Spawned Parenting Podcast: Latest Episodes
The latest from Spawned, our award-winning parenting podcast
Should you pay your kids for chores? Ohhhh the various opinions.
Sometimes we agree on topics, sometimes we disagree, and sometimes we just figure it out as we talk it out. Sometimes, it's all three! Which is in part why we think you'll really enjoy this week's discussion on the Spawned podcast about kids' and chores. How do we get...
Kids and activities: When to start, when to stop, and everything in between
With school starting, that means activities are starting up too, and both of us are a little overwhelmed about what to do with our own kids. (Also, Minecraft isn't necessarily considered a viable skill that will get them a college scholarship. Or is it?) If you've...
Should every kid get a trophy?
This week's outrage du jour is brought to you by football star James Harrison and his now controversial Instagram photo in which he threatened to take away his kids' participation trophies. So of course we tackle (puns! puns!) this controversial stance on...
More coolness from recent weeks…
The best and worst states for working moms: A whole lot of surprises | Thinking: Parent
Reading the results of today's WalletHub study on the best and worst states for working moms, well let's just say that this working mom's eyes are wide open: 70% of moms with children under 18 are employed, so this is info that really impacts our country as a whole....
The worst Mother’s Day gifts ever. Ever! | Spawned with Kristen + Liz ep 74
You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll cringe! On this week's episode of Spawned, we've got a totally candid and hilarious discussion about the very worst Mother's Day gifts ever. Like, these are all pitches that have actually shown up in our inboxes, from the absurd to the...
The Princess Bride turns 30! Have fun storming the theaters.
Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion....
10 adorable handmade Mother’s Day cards from the kids that will totally melt Mom’s heart
My most favorite Mother's Day cards are the ones my kids make themselves. Because, how can I resist an adorable handprint poster or toddler-style drawing of Mommy & Me? Heart is melting over here. So, I've checked out some of our favorite craft bloggers and DIY...
5 important dystopian novels for tweens and teens to inspire critical thinking and positive action
In the age of "alternative facts," it's no surprise that classic dystopian novels, which encourage readers to take a critical look at things, are dominating bestseller lists right now. While dystopian literature has always been popular with middle and high schoolers...
75+ of the best Mother’s Day brunch recipes you can prep the day before, cook at the last minute, or make with the kids
Mother's Day is right around the corner, and so I've been searching for some really great brunch recipes. Good news is, between Cool Mom Picks and Cool Mom Eats, we've already found more recipes than we could ever cook in a lifetime, so we rounded them up in one place...
6 brilliantly easy ways to make inexpensive teacher appreciation gifts more special.
Teachers deserve it all, and boy would we love to give the most wonderful teacher appreciation gifts to all of them. But when you multiply your number of kids by the many teachers your kids have -- classroom teachers, teaching aides, music and art teachers, coaches,...
3 tips for keeping a gratitude journal with kids that’ll make them happier, healthier, and more thankful too
I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz lately about how transformative gratitude can be for your psyche. Studies are cropping up everywhere showing that being intentional about thankful has huge health benefits, from better sleep to less anxiety to rewiring your brain for...
7 important things to do before a career change or starting a business
As someone who left a full-time advertising career behind to become a writer, website publisher, and public speaker -- all while raising tiny children, all while being the sole earner in my household -- I totally get how scary it is to change courses. It is! It's...
One Star Wars gift we want the whole world to buy. Force Friday FTW!
We are clearly not unbiased when it comes to everything Star Wars, but when there's a totally perfect Star Wars gift to celebrate Force Friday -- that's today, September 1 -- and it happens to support one of our own team, we're all over it. And you should be too....
May the Fourth be with this glow-in-the-dark Star Wars slime. Oh, and you too.
Today marks an important date on the Google cals of Star Wars fans everywhere. Yep, it's May the 4th, which means social media feeds packed with posts about #StarWarsDay and coworkers dressed as Jabba the Hutt (we hope so, anyway). But we think there's another cool...
A teacher appreciation gift your kids will appreciate later. We hope.
If you're looking for the perfect teacher appreciation gift, well, admittedly it may not be a mug. I'm well aware that most teachers probably have their share of them, though I'd like to think that's because you can only own so many "World's Greatest Teacher" mugs. On...
How a new children’s book is helping Black families discuss police encounters.
Having "the talk" means something different to different families. Your mind may automatically go to the birds and the bees. But for thousands of Black families, it refers to essential conversations they're having with their children -- especially their sons --...
21 fierce feminist Mother’s Day gifts for the mom who stays woke | Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2017
All moms are fierce, no doubt about that. But if a mom in your life is a loud and proud fighter for equality, we've found some really fantastic feminist Mother's Day gifts that will mean a whole lot to her. (Hey, as moms, we love when the people closest to us really...
How to save 20% off a stunning handmade bouquet of Mother’s Day flowers
This is a sponsored message from Teleflora If there's one thing you must remember this Mother's Day, it's flowers of course! And whether you're shopping for your mom, grandmother, or mother of your children, Teleflora's gorgeous new handmade Mother's Day floral...
11 unique gender reveal party ideas that will surprise everyone. Including the parents.
Finding out whether your baby is a girl or a boy is one of life's greatest surprises -- and one of the longest waits, which can be problematic for those of us who need to know things now. (Um, not like we know anyone like that.) To make the most of the surprise,...
12 truly cool handmade Mother’s Day gifts from kids that become heart-melting keepsakes | Mother’s Day Gift Guide
There's nothing quite like a handmade Mother's Day gift from the kids to melt a mom's (or grandma's or stepmom's) heart. But take it from this mom of four kids, while all Mother's Day gifts are perfect (really), I've tracked down a dozen very cool ideas that are truly...
Here’s how you can follow Cool Mom Picks, Cool Mom Tech, Cool Mom Eats. We promise we’ll make it worth your while.
Whichever social media site is your guilty pleasure du jour, we’re there, making sure you don’t miss our favorite posts on parenting, fashion, apps, recipes, deals and discounts, and random awesomeness from around the web. Plus our favorite part: we love hearing from...
A Mother’s Day necklace that will show you love her beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Mother's Day jewelry comes in the most wonderful array of shapes, sizes, colors, and styles, which is perfect, because, so do moms. And for the sweet, smart, subtle mom who likes her necklaces the same way, we've found an especially clever Mother's Day jewelry gift...
7 of the coolest, most covetable fidget spinners. Because OMG, kids are obsessed.
Cool fidget spinners and fidget cubes are absolutely taking over the world these days. In fact we've compared notes here on team Cool Mom Picks and yep, kids across the country are collectively losing their ever-loving minds over these fidget spinners. Stores are sold...
Life saver! 8 super cool swimsuits for picky tweens and teens that their mothers will approve of too.
It's swimsuit shopping season again, which is increasingly becoming a challenge for those of us with tween daughters. And, I get it: Mine doesn't want to show up to the pool in the same swimsuit as our 5-year-old neighbor. And yet, I don't want her dabbling in those...