or throw a …
We get kind of excited when we find any cool boys clothes, as you well know, and even more so when we find great boys clothes on sale. Especially when they're from from one of our favorite shops--and CMP sponsors-- Red 21 Boys . Here, ju…
Don't even get me started on the hassle of shoe shopping for kids. The second my son started walking last month, I knew we were in for a new pair of shoes every couple of months, just like I had done for his older brother. But then I dis…
Have you ever been to a white elephant gift exchange? Then you know how everyone goes for the box with the prettiest bow, even though we all know that's the one that has the stale apple and branded notepad in it. That's because presentat…
I jumped through many hoops to get my son to finally use the potty: candy rewards, sticker charts, pleading. But I never did try a potty-training doll since I found most of them to be kind of unappealing as a doll that you'd want to snug…
It seems a lot of baby toys are awfully loud these days. They light up, crinkle, beep and blast music, so sometimes its nice to just have some low-key playthings to appease our easily overstimulated little ones. These quiet handmade soft…
I learned the hard way, as have many parents, that if you buy a cheap backpack for your kid, even your toddler, you will be buying a second (and possibly third) backpack before the school year is through. So now I look for good quality, …
[ updated with corrected info] There is something so special about children's clothes with history. Hand-me-downs aren't just a frugal choice : there's often meaning in seeing your child in his grandpa's favorite college sweatshirt. And …
In some neighborhoods, where feeding a baby a single french fry will earn you the disdain of onlooking parents everywhere (would I know of such a thing?) my anti-authority side is loving a line of vaguely irreverent baby and kids clothes…
Between summer camp and school, tossing an ice pack in with a sandwich, apple and yogurt is pretty much a no-brainer at this point. But when you consider that not all lunch boxes and ice packs are made for each other, there are plenty of…
One of the essentials in my girls' summer wardrobe when they were babies were bloomers. It was so easy to just toss a cute pair over a diaper, add a little tunic or tee, and we were off. I love the selection of high quality cotton baby b…
While you're still allowed to love your American Girl, we're all in favor of international love and acceptance amongst our treasured dolls. And now there's a new doll in town, ready to put visions of Paris, croissants and classic French …
When my kids were little, they had a bunch of plastic "tools" that they could use around the house. But once they outgrew these toys and actually wanted to "saw" something, I was at a loss since our real tools were just too big and dange…
For those of you like me who spent far too many hours playing Tetris on your Gameboy (RIP), you'll know instantly why I thought these blocks for kids were a fantastic idea. The Tetris Blocks by Kubix come with 50 colorful, geometric bloc…
It's hard to believe that it's been a whole year since the launch of Tattly tattoos, those cool artist-designed temporary tats curated by design blogging guru Tina Roth-Eisenberg, that put the Cracker Jacks versions to shame. And because…