I used to love reading parenting guides . My oldest child was an overachiever from the start, and the guides served as affirmation that she was a prodigy and I was a model parent. Then my middle child - my obstinate, tantrum-throwing, sp…
Most of you don't know, but my partner at Cool Mom Picks, Kristen Chase (a.k.a. the hardest working mom in blogdom), has all sorts of alter egos. When she's not finding fabulosity for you here, wrangling three kids, and writing articles …
I can't stop reading Kirtsy Takes a Bow: A Celebration of Women's Online Favorites . And rereading it. And going back to make sure there's nothing I missed. The thing is, it's not just me. An art director friend shirked work for an hour …
The holidays aren't so sweet for those people who have to pass up all the trays of Christmas cookies because of a food allergy or vegan lifestyle. So, when I heard that Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero were following up their …
When I told my parents I was expecting, I didn't tell them I was expecting. I told them we'd done some interesting sightseeing, and did they want to see pictures? And then I gave them my ultrasound photos. If The Grandparents Handbook ha…
Forget the baby monitor or motorized swing: what I really could have used when my kids were little was photographer and dad Nick Kelsh's entertaining and smart new DVD, How to Photograph Your Baby , a companion to the classic book by the…
I confess; I made my own baby food. But just so we're clear, I was less a domestic goddess and more a garden-variety control freak. I spent late nights cooking and chopping and freezing, and honestly, I took no joy in it whatsoever. Bori…
Evidently reading to your kids is more than just reading to your kids. And seriously pedigreed educational consultant Diane W. Frankenstein explores her concept of "conversational reading" in her excellent resource, Reading Together: Eve…
To say that I was a neurotic mess with my first baby would be an understatement; every sniffle and bruise had me wondering if I'd broken her. By the second baby, I figured I was an old hand . . . except that he was convinced he could fly…
When I was pregnant for the first time, I developed an unhealthy affinity for those birth documentaries that had previously repelled me. Something about growing a baby myself made me want to click over and immerse myself in the gory deta…
Every year I tell my children's teachers thank you, and every year it feels inadequate. Often when I write notes to go with various teacher gifts , I write, You totally deserve a pony, but I thought this would make less of a mess. Thank …
When I was in high school, an artist friend of mine and I wrote a graphic novel during biology class featuring the adventures of our teacher's prominent nose, thus beginning my love affair with random and edgy hilarity. If you adore the …
Recently, my Michael Pollan-obsessed sigOth and I have had some conversations about stepping up our meal preparation game for the kids. So I'm pleased to have discovered two new cookbooks that seem primed to help us find some options tha…
I do not have six million free hours in my day but if I did, I just might consider turning my kids' sandwich into a giraffe. Or a caterpillar. Or Sponge Bob. Just because I could. And if I were to do that kind of a thing, I would have to…
There's so much advice for new moms to wade through, and after being pregnant and told you can't eat spicy tuna rolls or a good brie for ten months, it would be easy to throw up your hands by the time you get around to choosing the safes…
After researching my proposal for my own parenting book ( Ahem, Sleep Is for the Weak , shameless plug, shameless plug ) I thought I'd read every baby handbook on earth. And, I admit it, I became really jaded and snooty about them. Let's…
It's not like we needed any sort of excuse to tell you about all the amazing breastfeeding products out there, but since it's World Breastfeeding Week , we figured we'd celebrate by picking our all time favorites. Go Boobs! Nursing bras …
Wondering if you could point me toward a cool, creative book about playroom design or a website/book that showcases creative kid spaces in general? Can't find anything beyond the usual pink teddy bears ... -Courtney You're a mom after ou…
Linda Rosenkranz and Pamela Redmond Satran raised baby naming to an art form with their original 1988 baby-naming book, Beyond Jennifer & Jason - names that practically seem pedestrian with today's Talullahs and Artemises. Now the author…
Fellow blogger and Vanity Fair contributor Brett Berk has unleashed on the world his parenting perspective with The Gay Uncle's Guide to Parenting: Candid Counsel From the Depths of the Daycare Trenches . Berk obviously has no uterus and…
The funniest thing I've seen in a good long time is the satirical new website, Let's Panic About Babies! which just launched today. Think of it as a cross between What to Expect When You're Expecting and The Onion. It might even be funni…
You know who you are, you design-crazy parents : You scour flea markets looking for vintage picture books to turn into nursery art, you spent more time picking paint colors than pediatricians, and your greatest dream is to discover some …
I reaped so many giggles from If These Boobs Could Talk that I couldn't wait to read Shannon Payette Seip and Adrienne Hedger's follow up book, Momnesia . The title alone was enough to make me nod my head in total agreement. Momnesia fea…
The fact is, we're all busy and busy doesn't always bode well for the good gift intentions that we always have. But if you're shopping for last minute Mother's Day gifts for that favorite mother, grandmother, or best friend mother in you…