Stumped for Father's Day? Maybe it's because I'm married to a photographer (though I don't think so), but I'm thinking that if Dear Dad from Chronicle Books doesn't bring a little tear to his eye, he might not actually be human. The volu…
Do you suppose our parents agonized so much over what kind of parents they were as we do, today? Probably not. And yet, I hate to cast aspersions on folks genuinely seeking guidance on the right way to raise little people into fabulous a…
My relationship with Molly Ringwald spans several decades (oh God, that's scary). From the minute she stepped into detention in The Breakfast Club to the birthday cake-eating moment on the dining room table with the cutest boy ever in Si…
Well, Earth Day is almost here and how am I going to celebrate our lovely planet? By shopping, of course. I kid. Sort of. Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World , the wonderful new book by environment…
The short, tongue-in-cheek "prayers" you'll find in Tracy Mayor's Mommy Prayers are perfect for believers and non-believers alike. Because no matter our faith, we can all agree that yes, we've all recited some version of the Before the M…
Kristin van Ogtrop is the editor of Real Simple , which means that her life as a working mom is full of high-power glamour and nary a regret. Right. Okay, I'll confess I was worried that might be true, but it turns out that Kristin is so…
When my kids were young, the challenge for me wasn't trying to get them to be more creative. They had access to all my art supplies and were constantly creating all kinds of art creations. My issue was where to store and display, say, a …
After a few weeks of a ridiculous lack of sleep, I decided it was time to do something about it. And do something I did--with much success--thanks to Bedtiming: The Parent's Guide to Getting Your child to Sleep at Just the Right Age , an…
I used to love reading parenting guides . My oldest child was an overachiever from the start, and the guides served as affirmation that she was a prodigy and I was a model parent. Then my middle child - my obstinate, tantrum-throwing, sp…
Most of you don't know, but my partner at Cool Mom Picks, Kristen Chase (a.k.a. the hardest working mom in blogdom), has all sorts of alter egos. When she's not finding fabulosity for you here, wrangling three kids, and writing articles …
I can't stop reading Kirtsy Takes a Bow: A Celebration of Women's Online Favorites . And rereading it. And going back to make sure there's nothing I missed. The thing is, it's not just me. An art director friend shirked work for an hour …
I've let my own wine knowledge atrophy since falling in love with someone who makes a point to say that actually, he prefers Northern Rhone wines. (Seriously.) So I was excited when I first got wind of Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl's new tome,…
When I told my parents I was expecting, I didn't tell them I was expecting. I told them we'd done some interesting sightseeing, and did they want to see pictures? And then I gave them my ultrasound photos. If The Grandparents Handbook ha…
Forget the baby monitor or motorized swing: what I really could have used when my kids were little was photographer and dad Nick Kelsh's entertaining and smart new DVD, How to Photograph Your Baby , a companion to the classic book by the…
Evidently reading to your kids is more than just reading to your kids. And seriously pedigreed educational consultant Diane W. Frankenstein explores her concept of "conversational reading" in her excellent resource, Reading Together: Eve…
To say that I was a neurotic mess with my first baby would be an understatement; every sniffle and bruise had me wondering if I'd broken her. By the second baby, I figured I was an old hand . . . except that he was convinced he could fly…
We're already fans of the clever, caustic writing of author and fellow parenting blogger Stephanie Wilder-Taylor, so I figured I could give her newest book, It's Not Me, It's You , a good skim and craft a review. As it turns out, as each…
When I was pregnant for the first time, I developed an unhealthy affinity for those birth documentaries that had previously repelled me. Something about growing a baby myself made me want to click over and immerse myself in the gory deta…
Every year I tell my children's teachers thank you, and every year it feels inadequate. Often when I write notes to go with various teacher gifts , I write, You totally deserve a pony, but I thought this would make less of a mess. Thank …
When I was in high school, an artist friend of mine and I wrote a graphic novel during biology class featuring the adventures of our teacher's prominent nose, thus beginning my love affair with random and edgy hilarity. If you adore the …
After researching my proposal for my own parenting book ( Ahem, Sleep Is for the Weak , shameless plug, shameless plug ) I thought I'd read every baby handbook on earth. And, I admit it, I became really jaded and snooty about them. Let's…
We love Melissa Conroy's Wooberry dolls. The originals are not only designed from her child's sketches, they're also handmade. And beyond adorable. In a move that touches my writerly heart, the dolls have gone meta and returned to their …
Linda Rosenkranz and Pamela Redmond Satran raised baby naming to an art form with their original 1988 baby-naming book, Beyond Jennifer & Jason - names that practically seem pedestrian with today's Talullahs and Artemises. Now the author…
Fellow blogger and Vanity Fair contributor Brett Berk has unleashed on the world his parenting perspective with The Gay Uncle's Guide to Parenting: Candid Counsel From the Depths of the Daycare Trenches . Berk obviously has no uterus and…