Spawned Parenting Podcast: Latest Episodes
The latest from Spawned, our award-winning parenting podcast
How moms can find more holiday joy for themselves: Margaret Ables | Spawned Ep 300
It's been some year. To say the least. With the holiday season in full swing, it can be tough to find the joys in a tough world, let alone trying to make happy holiday memories for our kids. And in doing so, moms often put ourselves last. How can moms be part of the...
“Acceptance is Protection”: Kate Brookes on parenting a trans kid, or any child on their own path. | Spawned 299
I could not be more thrilled to share this wonderful interview with award-winning TV reporter/producer/mom Kate Brookes, author of the upcoming Transister: Raising Twins in a Gender-Bending World. While our conversation is super helpful for parents looking for advice...
Keeping kids healthy on social media with Dr. Devorah Heitner | Spawned Ep 298
With U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy introducing new social media guidelines for children in the past few weeks, social media and mental health is all any parent we know is talking about. Especially with summer here. So I immediately reached out to one of my...
More coolness from recent weeks…
14 college dorm room essentials you might not have considered: Part I | Back to School Shopping
I've become a bit of a pro at picking out dorm room essentials, which means separating the must-haves from the nice-to-haves from the not-going-to-haves. Especially if I'm paying for it. Having sent all of my three kids away to college, it's become clear how much I...
How women can reclaim aging as something worth celebrating: Insights and tips from Karen Walrond
News flash: We all age! Every day! And yet the world can be tough on us for doing just that. So how do we move forward with joy and learn to celebrate all our phases of life as women? And might we be inadvertently contributing to ageism in our society without even...
This Future Voter baby onesie is easily the baby gift of 2024
Last week, we relaunched our massive Baby Shower Gift Guide, and there's one that stands out to me as the ultimate gift of 2024: A Future Voter baby onesie. Made by cool Minneapolis mom Rachel Winter of Sweetpea & Co and featured in our list of The Best Feminist...
Breo Box Summer 2024 Subscription Unboxing: WHAT’S IN THE BOX? (Spoiler: It’s great!)
When Breo Box first launched, we immediately recommended them as a cool quarterly subscription gift for tech-lovers, and named it one of our favorite subscription box gifts for men. I even bought one for my own partner on Father's Day a few years back, and he still...
Hot Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Deal: Joggers! With pockets!
The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is still going strong. And one of the most popular picks with our readers from our roundup of 10 ½ incredible Nordstrom Deals has been the high-waist leggings with pockets. Because, pockets. But say you're more into a comfy, slouchy,...
The new Smithsonian x Crate & Kids collection is out of this…well, you know.
With a renewed interest in space over the last few years (and hey, the solar eclipse didn't hurt!), I think kids are going to fall in love with the brand new Smithsonian x Crate & Kids Space Shop that just launched. No pun intended. They've got some incredible...
Introducing our brand new 2024 Baby Shower Gift Guide!
Each year, we love scouring the web for the very best baby gifts to share in our annual Ultimate Baby Shower Gift Guide. It's something we love doing, because what gives us reason to celebrate more than the hope and promise symbolized by the next generation of...
Craft joy with these new limited-time Lisa Congdon cross-stitch kits
I love it when two of my favorite makers come together. In this case, a collab between prolific designer Lisa Congdon x Subversive Cross-Stitch in an online, limited time pop-up shop. You'll find 8 beautiful, cheery, modern Lisa Congdon designs turned into...
12 excellent children’s books to start conversations about prejudice and discrimination.
While I've seen such a beautiful swell of love, support and compassion for all kinds of people all over my social media through the years, I've also talked to lots of moms who are wondering how to talk to kids about prejudice, racism, antisemitism, homophobia, and...
75 irresistible Amazon Prime beauty deals: Premium beauty brands for the price of drugstore, whoa.
While we've been sharing plenty of our favorite Amazon Prime Day Deals, there are so many Prime Day beauty deals they've added for day 2 that we wanted to call out our favorites. We're talking everything from the high-end premium beauty brands at prices lower than...
Sale Smackdown! Steals and deals from 45 shops that are not Amazon
While we happen to have put together more than 150 of the best Prime Day deals this week, we know that not everyone is an Amazon shopper. Or maybe you're not exclusively an Amazon shopper, same as our team. Fortunately, this year tons of brands and retailers are...
The Best Prime Day Deals: Top-Rated Items You May Actually Want, Plus Exclusive Promo Codes
If you're a Prime Day shopper, you know that it can get a little garage sale-y in there. So we're here to save you time and energy, helping you jump to the best of the Prime Day deals. You know. the sales on things you would buy even if they were full price -- or...
10 ½ incredible deals from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale that I want right now this very second
Whoo! It's that time of year -- the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, in which I always buy the things I would buy anyway....only for less! With that, I'm sharing 10 things I love that are totally worth buying at Nordstrom Anniversary Sale prices. But hey, feel free to find...
5 small life edits that make a positive difference in rough times: Dr. Christine Koh
The world is...rough right now. And that's an understatement. So I reached out to my great friend, podcast host, and purveyor of wisdom, Dr. Christine Koh, who is sharing 5 small, tangible things we can all be doing to make positive change in our lives and stay steady...
The new water bottles your kids may want to take to bed: One Cool Thing
Trying to keep the kids hydrated this broiling hot summer? Here's one option that may help: The world's cutest new animal water bottles for kids, just released from Uncommon Goods. (You know how much we love Uncommon Goods.) While they're ideal for back-to-school...
Summer Sales! The best of this week’s deals on beauty, home, fashion, kids, and summer fun
If you thought you had to wait until Prime Day to score huge deals on things you actually want and need...you're in for a treat! Visit the Cool Mom Picks Deals Page for our favorite deals we've tracked down from our favorite brand partners this week. From the big...
This giant Connect Four game that’s taken over suburban lawns this summer is on sale
If you're looking for a fun new outdoor toy for summer, we have plenty of backyard swings and water toys to check out. And now there's one more: This giant Connect Four game (technically, "Four in a Row Connect Game") that's been spotted this summer in backyards from...
Beat the heat with 10 of the coolest backyard water toys, inflatable pools, and sprinklers.
This is a terrific time to find some cool backyard water toys for the kids, because they're all on sale, and let's be honest, we're all feeling the heat this summer. Back in 2020 we first shared our favorite backyard water toys when we were all stuck at home dealing...
The best of the 4th of July week sales: Huge savings on beauty and style, travel and tech, home and decor
If you're holding out for Prime Day and Nordstrom Anniversary Sale deals, we get it. And we'll have plenty of our favorite deals from them coming soon. But some of the July 4th week sales happening right now are pretty spectacular. So we're sharing our favorites that...
Your summer lifesaver, now on sale. Or is that my summer lifesaver?
Browsing through the early Prime Day deals on Amazon and looking for some camp care package gifts for my kids, I came across a deal that was made for me: The hands-free, USB-charged neck fan I have been craving for ages. After sitting through the hottest, sweatiest,...
Help kids be the change they want to see in the world with these 7 terrific children’s books about activism
We have written often about raising activist kids and what we can do to encourage them to get involved with whatever cause inspires them. One of the first place we turn are books, and in this case, wonderful children's books about activism. With the looming election,...