Spawned Parenting Podcast: Latest Episodes
The latest from Spawned, our award-winning parenting podcast
One-word New Year’s resolutions: The trick to making one you can finally keep. | Spawned Ep 27
This week on the Spawned Podcast, we closed out our year (or, we're opening the new one if you're listening now) with a really good talk about New Year's resolutions: The good, the bad, and the very very broken. First, don't call them resolutions I like Kristen's...
The great Santa debate: The magic of childhood or the end of trust with your children as you know it?
Each year around this time, we sit back (sometimes with popcorn) and we watch the passions ignite and the tempers flare and the tears flow as parents, psychologists, and armchair experts of all kinds debate the merits of Santa. It's amazing how many strongly held...
The dedicated holiday gift help series, Part 2 : Spawned episode 25
On this episode of Spawned with Kristen and Liz, we were determined to help you with those hard-to-shop-for adults on your list, so we're giving out tips and dishing our our own favorite gifts from our 2015 Holiday Gift Guide. Plus, we have a good laugh about the...
More coolness from recent weeks…
The new Ken dolls are here, some with big muscles in case you’re thinking of mocking their man buns.
In light of last year's big launch of the curvy Barbie dolls in three curvalicious body types, Mattel is following suit with a whole new series of next gen Ken dolls, A.K.A. "The Fashionistas." Let's just say, they've come a long, long way from the pale, scrawny...
The Night Sky’s custom star maps: The sweet, sentimental gift that’s modern, never sappy.
I'm a mom, you know, which means I pretty much can't help but feel sentimental about the special milestones in my family's life -- my kids' birthdays, preschool graduation, our daughter's adoption day. The thing is: I love finding ways to memorialize these moments,...
8 important tips to help families store medicines safely from the kids | Sponsored Message
This is a sponsored message from the Consumer Healthcare Products Association Educational Foundation While medicines help families feel better and stay well, it's important to keep those bottles safe from curious kids. Wherever you may be. Every year, about 60,000...
The sports bra solution for girls who don’t quite need a sports bra.
It's hard to believe that when we started this site, I was thinking about binkies for my daughter, and now it's like I blinked -- and I'm thinking about bras. Gah! While I wholly admit that the affordable Target made-up-brand-name bras are pretty great, especially for...
These little piggies teach the ABC’s. Awww…
We love these cool new socks because they’re not just practical; they’re also fun and educational.
Dad wisdom: Quotes from 16 of our favorite cool dads
We recently spoke to 16 of our favorite dad bloggers and put together their best Father's Day wisdom and words of advice all in one place. It's absolutely worth a read for these dads' humor, their insight, their sincerity and their wit -- especially this evergreen...
The baby book that will have you wanting to make a baby book.
So new parents in pursuit of Baby Book perfection, you’ve met your match.
A fun board game for summer that our kids can’t stop playing.
Last week, my son and I visited the Innovator's Fair here in Philadelphia and discovered our newest board game obsession: Maze Racers. It combines creativity and building with mazes in a super fun way. Let's just say, we're all addicted. Including me. Related: The...
The one surprising thing that happened when I switched to a natural deodorant.
I'm the kind of person who needs the prescription strength-type antiperspirant, so for me to make the switch to a natural deodorant is a big deal. Granted, it's not the first time I've tried, and while it was pretty successful (yay Primal Paste), I did end up getting...
Everybody in the pool! 10 of the coolest pool floats for the whole family that are sure to make a big splash.
Sure you can bring out the boring inner tubes at the pool this summer, but we say go big with one of the coolest pool floats around. Sure, some of these are a bit spendy, but these 10 inflatables offer fun and lazy lounging for the whole family. Plus, they're totally...
5 incredibly clever ways to transport wine safely to picnics
Summer means picnics, and picnics mean wine! Well, okay -- picnics mean an awful lot of good things, like family and fun and memories and sunshine. But for you wine-drinkers, a nice Rosé or Prosecco can have its own special place in a picnic, and we're all for getting...
A stylish way to zig zag with your cool Chuck Taylors
Time has proved these cool styles never fade.
We’ve found the cutest pool floaties known to man…or bird.
Pool accessories have come a long way since I was a kid. Back then, we made do with inner tubes and foam noodles, but now there's larger-than-life, lounge-able swans and rainbow unicorns. Not to mention huge floating hashtags. But my favorite new pool must-have takes...
9 outrageously cool experience gifts for the dad who has everything | Father’s Day Gift Guide 2017
If there's a dad in your life who's impossible to shop for, Father's Day gifting can present an annual challenge. Well -- challenge for you, but fun for us! That's why we turn to fantastic experience gifts for the dad who has everything. So while we think our 2017...
7 myths about lice that every parent should know. (And, apologies.)
Our household been through the dreaded lice (shudder) more times than I'd like to admit. The only good thing that's come out of it -- besides a wildly clean house -- is enough knowledge about what works, what doesn't, and which "guaranteed to eliminate lice" myth is...
Mommyhood wine bottle labels: Here’s to surviving your first playdate from hell.
For all those wine-lovers out there (ahem, like me), we're entitled to toast our momentous new mom wins. With some celebratory vino and a high-five, right? That’s where these hilarious Mommy’s First Motherhood Milestones Wine Bottle Covers come in. That first time...
The bed rail cover that makes you hate bed rails a lot less.
Oh, bedtime. Why do you have to be so difficult for so many parents? From infant swaddlers to resources for big kid sleep anxiety, parents with kids of all ages will always crave solutions to make bedtime safer and easier. While my baby is still a few years away from...
From unsolved science mysteries to Hamilton, 5 cool educational videos tweens and teens will love
If you're like me, you're currently scrambling to find ways to keep your kids occupied -- and better, still learning -- during summer when school's out. That's where our newest sponsor The Great Courses Plus comes in. They turn screen time into educational time,...
10 free Father’s Day printables that make great gifts all on their own | Father’s Day Gift Guide 2017
Father's Day is inching closer and closer, and if you haven't found the perfect Father's Day gift for Dad -- don't panic! In addition to lots of the gifts in our guide, there's a stellar chance you can find just the gift you're looking for right here, among these free...
11 creative DIY Father’s Day cards kids can make! Awwww…. | Father’s Day Gift Guide 2017
Sometimes the sweetest Father's Day gifts don't come from a store, but come cobbled together with Scotch tape and glue sticks -- like these awesomely creative DIY Father's Day cards kids can make for a special dad, grandpa or stepfather in their lives. Of course we...
6 fantastic children’s books celebrating LGBT families, because #LoveisLove
If there's one thing we know for certain, it's that all families should be celebrated, all the time. Because, love is love. So we pulled together these 6 excellent children's books that celebrate LGBT families. The way it's important for children of color to see...