May the Force be with you, and don’t forget your homework
As your little Padawan goes back to school, you've got a long list of supplies: Lightsaber, translator droid, nerf sandwich, and a schoolbus that can make the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs. Oh, I'm sorry, did you just figure out that I'm the resident CMP Star...
Randy Kaplan is the thinking kids’ musician
Super storyteller/singer Randy Kaplan is no ordinary kids' music performer. Oh, sure, he may sing about monkeys, bears and queen bees, but on his latest CD he also has my kids asking me to explain Freud, the definition of Hebrew terms, and even why someone might be...
Clearance sales abound! Avast ye bargain shoppers!
It's probably pretty clear that my favorite time for shopping is anytime, but I do so love the end of season sales - and what a doozy we found over at Parasols Kids Boutique. If you act fast, you can grab designer duds for your kids ranging in price from $5 to $25,...
Stop me! Before I buy another pair of kids mary janes!
If there were ever a Fall/Winter collection I've been waiting for, it's the one from one of my favorite kid's shoe designers, See Kai Run. And while my kids will probably be in sandals for a few more months down here in the Deep South, that doesn't mean I can't be...
As close to being Harry Potter we’ll ever get
My children would give just about anything to apparate inside The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort. The early reviews (and word from CMP Editor Liz who worked with Universal early on in the development) make it look so cool, it almost makes...
Technology is getting smaller; your chance of winning some, kind of big.
In case you missed it, you've still got until tomorrow, Sunday, to enter to win the super fabulous new HP Mini 210 netbook and the utterly adorable HP V5040u Camcorder.No, seriously. You can win both of them. Would we kid? (Well, maybe. But not about this.)For all the...
Safe and yummy treats, now homemade
We first raved about Divvies Bakery almost four years ago, when we discovered that nut-free, dairy-free, and egg-free didn't have to mean yummy-free. There's nothing not to love about vegan, kosher, most-common-allergen-free bakery treats that actually taste the way...
Let’s get a million books to the kids who need them most
I've read to my kids since they were wee little things and have never felt like they were lacking in books. Especially since birthdays, holidays and frequent trips to the book store insure they always have new titles to enjoy. But, then again, I've never had to...
Trading Cradles – It’s like Twitter and Craigslist had a really well-behaved baby
Honestly, the number of hoops you have to jump through to sell on eBay these days is crazy (who has the patience?), and I'm sure I'm not the only person who feels like Craigslist is overrun with scammers, cheapskates and crazy people.So what's a mama with limited time...
Velocity Girl – all grown up but no less rocking.
When Seattle's The Not-Its! blasted onto the kids music scene last year with their debut We Are The Not-Its!, I took a lot of notice. It wasn't just that the songs were great indie rock tunes. It was that their sound was so tight and authentic, they sounded like...