Spawned Parenting Podcast: Latest Episodes
The latest from Spawned, our award-winning parenting podcast
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More coolness from recent weeks…
The Happy Head
Growing up in the midwest, I endured some harsh winter mornings at the school bus stop. I gladly donned a heavy winter coat and warm mittens, but I drew the line at hats. Even though my mother was a talented knitter, she always tried to stick me in some goofy beanie. Talk about harsh.
Hey Little Thing Let Me Light Your Candle
For me, one of the few downsides to the holidays is having to smell that nasty synthetic pine tree scent wafting from candles everywhere. Or worse, the cinnamon scent. It smells less like grandma just baked a pie, and more like grandma just got back from the cheap candle booth at the flea market.
A New Spin On the Old Pirouette
Mention music boxes to any mom, and undoubtedly she’ll be able to recall with vivid detail the very one she fell in love with as a child. It’s not hard, considering we all had the exact same one – it featured a spinning ballerina and played either You are the Sunshine of My Life or the theme from Love Story.
Boys Will Be Boys. Even Without Trucks On Their Shirts.
I’ve got two little girls myself. But when I’m buying gifts for the sons of friends and family, I tend to shy away from the camouflage pants and the construction-themed tees that every store seems to push on me. I suppose I feel they can still be "all boy" without dressing like miniature soldiers or welders.
Tune In, Turn On, Bring the Kids
The other day I found myself stuck in a stalled subway car with no reading material. Digging around my bag, my options were limited to a handful of old ATM receipts, or the Sippy Cups new Electric Storyland CD, which I’d been toting around unopened for a week.
Your Tree Has Competition
Every year, just before Christmas the stocking debate ensues at my parents’ house: "Whose is the reindeers?" "No wait, mine is the snowflakes." "Hey, his holds more than mine!"
The One Thing You Won’t Want to Unwrap This Holiday
If you’re of the Christmas-celebrating persuasion, surely you’ve already spent months ensuring your little angel baby will be perfectly coiffed this season, with a different fabulous outfit for every party, every family dinner, every opportunity to be fawned over in public. But have you considered the diaper?
Spare Your Friends the Lame Cards This Year
When I go to pick out cards for the holidays, I just keep looking and looking at all those stacks of foil boxes, hoping something will jump out at me screaming, "Pick me! I am not sappy or cutesy, I promise!" Rarely does this happen however, and some years, I admit I find myself settling.
Diaper Bag Incognito
I was one of those first-time moms who refused to register for a diaper bag. Call me practical, but I just figured I could track down a cool big totebag and I’d be fine. But then, as I discovered, there were the bibs, toys, bottles, binkies…and 4,000 other things I couldn’t leave home without. And I really could have used an actual diaper bag.
Pick Up Your Damn Coats Already!
My house has a nice entryway with a coat closet just as you walk in the front door. So why is it that all the family’s coats and bookbags end up in one huge pile on the living room couch? Perhaps the child-sized coat hangers from Pakhuis Oost at Rose and Radish would help to keep my living room (relatively) tidy.
iPig
It’s one thing when you give in and buy your kid an iPod. It’s another when your realize that she is still at the age where everything of value ends up trashed in a matter of weeks.
Crawfish Roasting on an Open Fire
I know there are plenty of Christmas CDs out there these days, but frankly I’m afraid to play half of them for my daughter, for fear that I’ll be stuck listening to them every single day for the rest of the year.
Santa Claws
Who says that stockings have to be hand crocheted by grandmas with a penchant for pom-poms and unnatural color combinations? Apparently not the folks at Crafty Robot, who have come up with the best alterna-stockings I’ve ever seen.
Helping Rwanda, One Fashion Pick at a Time
Every year the cold sneaks up on me. Sure it’s been December for days now, but that doesn’t mean I’m not entirely in denial that it’s time to take the gloves out of the back of the closet and start looking for a great new scarf for the season.
A is for Ashtray. You Heard Me.
We come across any number of alphabet themed items for babies, featuring such tried and true subjects as animals or…well, animals. But I think I’ve just found one that tops them all in the Modern Child-Unfriendly Alphabet. As in not friendly at all. As in absolutely hilarious.
Fact: Great Bags Make Women Happy.
While we at CMP try to keep our picks in the "don’t have to hock my TV on ebay to afford it" range, all bets are off for the next few weeks. Why? Because someone else–hopefully–is doing the buying for you.
Bowling For Compliments
When it comes to fashions for the junior man in my family, we dig that fashion staple, the polo shirt, just fine. But I still have a yen to add a little more pizazz to his wardrobe now and then, which is why I love the retro-inspired bowling shirt from the way too hip Vancouver boutique, Knuckleheads Clothing.
Baby’s First Mink
New baby gifts are relatively easy to shop for – unless you’re talking about baby number two. Or three. Or–eek–six. If you’re looking for something for the mom who has it all, you’ve got to stop thinking about must-haves, and start thinking about don’t-needs-but-really-really-wants.
Bagging Bears and Bunnies
If your kids are anything like mine, they have an obscene amount of stuffed animals and while I can’t prove it, I’m almost positive that they multiply just like real rabbits because the pile never stops growing.
Santa Baby
If my daughter had her way, she’d wear her Christmas outfit every single day. However, the fancy silk number just doesn’t fare well with her choice of daily activities. Like, say, spilling things on herself.
Zen and the Art of Baby Dressing
When I brought my firstborn home from the hospital, I was hit with the unreasonable urge to discard anything rough that might come in contact with her fragile infant skin. It seemed criminal to let anything but the most butter-soft fabrics touch those downy limbs. My husband had to draw the line when I threatened to tear up the wool carpet in the living room.