More coolness from recent weeks…
2009 was such a good year for kids’ music, we’re not done with it yet
2009 may not have been the best year for home mortgages or Tiger Woods, but for those of us with kids, it was a great time to be listening to music. It was so terrific, in fact, that I still have a few ear-worthy CD's that you should consider for your collection. (And...
How many perfect moms does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None, because they don’t exist.
Faster than a speeding toddler. More powerful than loaded diaper. Able to leap from playdate to playdate in a single bound. It's Perfect Mom! Yep, that was going to be me. I was going to achieve the perfect work/life balance as a working mom, and when I became a...
Your legs look FABULOUS, darling. And the rest of you too.
Yes, it's true. My body is...wait for it....imperfect. I know that's shocking with me being a 40-something mom of two and all but, you know. Biology. It's no secret that I've always been a big Spanx fan, so I haven't really found much need to venture into the rest of...
Dreaming of spring. Or heck, just a day above freezing around here.
I adore Splendid's adult line for myself. And when I first discovered they applied trademark stripey, stretchy, soft clothes to a babies and kid line (thanks to a cousin with great taste in shower gifts), I got a little more tingly than one should get over such...
A baby cap with a little more to it
Over the past few years at Cool Mom Picks I've seen the reinvention of the high chair, the baby carrier, the baby bottle and the bouncy chair. The last newborn essential I thought needed any improvement was the baby hat. Well color me surprised, but Honeydumplings,...
See your name in lights. Or snow.
Okay, so I've found a new app for my iPhone. It's pretty simple. And pretty inexpensive. And pretty much entertaining my entire extended family because they keep getting random e-mails from me that feature their names written in some unexpected place. Pixyme is a new...
The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood
If you've had a baby, you probably know what I mean when I say that during all four births for me, there was always a point when I thought I might die. You've used all your physical strength breathing and having contractions and back pain. You've used all your...
Make your picture worth more than a thousand words
It's all well and good when I shoot a picture or two off to my parents from my phone while the kids are at an event, but then sometimes I forget (or don't have time) to type in a complete explanation. Later, my dad calls me up and says, That was great, but what the...
We built this city on nouns and verbs
The first thing I thought when I checked out the Grammaropolis website is that it's like Grammar Rock and the Mr. Men books had an adorable love child. You've got the catchy music, the little cartoon parts of speech (the verb is a superhero ready for action, and the...
Eco-friendly play gym? Reader Q&A
I am in the market for a cool, eco-friendly baby play gym for my 5-month-old boy. Let me know if you have any suggestions. I am willing to spend around $100. Thanks much. -Jennifer C. Finding what we would call a cool play gym takes a little searching---most of them...
Get sentenced to family wordplay
Family game night getting a little stale? Gather round for a whole new game of speed, literacy, and I'd say, hilarity with this dandy little game I've found right here for you mamas of older kids.You've Been Sentenced! is deceptively simple; each player draws ten...
Time to make my yoga pants proud
I'm pretty sure I'm not the only mom who has seen a marked decline in the amount of exercise I get since having children. Relaxing moments seem to have taken a steady dive, too. But suddenly, thanks to a wonderful new family exercise DVD called TOT YOGA, there's a...
Girls of substance and style, rejoice!
Oh, Kiki magazine, where have you been all my daughter's life?Where are the scantily clad waifs in thousand-dollar outfits? Where are all the advertisements for more stuff that no one needs? Where are the tips and tricks about how to land boys, kiss boys, think...
Children’s party invitations – now a piece of cake
Is it strange to be excited that an online correspondence site has just introduced children's invitations? Because I am. Downright giddy, in fact. I've professed my love of Paperless Post before and now that there's a whole new set of designs available (it's their new...
Brass meets sterling, circle meets rectangle
I have delicate, dainty necklaces and I have chunky, rustic necklaces, and sometimes I wish I had something that was more, I don't know, both. (Why yes--I am that person who always gets twist when we go for soft serve. How did you guess?)The love necklace by ripegoods...
Charity starts at home, on the computer, in the KidzStore
YesKidzCan! is about co-founders Lisa Novick and Julie Chapman's dream of making it easier for even busy families to participate in giving back to their communities. Which is great. So when I had the opportunity to chat with them last week, I told them right up front...
Cooking for dummies (and smarties, too)
Put down that take-out menu--I'm here to tell you that yes, you can cook a complete meal without pulling out your hair. Sure, there are a million recipe sites out there, and some of them are fantastic, but what if you want instructions on a whole meal, from what to...
Blockhead! And I mean that totally in the best possible way
I'm not very good at math, so I can't tell you precisely how many different forms and figures your child can create out of 25 wooden blocks, but I'm going to say it's approximately a gazillionthousand. The ShapeMaker wooden block set by Miller Goodman is made of...
Babywearing, now a nice new shade of green
Belle is now extra verte. That's, Belle as in Belle Baby Carrier, and verte as in French for green, and green as in super-duper-eco-friendly-organic-awesomeness.The new Belle Organic Earth, like their original model, is crafted by artisans in Boulder, CO, only this...
Crumpler does kids’ backpacks and cool moms everywhere go Yay!
You probably already know Crumpler for their sturdy, stylish bags for adults. Or at least you should. But now they've gone and shrunk two of their favorites down to kid-size and it's definitely worth a look.The Baby Pea preschool backpack is for the 2-4 set, and...
This Sesame Street contest is brought to you by the letter A and the number $50,000
Question: Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? Answer: 1. Be a puppet.2. Be Ricky Gervais.3. Win the 4th Annual Aniboom Awards 4 Sesame Street Competition.It's that easy, animators. We've just learned that Sesame Street has teamed up with Aniboom Virtual...