6 important reasons to talk to girls honestly about their bodies and sexual health. And no, you can’t say “vajayjay.”
When my oldest daughter was 17 months old, lying half-nekkid on the diaper change pad, she grabbed her genitals and said, BUTT! “No, honey,” I corrected. “That’s your…vagina.” Cough. Gulp. Eep. Deep breath in… Exhale. Phew. Why was it so hard? It made little...
How to discuss Dr. King’s I Have A Dream Speech – the whole speech – with your kids today, on its 55th anniversary.
Today is the 55th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which mean it’s also the anniversary of his incomparable I Have A Dream speech. We can’t think of a better way to honor the day than to share...
Our new hero: The police officer who breastfed a starving baby herself
I know I’m making the understatement of the year when I say that there’s been a lot of difficult news lately. Which is maybe why this viral photo of on-duty police officer Celeste Ayala breastfeeding a starving child at a hospital had me weeping into the...
Is Eighth Grade okay for middle schoolers despite the R rating? One parent’s view.
Last night, I finally saw Eighth Grade, hoping to screen the movie before seeing it a second time with my 11 and 13-year-old daughters. Tonight, thousands of you have the opportunity to see Eighth Grade totally free, at unrated screenings in every single state around...
Why we need libraries: Twitter claps back against a truly stupid op-ed
It was only a week or so ago that I was reading Carolines article about 20 free summer activities for kids, and thinking how wonderful that there were so many mentions of various events at local libraries. And then this morning, I laughed as I stumbled upon a a poorly...
Thanks, Mr. Rogers: A brilliant parenting trick I learned from “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
Last weekend, my husband and I enjoyed a respite from the heat at our local movie theater and took a little trip down memory lane with Won’t You Be My Neighbor? This wonderful film highlighting the work and legacy of Fred Rogers is a must-see, whether you grew...
7 parent bloggers share their own immigrant and refugee stories, and they’re wonderful.
We talk a lot about how to create more kindness and empathy in our kids, when it comes to all sorts of people they encounter in their lives. But top of mind right now for so many of us, are immigrants. I feel so grateful that my kids are growing up Brooklyn where we...
What you should know about the thousands of missing, abused and exploited immigrant children in the USA, and what you can do about it.
Last night, I attended the Friday night sabbath services before my niece’s Bat Mitzvah. As the Rabbi asked us to quietly send a prayer or good wishes to anyone hurting or in pain right now, all I could think of was the incredibly difficult ACLU report about the...
9 of the best tweets from the Royal wedding that show it was more than just a Royal Wedding.
As I wrote on Facebook, there was something so restorative this morning, watching the Royal Wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It was all about love, inclusion, diversity, a brilliant 19-year-old cellist, a...
A list of excellent articles + analyses to help parents discuss “This is America” with our kids.
On Saturday night, I saw messages from friends, including our own editors and contributors, pop up on my computer. They all were versions of, “Whoa. WATCH THIS,” with a link to the new Childish Gambino video, “This is America.” After watching...
Is Avengers Infinity War okay for kids? A no-spoiler perspective from one mom.
Should I see Avengers: Infinity War with kids? Is it okay for middle-schoolers? Will my third-grader freak out? Is there a ton of violence? Am I the best mommy in the world because I refuse to allow my children to be exposed to unnecessary violence, profanity, and...Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz!
We started Cool Mom Picks in 2006 to help make life cooler, easier, more organized, 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).
But we did.
And we still love what we do every single day.
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