Along with decking the halls, we hope to finally redo the walls in my son's bedroom, but given that it has taken years for us to get around to this project, there will be no painted murals of his favorite cartoon characters. Instead, I'm…
We may still have Thanksgiving leftovers in the refrigerator, but December 1st is just around the corner. To my kids, this can only mean one thing: Time to get out the advent calendar so that they can start the countdown to Christmas. An…
My kids really want to be helper elves when it comes to wrapping the gifts, but after a roll of tape and a yard of paper, I've learned to enlist their help in other ways. So instead of handing them the safety scissors and gift wrap, I'm …
Fewer things throw my kids into a tizzy of Christmastime anticipation as an advent calendar with its counting down of days. But the calendar grandma gets them with the waxy chocolate behind each door isn't much to look at and barely make…
When the toy store ads appear in our Sunday newspaper, I'm mostly uninspired by all the blinky, noisy, plasticky stuff touted as The Next Big Thing. Would these really be the toys that Santa's elves carefully assemble in the North Pole? …
I consider myself fortunate that I do not have to cook Thanksgiving dinner---as does most of my extended family, as they will tell you. But, that doesn't mean I can't help all you hosts out with some great (and inexpensive) Thanksgiving …
As much as I love listening to the awesome music that comes my way as part of being CMP's primary kids' music reviewer, I find picking my favorites to be one of the harder tasks I have to do. It's like deciding if I like salted caramel b…
While most of us will give thanks on Thursday for Thanksgiving, there will also be many families giving thanks today, for National Adoption Day which falls almost midway through November's National Adoption Month. In honor of this specia…
I was wondering if you could recommend a classic dollhouse for my two daughters' Christmas gift? Would love any suggestions you have. Thank you!! -Amy Ooh, dollhouses! One of our favorite things to look for, now that there are so many to…
Between a personal blog, a paper journal, Facebook and my memory, I have plenty of places to jot down those hilarious things my kids say. The problem is, I have too many places. But mama Alexandra of the creative Kinderpendent blog has d…
Before the 24-hour carols, the jammed parking lots, and those news stories about people fighting over the latest Elmo toy, there is Neighborhood Toy Store Day today, November 12. This is one that hits near and dear to our indie-loving he…
Like singer Laura Veirs, Massachusetts musician Alastair Moock has had a long and successful career playing American folk music for grown ups. And similarly, both musicians started making kids' music after the birth of their children, bu…
When I was little, I used to stare at the moon looking for a tiny dot moving around, going about his business. It wasn't until much later that I realized that the "man in the moon" was a shadowy face on a full-moon's facade---I liked my …
I still remember the first time I saw Kevin Clash, the man behind Elmo, on a TV show--and I couldn't believe my ears. Who knew a big guy like Kevin was the voice of the lovable--and, yes, sometimes annoying--little red guy on Sesame Stre…
When my kids were younger, they adored lacing cards, though I can't say any of them had illustrations quite so adorable as the Lacing Cards from House 8810 . What I do remember is how quietly and intently they would sew their cards, and …
Dad-of-two Mike Park knows a thing or two about the music biz: He was once the energetic lead in the big '90s ska/punk band Skankin' Pickle, touring with the likes of Rancid, Primus, and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. He's also the founder…
Though I normally don't start thinking about my holiday cards until after Thanksgiving (or, ahem, later), I've got two reasons to be prematurely in the holiday spirit : An October snowstorm in the northeast, and the gorgeous new custom h…
My first two children were so easy to feed, I assumed it was due to my superior parenting (and cooking) skills that they would gobble down whatever I put in front of them without too much nose wrinkling. And then I had my son who humbled…
Consider this your annual reminder from us about Trick-or-Treating for UNICEF. If it's never something you've done before, the premise is that your kids can ask for more on Halloween than just another sugary treat, on behalf of kids who …
My kids won't even go into the basement by themselves, so let's just say we do Halloween Lite around here. For our kinder, gentler Halloween, I've found a tee shirt from CMP favorite Threadless that would fit in just fine to our version …
The good ol' days sort of lose their luster for me when I think about a life without indoor plumbing, internet access and Starbucks. But, I will give them one thing: Their folk songs sure were beautiful as evidenced in this lovely and pl…
I've tried to encourage my tween's intense love of all things art since she was a wee thing. To fuel her fire, we have loads of art books from "open-ended" coloring books like Rosie Flo's and those by Taro Gomi, to more academic tomes wi…
With the money I'm spending on Halloween costumes and bags of candy, I'm not about to drop a fortune on decor too. So, I'm so pleased to have found so many affordable (and free!) printables that don't require me to do much of anything or…
My kids are at the age where their Trick-or-Treat bags return home weighing almost as much as they do. At this rate they'll be up to their knees in mini-treats until 2012. So I'm often looking out for other things to hand out at Hallowee…
