Let me start off with the disclaimer: Shea butter scares me. I have tried out any number of shea butter moisturizers for review because I hear of its miraculous benefits, and yet one leaves me feeling slimier and smellier than the next. …
Can I mention that I'm sort of freaking out about this whole packing a lunch in an actual lunch box thing, which is completely silly because it's just a lunch for goodness sake. So, I'm relying on my daughter's new Laptop Lunch box and b…
You're lucky she isn't allergic to gluten. . .that allergy sucks , the guy at Whole Foods said, as I looked for milk-free treats for my oldest. And, I have to agree that in the world of food allergies, short of the real life-threatening …
While 2009 hasn't quite turned out to be the Year of the Recall the same way it was in 2007, we still like the the idea of an easy way to check for safety recalls of children's toys and other products. In fact, the Babysitter Balance fro…
The day I realized how many plastic baggies I was using in my kids' lunches each week was the day I began trying every sort of reusable container and wrap out there. Nowadays the kids take a cobbled-together assortment of reusables in th…
Since giving up wheat, there are a few foods I no longer miss, and others I dream about regularly. One of the items I've fantasize about binging on is chocolate chip cookies. I'd just not found a suitable replacement without the gluten. …
The cult favorite Patemm pad was one of the first products we ever featured on Cool Mom Picks, back when we all had one kid a piece and were astonishingly better rested. Since then, we've added to our own broods while Pattem has extended…
Recently Liz and I attended the Fancy Food Show in New York where we found Tasty Baby , a line of frozen organic baby foods that may just cause me to exceed my superlatives usage quotient for the day. How do I know that this baby food ta…
We've gotten our fair share of baby lotions and bath products from Little Twig as gifts and I must say, they're often the ones I reach for first. I love the adorable packaging , but even more so I love the pthalate-free, paraben-free, su…
Since all the issues with BPA surfaced, I, like many of you, have been on the search for safe glass kids dishes. But the combination of glass and two rambunctious kiddos means that they'd need to include some Xanax in the package. I am b…
The PVC-free "stoh" lunch totes from Milkdot just may be the answer to my--and your--lunch-packing wishes and hopes and dreams. They are absolutely practical for kids heading off to camp or their first full day at school in the fall (sni…
My mother was the queen of homemade baby food. And while I admire her commitment and even bought a micro food processor to follow in her footsteps, more often than not I have to reach for something cooked, pureed, and packaged far from m…
I absolutely adore our reusable stainless steel water bottles -- I love knowing nothing weird is leeching into what we drink, and I love how they look -- but I really, really miss being able to put ice in my water bottle without a mallet…
With summer vacation less than a month away (seriously, it is!), my daughter is begging me to send her to camp, which just so happens to be a full day and requires some semblance of lunch packing on my part. I suppose it's good preparati…
When I first discovered Smiling Planet , I was instantly smitten by this mom and pop company's avid commitment to teaching children respect for the environment through artful, eco-friendly housewares . Essentially Freddy and Olivia Deane…
I knew that I had found a winner with Home Free's line of allergy-free treats when I stole the last cookie before the kids came back into the room for more. At that moment, I would never have guessed that there was anything "missing" fro…
I'm going to go out on a limb, here, and say that nothing strikes fear into my husband's heart quite the same was as those three little words: Honey, smell this . Try as I might to keep track of what's in our fridge and use it up in a ti…
February 10 is here - the day the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act goes into effect. Sort of. The rules are here to stay but the penalties have been delayed for a year provided manufacturers are not selling any bad stuff with k…
According to today's most excellent release from the Consumer Products Safety Commission, the CPSC has done the only common sense thing it could have done, and granted a one year stay of testing and certification requirements until Febru…
A quick update on the Save Handmade from the CPSIA initiative since so many of you have been asking. If you haven't been to our Save Handmade page , click over and see how you can help preserve the kids products and businesses we love so…
Update 12/13: We've created a Save Handmade Page to keep you posted on ways to help and latest news around this important issue. Stop by any time! Update 12/14: The act was in fact not passed by the CPSC which is a regulatory agency but …