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Parenting your kids towards their passions: A special Father’s Day episode with Christopher and Pepper Persley | Spawned Episode 242
We love seeing kids who are thriving and living their passions, which is exactly how we'd describe 10-year old Camilla "Pepper" Persley, a podcaster and journalist who specializes in professional sports (especially women's basketball). You might have seen her recent...
The power of influence in parenting, with Kelly Rippon | Spawned Episode 241
We read a fair amount of parenting books, and lately we've seen the idea of "influence" popping up when it comes to the role we play with our children. That's why we were so excited to welcome author Kelly Rippon as a guest on Spawned with Kristen and Liz this week....
Judith Warner on “that article” about adolescents getting through the pandemic | Spawned Ep 234
Last week, my entire social network (online and off) buzzed loudly about author Judith Warner's New York Times article about adolescents and the pandemic, Stop Calling It a Lost Year. Parents had very strong opinions! Especially those who didn't actually read the...
How to raise addiction-resistant children: Jessica Lahey | Spawned Ep 233
For years, Jessica Lahey has been one of our favorite parenting columnists and authors. So we were honored she joined us to offer her wise advice on talking with our kids about drug use, abuse, and addiction, all of which you can find in her essential new book, The...
Can you really be a feminist dad? Jordan Shapiro on fatherhood, masculinity, and gender roles in parenting. | Spawned 232
While we love all of our Spawned guests, there are some interviews that truly reshape our views on parenting. That's just how we feel about this chat with global education expert Jordan Shapiro. He changed our views on kids and technology thanks to his...
So much coolness. Where to start…
Save 40% on these cool Star Wars clothes that kids will wear long after May the Fourth.
Being Star Wars Day and all, I was so excited to discover that one of our favorite small-label children's clothing brands, Nununu, launched a Star Wars clothing collection for kids. I was even more excited to see that it's all 40% off for a limited time! With sizes...
7 incredible aspects of The American Families Plan you may not have caught. It’s a big f*cking deal (to paraphrase a certain current president)
Watching President Biden describe some of the details of his American Families Plan this week -- well, it's made me emotional. It's so much of what we've hoped for. And frankly, so much of what our own parents and even grandparents have hoped for. This is big. For...
If you can read this, thank a teacher with one of these free, customizable, Teacher Appreciation Week ecards
As I was browsing ecards for teacher appreciation week, I was thinking that when I wrote about 8 creative ways to thank our teachers during a very different Teacher Appreciation Week last year, I had no idea that a full 12 months later, many of our teachers and kids...
Rene Syler on speaking up and speaking out about racism and racial injustice | Spawned Ep 236
No sooner did we all feel the relief of the George Floyd verdict last week, that even more Black Americans were needlessly shot and killed by police officers. It's upsetting, it's infuriating, it's terrifying. And we all need speak up and work toward the long overdue,...
15 perfect home office gifts for moms who may be working from home…forever? | Mother’s Day Gifts
Honestly, we have never done a dedicated guide to home office gifts for moms, even if we have incorporated home office gifts for her throughout our other Mother's Day gift guides, and especially on Cool Mom Tech. But this year, more moms than ever are working from...
3 cool ways to turn memories into art for Mother’s Day
As moms ourselves, we can say that photos gifts for Mother's Day are one of our favorite gift ideas, especially these days when so many of the pics of our kids (and with our kids) are sitting on our phones or hard drives. That's why we're so excited to be working with...
Empowering tweens and teens with books, with author Helena Dahlgren | Spawned Episode 235
By now, you know that we're pretty big book fans here at Cool Mom Picks, so we always jump at the chance to talk about them, and to their authors. This time, we're so thrilled to chat with an author of books for older kids like ours, and ones that have such an amazing...
18 meaningful Mother’s Day gift ideas for the far-away mom or grandma you really miss.
While I think any and all Mother's Day gifts are meaningful, this year is different. If you normally see your mom on Mother's Day, like I do, this year is going to be extra hard if we're not able to have those huts, that time together, those...
