Spawned Parenting Podcast: Latest Episodes
The latest from Spawned, our award-winning parenting podcast
Target removes boy and girl toy signs, Internet implodes.
Geez, Target! Change a few signs in your store and you blow up the whole entire Internet! In the past, we've discussed our issues with labeling girls toys vs. boys toys, as opposed to just calling them, oh...you know. BLOCKS. And DOLLS. Well, apparently Target has...
Spawned Episode 10: Escape from Caillou
If you need a break from all child-media, ooh, you're in for a treat today! Check out our newest extra-special, slightly (okay, very) R-rated episode of SPAWNED with Kristen and Liz this week on Soundcloud right now. Or, subscribe to Spawned on iTunes and listen in...
Spawned Episode 9: You Are Not a Crappy Parent
This week on SPAWNED, we talk about sending our oldest daughters off to sleepaway camp, the good, the bad, and the hilarious. And wow, we've gotten so many amazing emails from our listeners thanking us for giving you new-ish parents hope that it does get better -- so...
More coolness from recent weeks…
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...
How your princess can win her own set of wheels! White horses not included. | Sponsored Message
This is a sponsored message from Dynacraft In celebration of #PrincessWeek, Dynacraft will be giving one lucky little princess her own Disney Princess Carriage. This way she can hit the road in royal style, whether she's racing around to save the world, or just...
18 of the funniest Mother’s Day cards to help her momentarily forget all the pain you’ve caused
Every year we have the best times seeking out the funniest Mother's Day cards for those moms who prefer a little sass to sentimentality. (You know the ones.) There are so many good ones out there -- and man, so many bad ones -- so we did our best just to put together...
A new set of trading cards featuring badass women in history. Trust me, you need these.
If you're tired of your kids' obsession with trading Pokemon cards (yeah, us too), we've found a totally cool, totally feminist alternative: Persistent Sisters trading cards featuring activists, scientists, artists, and other trailblazing women in history. Seriously,...
One of our favorite teacher gifts is back: the 2017 Children’s Book Week poster and gifts!
One of my very favorite teacher gifts is here! The 2017 Children's Book Week poster, and all the fun accompanying gifts. Each year, this is one of my go-to gifts for the special teachers or librarians who have fostered a love of reading in my kids. And I couldn't be...
We found 13 amazing Mother’s Day gifts under $20 that don’t feel cheap at all | Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2017
Our love for our moms may know no bounds, but our budgets? Well, they have bounds! We get it. Which is why this year, we really wanted to dedicate part of our Mother's Day Gift Guide to some of the amazing Mother's Day gifts under $20 that we've been spotting in our...
Is my child gifted? Helpful advice and online resources from an educational expert.
I still remember when my son's then first-grade teacher asked if they could test him for the gifted program in our school district. I looked at her and asked, "Are you sure?" I just thought my sweet, curious boy asked a lot of questions. Like, a whooooole lot. But...
A taco truck on every shoulder
While I'd personally be thrilled to have a taco truck on every corner (especially those ones from Austin, mmm...), I would happily settle for this hilarious taco truck lunch tote dangling from my shoulder. Especially because it doesn't have to be a lunch tote at all;...