What is cool? This site. And now it's got an even cooler name: Kirtsy.
Just makes you want to dance around in a little floral twirly skirt, doesn't it?
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One would think that because I run a shopping website, my husband would have no trouble finding me gifts. Every year I tell him to just click on anything in our Baubles and Bags category and he'll be the world's greatest husband. But every year, he ignores me and decides to go out on his own.
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In an increasingly paperless world, online correspondence is rapidly replacing snail mail even for major events. Does evite ring a bell? But I haven't lost my love for beautifully designed correspondence, whether offline or online.
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I'm thrilled to have found a reputable source of information at MommyDocs. Founding doctors Jamie Freishtat and Rachel Schreiber bring a practical perspective to their site -- they're both moms themselves. So they understand that frantic need to help a sick kid feel better.
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Recently we reviewed Catalog Choice which I continue to love (love! love!) but recently I've been turned onto a similar service to help cut down on junk mail: Green Dimes.
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Today is April 11 which means it's exactly one month until Mother's Day, a perfect time to launch our second annual Mother's Day Gift Guide.
My place is admittedly a mess these days - toys everywhere, clothes hanging from doorknobs, feral animals roaming the halls. So I am probably not the odds-on favorite to win the new Now You See It, Now You Don't storage solution contest
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Kiddie Records Weekly has digitized one great dime-store 1940s-1960s children's 78 album each and every week since 2005.
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Sometimes moms of (ahem) advanced maternal age just need some kindred spirits to hang out with. You know, so we can reminisce about our assymetrical prom hairdos and our crushes on Scott Baio while the rugrats run circles around our arthritic ankles.
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Of all the things most likely to make a new parent's head spin, I submit that it's not the colicky baby or the first diaper blow-out that's the hardest. That honor belongs to the selection of a car seat.
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It was over seven years ago, but I will never forget that day: My perfect, happy toddler stuck one chubby finger into the square of peanut butter sandwich I'd just handed him. In less than five minutes he was covered in welts.
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As much as I would like to believe I'm an expert on my own child, I've been known on occasion to bring home a book before realizing that yeah, maybe she's not quite ready for the whole "and then Bambi's mother dies" thing. Now Savvy Source is helping me out quite a bit in this department.
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Not to look a gift (card) horse in the mouth, but I when I get one I often forget to use it in time. I guess it's people like me who account for the $8 billion in gift cards that gets wasted each year. Yikes.
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There are more "mom" websites and social networking sites popping up than we can shake a BPA-free baby bottle at. And who can blame them? We are collectively awesome and so everyone wants us to grace them with our virtual presence.
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I cannot be the only mom dreading the walk up from the mailbox these days. It would be fine if it was filled with all sorts of cards and gifts and, you know, envelopes of free money. But nope. Just bills and about sixty million pounds of catalogs that I totally don't need.
There's been quite a bit of buzz among parents lately about whether hiding healthy foods in other foods is the right thing to do. For those who prefer to keep nutrients in plain view of the family, I've found a great resource in the Smart Foods Healthy Kids web site.
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For your browsing, buying, and drooling pleasure, we're happy to present The Cool Mom Picks Safer Toy Guide, featuring some of our favorite playthings for younger kids.
I'm definitely not the person to count on for remembering what developmental milestone comes when so good thing I found ebeanstalk before I bought the poor girl a rattle for her first birthday.
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Like all parents in this digital age, I've taken thousands of photos of my two girls. I've captured those "firsts" both big and small, but it's not easy to share those precious moments with friends and family without making them suffer through 75 nearly identical shots of, say, "first spit up."
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We love Alpha Mom and we're not afraid to shout it from the rooftops. Owner/mom Isabel Kallman has created a smart, informative website featuring columns from the best bloggers in town, along with extremely helpful videos, a great baby name guide, and other helpful resources for parents.
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Perhaps you bought a few items (before discovering Cool Mom Picks of course) and realize now that you don't want them. Here are a few solutions to minimizes your carbon footprint, as the kids say today.
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We post a lot about lotion/potion alternatives for the kiddos that are organic, natural, and hopefully bad-stuff-free. If you care about what goes into you children's shampoos, diaper creams and bubble baths, consider helping out the non-profit Environmental Working Group.