The perfect pandemic era Mother’s Day cards, from hilarious to oof…my heart.
Leave it to Em & Friends, the site formerly known as Emily McDowell and Friends, to create the perfect pandemic-era Mother's Day cards. From funny to encouraging, insightful to empathetic, they're got to be one here that suits someone you know. As soon as I saw...
Here’s a fantastic deal on a Trade Coffee subscription gift. Just in time for Mother’s Day!
For years, we've been recommending cool subscription gifts that make great gifts, and that includes Trade Coffee. So we're happy to partner with them on a fantastic deal -- right in time for Mother's Day and Father's Day. too. Right now, we're offering our readers 50%...
Judith Warner on “that article” about adolescents getting through the pandemic | Spawned Ep 234
Last week, my entire social network (online and off) buzzed loudly about author Judith Warner's New York Times article about adolescents and the pandemic, Stop Calling It a Lost Year. Parents had very strong opinions! Especially those who didn't actually read the...
5 free online courses that look fun to take with your mom for Mother’s Day
So far, we've loved what's happening with The We Time Project that we introduced last month: In order to help you connect more with far away friends and family around shared experiences, we've been offering our readers 30 days worth of unlimited free online courses...
10 super cute summer backpacks that help you say buh-bye to a long winter
Oh hi, it's me, your handbag-obsessed friend in NYC, now looking for cute backpacks for summer. As I virtually window shop my way across the internet I'm seeing lots of cute, colorful backpacks that are on trend for 2021 and my "add to cart" finger is getting itchy....
Why parents need a laugh right now (and a little something to help with that).
So, how about 2021, parents? It's been a pretty rough year (which we know, understatement of the century), and well, let's just say, we could use a laugh. We could also use a few other things too (cough hugging friends cough), but for now, a good hearty laugh will do....
6 comprehensive bike safety tips for kids, from a serious biking family who knows
After such a long winter, it's finally bike-riding season: Hooray! And, whoa are you all getting on those bikes! I've seen so many kids riding bikes in our neighborhood, that my son's mountain bike team has doubled in size since last year. Bike shops and bike...
11 fantastic gifts for stepmothers on Mother’s Day. Because we love them too. | Mother’s Day Gift Guide
We certainly couldn't forget to include cool gifts for stepmothers in our Mother's Day Gift Guide this year. After all, for a lot of us, Mother's Day is a chance to give thanks to all the nurturing women in our lives who have helped make us who we are -- and that...
Amira’s Picture Day: A lovely children’s book about Eid
For years, we've gotten plenty of pitches from publishers for countless children's books about holidays. And by holidays I mean, generally Christmas. But that's starting to change, and we're so thrilled to see more representation of all kinds of families, and all...
How to raise addiction-resistant children: Jessica Lahey | Spawned Ep 233
For years, Jessica Lahey has been one of our favorite parenting columnists and authors. So we were honored she joined us to offer her wise advice on talking with our kids about drug use, abuse, and addiction, all of which you can find in her essential new book, The...
Oversized handbags for spring and summer: Go big or go home! (Or, “go big and also stay home” works too.)
Oversized handbags are trending and well, hallelujah, the world has finally caught up with New York City! See, we don't have cars (or trunks or gloves compartments) in which to stash our daily lives, so we just carry our entire lives with with us at all times in...
Beyond cantering: 4 life lessons my daughter has learned from horseback riding
As someone who didn’t grow up around animals, I’ve learned a lot raising kids who love them, especially my youngest who is an avid horseback rider. When she first asked to take riding lessons, I thought it might be a passing phase, especially considering she had tried...
7 must-read children’s books about inspiring Asian-Americans
When it comes to creating empathy and developing a commitment of justice and respect in my children, I tend to turn toward good children's books. In fact, we've shared some of our favorite children's books about important African American figures, great kids books...