As a longtime reader of Karen Walrond's blog Chookooloonks , I expected her first book, The Beauty of Different: Observations of a Confident Misfit , to be gorgeous. I'm familiar enough with her pictures to expect the photography to be s…
I've been gluten-free for coming up on a couple of years, now, and while I've learned to bake a few essentials, I've mostly given up on cookies. Because gluten-free cookies--by and large--suck. And I love to bake, but I'm certainly not g…
We've all heard the standard wisdom that if we each gave up one daily luxury--say, your morning latte --you could put that money towards charity and really make a difference. And I happily gave up my frou-frou coffeeshop runs for brewing…
I switched over to reusable grocery bags at the supermarket a long time before I managed to break the plastic produce bag habit, I confess. Because back then, the only "produce" options seemed to be bulky cotton bags that added weight (a…
I'm not going to bore you with facts and figures about childhood obesity in America, because we've all heard it before. What I will tell you is that there is little my kids enjoy more than receiving their own mail, and in particular, mag…
Woe betide the mother who doesn't have a Band-Aid in her purse when the need arises. And the thing is, I've gotten the hint over the years, and sure, there's usually a bandage or two smashed down in the bottom of my bag somewhere. But do…
I am not going to mince words here, so let me just say it: I hate that this site is named " Gaggle of Chicks ." Truly. I am not a chick, I am not part of a gaggle, and since when are great deals only for moms? C'mon . So, yes, if you nee…
Sure, as a seasoned mama, you know that even the cutest plate won't keep the applesauce out of baby's hair and the peas out of her nose, but hope springs eternal. And really, what makes a better baby gift than adorable tot-sized tablewar…
It's unlikely that you need to let anyone know that the stagecoach is likely to be late or that there's trouble at the train depot, but why should that stop you from adding a vintage twist to that special message? If you go to Telegram S…
I'm not going to lie to you: When I opened the Morph-O-Scopes Kit box my daughter received for her birthday one year, I was unimpressed. Some crayons. A shiny cup. And a bunch of coloring pages with a hole in the center, the images all s…
As so many of you know by now, in Cool Mom Picks land, Etsy is always the place to look for the nursery decor that won't make you say, "That looks just like that print I saw at the store...." And on Etsy, we're loving Hsin Ping Pan's sho…
Those of you with little ones probably cannot imagine the day when your tween despairingly announces that her glasses make her look like "a total dork," but I'm here to tell you that it happens. And suddenly your kid is big enough to wea…
I don't know about your family, but around here, there is no faster path to a terrible day than not everyone getting adequate shut-eye the night before. And if just one of us is cranky, everyone ends up cranky. Bad news. Of course, a gre…
You may already know that Mint.com is a fantastic one-stop destination for money management on the Net; it's as close to a bookkeeping genie as most of us mere mortals are going to get. I love that you can sync up your bank accounts, cre…
What do you dress your baby in when you want something that's good for the planet, totally comfortable, and also totally cute? We've found quite a few of them over the years and I'm so happy to add Urban Munchkin to the list. [don't miss…
Honestly, the number of hoops you have to jump through to sell on eBay these days is crazy (who has the patience?), and I'm sure I'm not the only person who feels like Craigslist is overrun with scammers, cheapskates and crazy people. So…
When we moved to Georgia, I tried to pad the transition with various books about what a great place it was and the interesting things that have happened here. My efforts were met with a resounding "meh" from my children. Hmph. Of course,…
Betsy Brown Braun's You're Not the Boss of Me promises to brat-proof your 4- to 12-year old, and so my natural aversion to parenting manuals was overcome by curiosity as to whether such a thing was actually possible. I quickly fell deepl…
As most of us frugal online shoppers know by now, you don't buy something without first checking to see if there's a coupon code and a way to get it cheaper. It's why we work really hard to secure exclusive codes for our readers here. We…
We're heading into our second year of middle school , here, and it's been... interesting. It's definitely a whole different ballgame than elementary school, particularly for girls, who tend to morph into social piranhas pretty early. Is …
You'd think it would stand to reason that companies would understand that most of the movie-goers to animated 3D movies are, you know, kids . And yet, until last month, any cinema showing a RealD 3D movie offered just one (ginormous) siz…
It's hard to imagine right now -- as the kids run around outside in pure daylight until well past 8:00 -- that the days are getting shorter, again. And before we know it, we'll be back to those early mornings of heading out to school whe…
Ever been the person in charge of a group gift, and discovered that special circle of purgatory that involves trying to contact large numbers of people and keep track of who's done what and who still needs to contribute? Yeah. Not fun. A…
Who amongst us hasn't wanted to put our precious newborn in a germ-free, weather-protected, cocoon of safety at some point? That's not just me, right? But the problem with any sort of covering for an infant seat is that it's generally ei…
