What Does it Mean to Be American? This picture book says it better than any TV pundit or long-winded article.
Kids are smart. And observant. Even our littlest children know that right now, there’s a lot of talk about what it means to be American, who’s a “real” American, and what kinds of values America stand for. And it’s complicated, but that...
Dr. Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech in its entirety: Where to watch, and what to talk about with your kids
Today we commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s life and legacy, as we have every year since we started this site. Over the years, we’ve shared plenty of excellent books, videos, resources, and websites to help kids understand the reason for MLK Day. And...
Get outraged about the Puerto Rico response. Then read these ways to help.
I have been carefully watching the news out of Puerto Rico for the past week, amplifying news stories and encouraging support. But over the past 24 hours in particular, as I watched San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz’s emotional pleas for help with tears streaming...
Michael Strahan did a beautiful thing for one little boy who was being bullied | Thinking : Parent
I’ve been watching an amazing story unfold on my Facebook feed over the last month. And because we love a good heartwarming story, we knew we had to share this story of Michael Strahan’s act of kindness with you all too. It started a month ago, when a...
How to discuss Dr. King’s I Have A Dream Speech – the whole speech – with your kids today, on its 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...
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...
Michelle Obama, Tom Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Janelle Monae need your help to register new voters.
In 2014, more than 21 percent of adults who were eligible to vote, didn’t, because they weren’t registered. It’s especially true of young adults 18-30, whose turnout is about 38 percent lower than voters over 60 in midterm election years. Wow. Yet...
How to join in the protests against family separation on June 30. Because #familiesbelongtogether
We’re far from alone in our outrage and heartache about the thousands of kids torn from their parents at our borders without due process, thanks to the administration’s new policy. Far from alone. And despite the Executive Order that the president signed...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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