What we get wrong about kids and tech: The interview that blew our minds | Spawned ep 214
While we love all of our Spawned guests, there are some interviews that truly reshape our views on parenting. That’s just how we feel about this chat with global education expert Jordan Shapiro, author of the acclaimed international best-seller, The New...
The Covid pandemic is screwing working moms. Big time. | Spawned Ep 213
After reading (and raging over) the Five Thirty Eight article, How the Pandemic Could Force a Generation of Mothers Out of the Workforce, we knew we had to have a candid discussion about it with Katherine Goldstein, the award-winning journalist, working mom expert,...
Making the most of your time when time has no meaning | Spawned Ep 212
These days, it’s like we blink and it’s dinner time and we think, “what the heck happened to this day?” As we looked around our feeds to see what else parents are discussing — you know, beyond school, school and school — turns out...
Should you send your kids back to school? 14 considerations parents are talking about to help guide you | Spawned 211
This week on the Spawned with Kristen + Liz Parenting Podcast, we knew there was only one topic we could possibly cover: Sending our kids back to school As in, should we send our kids back to school? When should we send our kids back to school? Ack! It seems to be...
Kids and birthdays in the age of Covid: The loss is real. | Spawned Ep 210
One of our most popular posts of the past few months has been this list of social distancing birthday ideas for kids during COVID-19. And the more it’s been clear that Covid isn’t just a few-weeks-and-it’s-over-kind of thing, we’re now at the...
Should you think about homeschooling this fall due to COVID-19? Spawned Episode 209
Over the last couple of weeks, many schools have been releasing their plans for fall, and not surprisingly, it’s all the parents in our social media feed are talking about. We recently featured a post about things to consider if you’re thinking about...
Why we need play, levity, and romance, even in a pandemic | Spawned Episode 208
As we continue to navigate through this unchartered pandemic territory, it’s easy for us to think that this isn’t the time for play, levity, or romance. But as it turns out, those experiences are even more important now than ever, which is something we...
The GenX midlife crisis: It’s real, you’re not alone, and it’s not your fault. | Spawned Ep 207
This week on Spawned, I have a fantastic, encouraging conversation with Ada Calhoun, prolific author and writer, who’s always got her finger on the pulse of culture. Her latest book, Why We Can’t Sleep: Women’s New Midlife Crisis (from Amazon,...
How to be the fun mom, with thoughts from fun dad and Magic for Humans host Justin Willman | Spawned Episode 206
On our special Father’s Day edition of our Spawned podcast, we wanted to figure out how we can get a little more credit for being the fun parent from a dad who is peak fun. We’re talking about magician and dad Justin Willman, who’s also the creator...
Rene Syler on speaking up and speaking out about racial injustice. Now. | Spawned Ep 205
We understand that everyone is at different stages when it comes to understanding, internalizing, and speaking out against systemic racism and Black Lives Matter. But it’s important to know that even if a lot of the information coming out these days is new to...
Meena Harris on the importance of diversity in children’s books, and raising kids who care | Spawned Ep 204
A few days ago, just before an intense week of protests and democratic uprising across America, I was grateful to talk to the truly delightful, brilliant Meena Harris. She’s an activist, strategist, mom of two, and now, author of the wonderful new...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.)
We had no idea our site would grow to become a major lifestyle network, that we'd end up sharing our finds with the TODAY Show and Martha Stewart, that we'd be able to make a real difference for so many small businesses and women-run companies, or that we'd end up with an incredible community of the coolest readers on the planet. (If we do say so ourselves).
We still love what we do every single day. And we're so glad you're here.
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