17 great high school graduation gift ideas that kids will actually want. Besides cash.
With high school graduation time here, I’ve been getting so many questions from friends about appropriate high school graduation gift ideas that kids will actually want. So I’ve been asking around, and the answer is most often, “cash.” Followed...
Hello Kitty Native Shoes just made little feet even more happy this summer
I live in Brooklyn, land of Children Who Live in Native Shoes. (Sorry Crocs.) Whether you live among us or not, if you’re about to buy a pair of these fab, comfy, sneaker-water shoe hybrid shoes in time for summer, you have to check out their new collection of...
Barcelona with teens: 6 tips to make your family vacation worth the investment
If you’re considering traveling to Barcelona with teens or older kids, I can help! As a diplomatic family now living abroad in Germany, we have the amazing opportunity to live and travel around Europe. Traveling with kids at any age brings a certain set of...
Comparing 4 prom dress rental sites to save you time, money, and dressing room meltdowns
We all know that buying a prom dress can be an exhausting and expensive process, but after learning about these prom dress rental sites, I’m convinced it really doesn’t have to be. These rental sites all let you browse online, select a dress to borrow for...
The new Star Wars graphic novel that will get kids bargaining for more reading time
As educators and experts have told us for years, whatever your child is reading — magazine articles, graphic novels, comics, sports bios — it’s all good, because it’s all still reading. So when you combine the format of a graphic novel, the...
Completely mind-shifting tips for treasuring the teen years instead of “surviving” them | Spawned Ep 145
Did you know that when you Google “how to talk to my teen” the number one word that comes up with it is “survive?” Have you ever thought about how that language is impacting your kids as they grow into teens? What if, as a society, we were able...
How to talk to your children about mass shootings, bombings, and other tragedies in the news: Helpful resources
Another day, another mass shooting. And I’m not being flip. Today it’s the unfathomably awful Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shootings. In the recent past, it’s been Las Vegas, Orlando, Parkland, Sandy Hook, Nice, London, Boston,...
8 of the best book subscription boxes for kids of all ages, in honor of National Reading Month
One way to get kids excited about reading? Sign up for one of the awesome book subscription boxes that deliver hand-curated titles to your doorstep each month. The options for book subscriptions for kids have grown exponentially over the last few years and it’s...
The big college fraud scandal: One thing we need to fix that we’re not talking about enough
Surely by now you’ve heard the news about the $25 million Operation Varsity Blues bust, in which dozens of wealthy parents and coaches have been arrested for scamming the private university entrance system in the most egregious ways. If not…welcome to the...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.
We're so glad you're here.
NEW: The Cool Mom Picks Book Club
UP NEXT:
Raising Empowered Daughters by Mike Adamick 6/18
PAST SELECTIONS:
Radical Kindness by Angela Santomero
Under Pressure by Lisa Damour
Our Podcast
Answers to Parents’ Top Tech Questions
Our sponsors are cool. Support them!
Work with us!
“I need a parental control device for summer to limit online time for my kids”
“I have a later-in-life onset gluten intolerance. Help, please!”
Doing Good: We’re Supporting…
