We love pencil cases! They're where we put all our pencils! And pens, and earbuds, and erasers, and... pretty much anything that'll fit. As our kids head back to school , we're getting serious about corralling clutter, and if we can do i…
If you've done any back-to-school shopping lately, you may have noticed, like we have, that llamas are taking over the world. Quietly. And with deceptive cuteness because let me tell you, llamas mean business. The takeover may be inevita…
I am finding myself a little choked up today, on the anniversary of the 19th amendment, in a way I can't recall ever feeling before. Maybe it's because this is the first August 18 in which we have a female presidential nominee from a maj…
You've probably heard of Lululemon , but did you know that they have a special line for girls? Yep, the company ( formerly ivivia, now under the Lululemon brand name ) offers cool activewear for girls , including a new Lululemon backpack…
With four kids who can ride their bikes to school on pavement and sidewalks, but also love to do a little off-roading as well, it's been a little challenging trying to figure out what kind of bike to get them. Until I discovered Cleary B…
So once you've gotten the hand sanitizer, the tissue boxes, and everything else on that classroom shopping list , it's time to have a little fun with some colorful school supplies! We always recommend getting a little goodie or two for t…
I'm like a lot of parents, in that I know my kids should be wearing sun protection for their eyes, but I'm not inclined to drop a lot on kids' sunglasses. Then I started thinking, if I'm spending $15–20 on safe kids' sunscreen that gives…
When it comes to tween and teen skin, and figuring out the skincare routine that will work best for them, I like to take the less is more approach -- at least until action is really needed. When I was younger, I had great skin until I st…
Our friend Marisa Cummings, the accomplished illustrator and force behind Creative Thursday , has launched an adorable box of happiness and inspiration, as she calls it. Or, more succinctly, a Box of Joy . They've been so popular that th…
After following the awful account of indie artist Tuesday Bassen and her legal struggles with Zara , which we shared a couple weeks back, we reaffirm our ongoing, ten-year commitment to supporting small makers and original artists -- esp…
I am a neat person. Well, as neat as a mom of four kids can be. I wasn't always considered neat. In fact, my college roommate might read this and laugh hysterically because there was a point in time that you couldn't even see my bed beca…
If you're feeling a bit #clambitious about that bucket of shells you and your kids collected on your beach vacation, we've got good news for you. Here, we've rounded up some of our favorite seashell art projects for those summer finds, g…
We all know that there are some pretty amazing possibilities when it comes to LEGOs, from the skills they develop to the fantastical forms they can take. But the new LEGO Disney Castle is honestly pretty jaw-dropping. Disney fans, this i…
As a child, I long believed that dreamcatchers capture your nightmares in their web to keep sleep sweet and worry-free. As an adult, they still have a nostalgic pull on me. Plus, they're really gorgeous. I recently found some truly fanta…
When I was a kid, one of the most exciting things about going back to school was getting to pick out a new Lisa Frank notebook. What would it be this year? A unicorn with wings and a flowing, rainbow mane? A dolphin family swimming in an…
Of all the toys that have passed through the hands of my three kids over the past dozen or so years, there is no question that LEGO bricks have been the most enduring and versatile. From their first little plastic bucket of mixed bricks,…
My kids love to read. But they also love to go to the movies. Luckily, that makes our summer reading easy this year, since I'm going to encourage them to pick up some of the great children's books that are being adapted into movies this …
Now that some of our girls are starting to hit the age where they're asking about more than just a little flavored lip balm, we turned to an expert to offer us advice about makeup for tweens and teens. Because things have come a long way…
Now that my kids are old enough to play "real" games -- you know, the ones where I don't have to let them win -- I love finding new clever and fun options for when we all gather around the table to play. So I was really excited to learn …
If your little camper is heading off to sleepaway camp this summer, possibly for the first time (sniff), you'll likely receive from the camp a long list of all the essentials to pack -- extra socks, bug repellent, water bottles, headlamp…
Though I've heard a lot of people joke that they'll be shipping themselves over the Canadian border if this year's presidential election doesn't go the way they hope, I know that for the vast majority of us, there's no place like home. E…
For many of us, summer means heading off to our go-to camp where our kids spend their days playing outdoors, going on nature hikes, swimming in ponds, and singing goofy camp songs with all their friends. But if your kids would prefer a l…
If our most popular post of 2015, which introduced the brilliant and much coveted Blankie Tails , is any indication, there are now swarms of kids across America, flipping (ha) for their super-soft, well-made mermaid and shark tail blanke…
'Tis the season for graduations, whether you've got a new college graduate in the family, a niece or nephew graduating from high school, or like me, a sixth grader moving up to middle school. Sniff. While so many of us are looking for ju…