Parenting middle schoolers during a pandemic with author Judith Warner | Spawned Ep 200
Parenting through a pandemic is no easy feat, as we’re all learning for the first time. But parenting middle schoolers seems extra challenging. But thanks to the insights of our guest Judith Warner, author of several best selling books and the new And Then They...
Virgie Tovar talks about body positivity and self love, and why it’s so important right now | Spawned Ep 199
If you’re like us, then you’ve probably seen a whole lot of weight-related pandemic memes and posts on social media. Whether it’s the kind of worn out “Gaining the COVID-19” joke to talking about “letting ourselves go,” ours...
Humor, struggles, and clown sex with Tova Leigh | Spawned Ep 198
Tova Leigh is the exact person we needed to talk to this week. At least if these days, your dream social life would include time with a few friends for some real talk, real laughs, some needed venting, and a random reference to clown sex. No wonder this episode was...
How do you know when it’s time to move? And how do you make it easier when you’re ready? | Spawned 189
We never thought that a book about moving would be so enjoyable. Just thought thought of moving gives lots of us cold sweats! And yet, Ali Wenzke, who’s been called the Marie Kondo of Moving has authored the extremely helpful, calming, and yes, enjoyable book,...
Peggy Orenstein on Boys and Sex… and hookups and love and masculinity and consent and yes, porn | Spawned 187
When our sound engineer writes to us and says that this podcast interview with Peggy Orenstein is “easily top 5…maybe top 3” of all our interviews, well that’s saying something. And we agree. Whether you are raising sons or raising daughters,...
How to save your children’s lives from real threats. Like werewolves. And woolly mammoths. | Spawned ep 184
On this week’s Spawned parenting podcast, we are tackling a VERY SERIOUS SUBJECT. So profoundly serious, it could literally save lives. And it will. Because sure, you’ve covered your light sockets and put the Tide Pods on a high shelf, but do you know...
How writing thank you letters could totally change your life
You can probably hear your mom’s voice right now. “Did you write a thank-you note, dear?” I can’t be the only one whose mom was a stickler about thank-you notes. Well, as I learned from our recent Spawned podcast guest, author Nancy Davis Kho,...
Building Resilience in Children and Teens: Book Club Selection #11
After speaking with Dr. Ken Ginbsburg on our Spawned Parenting Podcast, I went out and bought all his books, one of which I’m thrilled to share is the next pick for our Cool Mom Picks Virtual Book Club. I found his approach to parenting teens (and well, kids in...
2 great books about raising activist kids: Cool Mom Picks Book Club selection 10
This go round, we’re going to change things up a bit in the Cool Mom Picks Virtual Book Club, because I’m going to be talking about two selections that I know are relevant to so many parents these days. In light of the recent Climate Strike marches around...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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