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Needless to say, I was thrilled to hear about Hyena Cart, an online community where moms can sell their handmade wares--and the rest of us, luckily, can buy them.
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It always seems like I'm the last one to know the tricks of the trade--you know, like toothpaste gets crayon off the wall or Preparation H has more than just that one use.
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Remember when you were little and someone introduced you to the local candy store for the first time--and they gave out samples? Free! That's how I felt when I discovered Hip Young Parent: The Children's Music Alternative.
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My family and I are serious book lovers. Okay, we're full-on snobs. I admit it. We only have eyes for the worthwhile page-turners and even my toddler has learned to resist the call of the flashy but content-lite pages in the bargain bins and head straight for the award winners. That's my girl!
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If you haven't yet heard about True Mom Confessions, you haven't been neglecting your kids nearly enough while surfing the web.
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I am not a diy-er, crafter, Martha-in-training, or whatever you want to call people who have the genius ability to make things that don't look, well, like they made them. This is not a big deal until my own mother gets on the phone and tells me to "make her something" for Mother's Day. And I don't think she's referring to the new grandbaby on the way.
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Those fill-in-the-blank baby books didn't work well for me. While some of the questions didn't apply, I just didn't like to leave the pages completely empty--or worse, use the bureaucratic Not Applicable. Eventually, I decided to eschew the preformatted books and put together a baby book of my own design.
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You've spent months agonizing over bedding options for your baby's nursery, only to discover your must-have ensemble was discontinued, and the whole county is sold out. Who'd have thought Pirate Bunnies would be so popular?
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It's the phrase all mothers dread: "Mom, I'm booooorrrred!" After the kids have made their way through every puzzle ("I've done that"), book ("read it already"), and game ("we played that this morning") in the house, what's a mom to suggest?
One thing pregnant women and new mothers are definitely not lacking is a variety of information sources--some more desired (Cool Mom Picks) than others (the mother-in-law with some very interesting views on putting whiskey in the bottle). But picking and choosing from among the stacks of books and lists of URLs can be daunting. And frankly, who has that kind of energy these days? Sometimes a passive medium like TV is just what the doctor ordered.
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One year ago, two other movie-loving moms, Sarah Bowman and Diane Shakin, founded Kids off the Couch to help LA-area families turn the passive act of film-watching into active adventures around town that get kids psyched about film, culture and yes, even spending time with you.
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Balancing the everyday logistics of work and home: No problem. Planning a vacation for our family of four: Problem. I become paralyzed with information overload, and all I want is for someone I trust to give me the real scoop on what to pack, where to go, and what to do.
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I'm an overachiever in many ways, but a huge slacker in the baby book department. I started the book for my first child just one day before #2 was born. Oops. Don't even ask about how I've documented milestones for the second child. (Okay, it's Post-It notes).
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Why do car manufacturers leap to the conclusion that moms and minivans are synonymous? Do they think that we all just turned in our sense of style and adventure along with our placentas?
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I think I can safely say that I was not alone in my amazement that something so small and helpless as a new baby could possibly need so much stuff. I didn't know what gear was necessary and what was merely clever marketing, and after factoring in all the unsolicited advice from well-meaning veteran moms about bouncy seat A versus bouncy seat B, I was overwhelmed to say the least.
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In most cities in America, the stress of getting into college is a distant second to the stress of getting into preschool. Because of course not getting into the right preschool will take your child down a path of misery, destitution, or possibly a career in fast food service.
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As I am just beginning to realize, there is no end to the fears we have as parents. Just as our kids outgrow the SIDS risk, we're worried about mercury in water. When they're done with the finger in the electric socket phase, we're reading up on what's in those plastic Halloween masks.
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When it comes to making new mom friends, I have excellent intentions but admittedly, terrible follow-through. Sometimes life just gets in the way of picking up the phone and making plans.
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I'm not a big fan of the "D" word, but when I do need to watch what I eat, I find that misery loves company. Or to put it in a more positive light, I like to have a friend to diet along with me so we can scream YEAH! together when the scale moves in the right direction.
