Today marks not only the beginning of Black History Month, but the birthday of the beloved, brilliant, prescient poet Langston Hughes, who would have been 114 today. As with all essential writers throughout history, his words live on lon…
If you're totally into Totoro and your kids howl for Howl's Moving Castle , you fans of Studio Ghibli are going to want to know about Amazon's newest series for families, Ronja, the Robber's Daughter . It's based on the book by author As…
Over the years, we've put together so many fantastic ways to help honor the important, impactful work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., especially to help families be able to discuss how we might all carry on his legacy. We hope you'll chec…
This post was created for our partnership with Very Berry Cheerios My kids love berries. In fact, their aunt nicknamed them "my little fruit bats" because they love berries in their lunches, on their desserts, and yes, with their breakfa…
Those of us Hanukkah revelers have always had slimmer pickings when it comes to great modern music. But now Adam Sandler and Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings have some great new company thanks to the Maccabeats, who are just out with Hasmone…
One of our most favorite parts of the holidays (no, not presents, though we like those too) are the family traditions we celebrate year after year. There's just something so special about looking forward to our annual holiday rituals, wh…
We love how the Internet can help us when it comes to raising a generation of more curious kids. There are just so many remarkable free educational online tools and resources that help support a child's natural curiosity, and even help p…
Forget sweater weather; for me, fall is all about scarves. They're always on trend, and to top it off, they're practical, which is important to me. (#momlife, yo.) Having a couple of scarves in your closet gives you a lot of affordable w…
Looking for a fun way to get kids learning about the election -- without all the awfulness of what's appearing on the news lately? One of our favorite kindie bands, The Not-Its , are out this week with Are You Listening , a very entertai…
Whether you're hitting the road for Labor Day weekend , or you're back in the saddle as your kids' own personal Uber driver, we parents know that driving with kids in the car comes with its own special challenges. Let's just say it can b…
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…
We've been moving away from solo gadget time in my house and exchanging it for family screen time, within reason, of course. That means we all gather around the television and watch something that we all enjoy . Really. With kids ages 5 …
This is a sponsored message from Nanit If you've ever lost sleep waiting impatiently for your baby to fall asleep -- or worse, woken your little one up when you've just peeked in -- you need to meet Nanit , a tremendous new advancement i…
This is a sponsored message from Slingbox. Whether you travel for work or just need a diversion while you're waiting for your kids at soccer practice, Slingbox lets you watch and control all the cable TV channels you already pay for when…
While I can't pick my daughters' friends for them, I do try to help my girls grow up with smart, healthy, and interesting women as role models. You know, not the ones whose biggest life advice has to do with how to take a great selfie. S…
As your kids get older, you realize you don't have to ply them with gifts or offer extra ice cream at dessert just to be The Cool Parent. (And despite what you may have learned from Amy Poehler in Mean Girls , you don't have to serve the…
We blink and we've gone from back to schoo l shopping for preschool backpacks to those annoying extra-long twin sheets for dorm room beds or small appliances for college dorm rooms. But on the upside, now we've got a ton of ideas that wi…
There's not one of us who didn't grow up facing some sort of bullying. Did I ever tell you about the girls who called my number in high school and hung up every half hour, for hours and hours into the night? (That was before caller ID.) …
We're so happy to be back with our third #UnguiltyPleasures video episode ! (Can you tell we're having fun?) This time we're talking about food. More specifically, the foods we love -- but maybe we're not supposed to love quite as much a…
Next up in our series of #UnguiltyPleasures (you did catch us confessing all our binge watching secrets, right?) is online shopping . And yes, that's probably kind of obvious considering what we do here at Cool Mom Picks. But we just lov…
Okay, so we've been holding out on you all. Just a little. We are so so excited to be launching a campaign today that we're calling #UnguiltyPleasures . We've been talking about this idea forever, ever since the idea of "mom guilt" enter…
If you are as obsessed with House of Cards as I am, please take a few minutes out of your day to watch House of Bricks, the hilarious Sesame Street House of Cards parody, because it is pure genius. I have barely come up for food or air--…
Today we say hail to all the chiefs who have led the United States of America. The ones we voted for, the ones we didn't vote for, and even the ones we can't really remember. And to help our kids learn more about the men who have led our…
The Rainbow Loom band bracelets (and necklaces, charms, rings, headbands, oh my) we've shared here are just as popular as ever, as kids find new ways to put them to use. Now, the trend is to ditch the looms entirely and learn how to make…