Spawned Parenting Podcast: Latest Episodes
The latest from Spawned, our award-winning parenting podcast
Being mixed race in America, with author Lauren Kung Jessen | Spawned Episode 291
As a mixed-race Chinese American, I've struggled to feel a sense of belonging. I grew up feeling more accepted by the German (white) side of my family. Then, as I got older, I learned more about the Chinese side of my family and felt a connection to the experiences of...
Preserving memories in the 21st century. Shouldn’t this be easier? | Spawned Episode 290
If you're like me, you thought that smartphones and tablets would make it a whole lot easier to grab photos and videos of your kids. But while they do make it easier to make memories, actually preserving them and being able to organize and then find them is a whole...
Spawned Parenting Podcast: The Best Advice, Tips, and Guidance of 2022
It's been an incredible 2022 for Spawned. We welcomed guests from film directors and political pundits to authors, activists, top journalists, and experts of all kinds So this week, we thought we'd take a look back at some of the best episodes of the year. Take a...
More coolness from recent weeks…
Modern custom family portrait art from 12 exceptional artists: Incredible gifts for moms, dads, and grandparents
We've always been fans of custom family portrait art, as a creative personalized gift that celebrates all the people you love. We're huge fans of photo gifts of all kinds including , of course, photo books. But if you want to get a little more creative, these modern...
One Cool Thing: Social-emotional learning through play
While looking at all the amazing new toys and gifts out this year to include in our new and improved Ultimate Birthday Gift Guide (it's on its way!), I came across this just wonderful Shapes of Emotions social-emotional learning toy. It seems like a clock at first but...
10 essential non-fiction books about climate + protecting the planet | Recommendations from a Gen Z sustainability expert
It’s officially Earth Month, which means it’s a great time to pick up some new books about climate and having conversations about preserving our planet for the next generation -- whether you're a hardcore environmentalist or just a compassionate parent and citizen....
One Cool Thing: These cool toys get kids outdoors – and help plant trees with every purchase
We've officially hit that stage of mid-April when the weather is warm everywhere, and we're trying to get the kids to play outside more. While browsing for some cool new outdoor toys for kids, I came across an awesome program: One of our favorite indie toy shops, Fat...
An age-by-age guide to teaching kids about money: Things we can do as parents.
With April being Financial Literacy Month, it's a great opportunity to share an age-by-age guide to teaching kids about money. After all, it's one of the most important things we need to teach our kids -- it impacts every one of us for our entire lives -- and yet...
One Cool Thing: Skout Organic all-natural snack bars pass the picky kid test.
This Earth Month happened to be the perfect time for us to stumble on Skout Organic, as a lot of us are thinking about how to get more plant-based foods into our family's bellies. So why not start with the lunch box? We recently tried the certified organic,...
What do libraries do? You’re not going to believe this list. | National Library Week
Several years ago, we wrote a lengthy post explaining what libraries do, and advocating for their funding. Wth this being National Library Week, at a time that there is an inarguable war on public libraries in the U.S. I thought I'd share that list with some 2024...
Deal Alert: Save 25% off at PlanetBox in Honor of Earth Month (Plus a Special Bonus)
With Earth Month here and Earth Day coming up, we wanted to share a fantastic deal from Planet Box, the company making the incredible bento-style lunch boxes and earth-friendly reusable lunch accessories that we've been recommending for years. For adults, too! Some...
One Cool Thing: Jackie Robinson commemorative merch is a fantastic gift for fans
There's a whole lot going on in April: Tax Day, Earth Day, and the first full month of baseball season. And this year, there's something extra special coming up -- the 20th anniversary of Jackie Robinson Day. Poking around for something cool at the official MLB store,...
Mott & Bow jeans make it easy (and fun!) for you to find the perfect fit. And maybe some extra savings.
After seeing ads for Mott & Bow denim in my Instagram feed for a while, a friend insisted that I had to check them out. I did! And I ordered! Turns out the brand isn't only legit, they're beloved by a ton of fashion editors, they have customers who swear won't buy...
One Cool Thing: Colorful Mermaid Scale Wine Tumblers
While it's still a little cold in my neck of the woods -- because, April in New York -- we're getting a little spring fever around here and we're determined to get outside more. Even if jackets are required. Next week, we've got plans to head to a local park to watch...
Daily Question: Which Mobile Games Do You Loooooooove?
If there's one thing moms need more of, it's downtime. We love reading, watching shows, hobbies, and yes, playing games. SO many games. No judgments at all -- whatever it takes to decompress is good by us. (Let alone starting each morning with Wordle without fail.) So...
Daily Question: Congrats, You’re Mega-Rich! Who Do You Hire First?
Welcome to our next daily reader question, where cool moms get to share their opinions and ideas with other cool moms. (Dads welcome too.) Today, we're asking about all your lottery-winning, surprise-inheritance, found-ten-million-dollars-in-a-coat-pocket dreams. We...
One Cool Thing: Happy Jack x Kenneth Cole is supporting students struggling with mental health
You know how much we love gifts that give back, and I was thrilled to find one more in the new Happy Jack x Kenneth Cole capsule collection. Our posts may contain affiliate links and some purchases generate a small commission to support our work at no additional cost...
Daily Question: Which Breakfast Club Character Were You in High School
Welcome to our next daily reader question, where cool moms get to share their opinions and ideas with other cool moms. (Dads welcome too.) After our first daily question about the best 80s teen movies ever (click over for the results!) it turns out you all have a...
The Best April Fool’s Prank We Ever Pulled. Still Hilarious.
Over the years, we used to create the best April Fool's posts each April 1 until it became...well, kind of a thing everyone did and readers got savvy and started expecting them. Then we started sharing the best April Fool's pranks you could play on your kids and hey,...
Daily Question: Do you take your shoes off in the house?
Welcome to today's daily question, where cool moms get to tell other cool parents what they think. Today, we've got a question that can be a little controversial: Do you require shoes to come off at the front door? Parents have extremely strong opinions about whether...
Daily Question: Gen Z Slang
Welcome to our next daily reader question, where you get to tell other cool parents what's cool! Today, we're asking about Gen Z slang. Our kids have created so much colorful vocabulary, and they get a hard time for a lot of it. So let's turn it around a bit. We want...
Daily Question : The Best ’80s Teen Movies of All Time
Welcome to our first daily reader question, where you get to tell other cool parents what's cool! First up, a topic that's near and dear to our hearts: Pop culture. Or more specifically the pop culture from our own youth that we now get to share with our kids as they...
Bet you didn’t even know you could recycle some of these things you use every day.
If you're looking for a free recycling program for your Febreze cans, your teen's EOS lip balm containers, your kids' drink pouches, or even your teeth aligners, you're in luck. I just found the ultimate list of brands that have recycling programs for hard-to-recycle...
How to dye Easter eggs: Getting the perfect shades with tips from the food dye experts
I imagine that the McCormick's website must get more traffic this time of year than any other, considering that it's pretty the perfect starting point for anyone looking for a legit Easter egg color guide. If you want to know just how to dye Easter eggs with food...