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Wouldn't it be amazing if there was one site that sold all the cool music that CMP recommends? And wouldn't it be even more amazing if you didn't have to dig through a bunch of other music--the kind we don't recommend--on that site to find the good stuff that has been carefully tucked away?
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If you read Cool Mom Picks for all of about 10 seconds, you'll realize we're huge supporters of the community of mom-trepreneurs. We know how hard it can be to get a business off a ground, particularly while chasing small children around, and so part of our mission is to help get the word out about cool stuff that moms are making and selling.
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I am clueless about cars. Give me a reliable car with four wheels and a good mechanic and I'm set. However, it has crossed my mind that I'm not so sure what I would do if I had engine trouble on the road, or God help me, had to buy a car without the assistance of my husband (aka The Haggler).
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I learned that if there are two things that all new moms have in common, it's the desire to meet other new moms, and the desire to fit back into the pre-pregnancy jeans. Like, yesterday.
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For the past two years, this household's been on a steady musical diet of Sesame Street and The Wiggles. Don't get me wrong--I love me some Rubber Duckie--but I've been meaning to try something a little more exotic.
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I have mixed feelings about watching the news. I do want stay on top of current events; but to do so I have to get through 20 minutes of tragic, ratings-trolling disaster stories just to get to anything actually of value.
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As a new mom, it’s hard to know where to turn for good advice. There are several websites offering free newsletters, which at their best clutter up your in-box unopened. At their worst, they make you feel like if you don't buy a particular developmental toy from their online store right now now NOW, your child will grow up to rob banks and torture small animals.
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Surfing around in search of online resources for working moms, the good ones seem to be far and few between. Most look a lot like...well, work. Blech.Mom and GAP bigwig Amy Keroes knew better when she developed Mommy Track'd, the... ... [More]
If you haven't figured it out yet, we here at Cool Mom Picks love the crafty types. We've also learned that you can't call yourself crafty without having Kiddley bookmarked in your browser. Kiddley is the brand new website from... ... [More]
Recently, salary.com calculated that the 10.6 million stay-at-home moms in America are each worth an average of $134,000 a year. And yet--do they get overtime? No. Do they get year-end bonuses? No. Do they get to call in sick after... ... [More]
If you had a best friend that was really friendly, smart and level-headed and knew a thing or two about parenting, she might be a lot like Moxie of Ask Moxie. Ask Moxie is an advice blog where parents can... ... [More]
We here at Cool Mom Picks are all about being kind to the environment. But trying to live that way can be a challenge, particularly in you live in a not-so-green state like I do.
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If you have read through this site for more than one minute, then you have figured out that we are all about trying to make life easier. We know moms have very little time to themselves, and reading may not... ... [More]
As a military family, we do our best to keep everyone posted on the goings on of the first grandchild. But, let's face it, I can barely keep track of my own relatives, let alone my husband's huge family. And,... ... [More]
As we've pointed out here before, the problem with most children's music is that the more your kids love it, the more you want to jump out the window. Allow us to point you towards a few remedies--three bloggers with both children and excellent musical taste.
... [More]Hard to believe, but your computer's MP3 player can be more than a repository of embarrassing one-hit wonders and Lite FM ballads. It can also be a source for encouraging your children's love of literature. ... [More]
Feeling a little disappointed with that Dr. Expert parenting book that everyone raved about it? Would you rather have a root canal sans novocaine than listen to yet another round of "well-meaning" advice from your mother-in-law? Does it seem like... ... [More]
There's nothing like paying $50 for a designer (muumuu) maternity shirt that you're only going to wear for a few months at best.
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I think many of the mainstream parenting-type magazines make fine reads... for my daughter while I'm on the toilet. What toddler doesn't love to flip through pages of baby pictures and toy ads? But when I'm looking for something to challenge my slowly deteriorating mom brain, I head right over to mamazine.com.
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I can't tell you how many times I've heard a nervous mom-to-be ask, "so what did you do after the baby got home? Just...look at her?" Well, kind of. Yeah. I also watched more mindless TV than I ever thought possible.
mod*mom, that mama with the hippest, most happening retro-modern design blog, is on the lookout for those of you with a good eye and a big heart. You see mod*mom, also known as Kristen (no relation to CMP's Kristen), was... ... [More]