Spawned With Kristen And Liz Of Coolmompicks

Not every parent has the time (or patience or uh, interest) to play racecars for hours on end. GUILTY! So we're chatting with Meredith Sinclair, TODAY Show play expert and author of Well Played to get some much-needed tips. We discuss how to make play more fun (for parents too), why we all need more play right now, the great tech toy debate, and score lots of toy and game recos that parents should add to our arsenals. | Questions? Comments? Compliments? Find Kristen + Liz  @coolmompicks #SpawnedShow on social media, or hit us up at spawned@coolmompicks.com. Thanks for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are we comfortable saying vagina? YES! Having frank conversations with our daughters -- and sons -- about menstruation? YES! Telling our most embarrassing period stories? Well...at least Liz did. (And there's more than one, oh no!) Join us for a funny, frank talk about "the talk" you know you'll be having with your daughters one day if you haven't already. Plus, get lots of helpful advice from Naama Bloom, founder of Hello Flo and author of the upcoming Period Book. | By the way we shouldn't have to mark a podcast as EXPLICIT for the word "vagina" but we did because anatomy freaks some people out. | Comments? Questions? Got your own embarrassing story to share? Email spawned@coolmompicks.com, or follow us @coolmompicks #SpawnedShow on social. Thanks for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Parents, if you listen to any episode it should be this one. Because we've got civilization=saving strategies here from James Breakwell (aka @xplodingunicorn), comedy writer and author of the new book, Only Dead on the Inside: A Parent's Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse.  Wait, are you laughing? This is DEADLY SERIOUS STUFF, PARENTS. Discover tips for how to break the news to your kids in age-appropriate ways, how to turning toys and umbrella strollers into deadly weapons, and why parents have some surprising. advantages for post-apocalyptic survival over "smug, outdoorsy millennials" with no kids.  | Thanks for listening, subscribing and leaving us a sweet rating! | Questions? Find Kristen + Liz  on social @coolmompicks with the hashtag #spawnedshow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When can your kids start watching more "adult" movies and shows? Do you care more about f-bombs or violence and gore? What about sex? What about themes like suicide or sexuality or war? And how come the ratings system seems so totally ridiculous sometimes?  A fun, candid, and (ahem) somewhat NSFW discussion to help you decide when to let which kids watch what. | Questions, comments, show ideas or copious praise: email us any time at spawned@coolmompicks.com or find Liz and Kristen on social at @coolmompicks with hashtag #spawned show. Thanks for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it okay to ignore your kids when they're being pains in the you-know-what? Family coach and LCSW, Catherine Pearlman, the author of the new book "Ignore It" says yup!  But...with a few caveats. If your kids have ever acted up (mayyyybe once, right?) tune in and learn about her smart technique, and how ignoring is not the same as neglecting. We think you'll get some great tips out of it! We sure did. | Questions or comments? Hit us up at spawned@coolmompicks.com or find us on social @coolmompicks using hashtag #spawnedshow. Thanks for listening!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professional organizer and mom Laurie Palau of Simply B Organized saves us all with down-to-earth tips, tricks, and common sense advice to get us on track for the school year, manage the kids (mostly), and keep us organized and productive. So smart! We've also got some truly amazing cool picks of the week. Questions? Comments? Knock-knock jokes? Email Kristen and Liz at spawned@coolmompicks.com, or find us on Twitter or FB at @coolmompicks using #spawnedshow. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Morra Aarons-Mele discusses her new book, Hiding in the Bathroom and shares incredibly helpful tactics and tips for overcoming introversion, battling social anxiety and FOMO, and living your best life when you feel like more like "leaning out" most days. (Also, turns out Liz and Kristen may be more introverted than we had realized!) || Questions? Comments? Follow us at twitter.com/coolmompicks or @coolmompicks on Facebook with hashtag #spawnedshow or email any time: spawned@coolmompicks.com. || Thanks for subscribing to our podcast and for those generous five-star ratings! We give YOU five stars right back! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode we're joined by the hilarious Laurie Gelman, author of Class Mom: A Novel and we get allllll the dirt on the mind of a class mom: The pettiness and the perks, the nightmare parents, the differences between class moms and class dads, and just what kind of masochistic martyr takes on this job anyway. Plus, we're sharing 3 cool picks of the week. || Thanks for listening to Spawned! If you love the show, please subscribe to our feed, leave us a review on iTunes (five-stars is cool but hey, no pressure), and don't forget to download the episode so you can listen any time. || Find us on social media @coolmompicks using the hashtag #SpawnedShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do we keep our kids curious and interested in all kinds of topics? What do we do when we don't know how to answer their questions? What are some cool educational websites for them? Why is it so important to let kids know that we (sadly) don't know every single thing in the world? And WHY WHY WHY are kids all so obsessed with farts? We have answers! Join a fun chat with Kristen, Liz, and Molly Bloom, the host of the super popular Brains On podcast from MN Public Radio. And be sure to stick around for our cool picks of the week...and a fun little surprise at the end!  || Questions? Comments? Topic suggestions? hit us up at spawned@coolmompicks.com or on social media @coolmomicks with hashtag #spawnedshow. We love hearing from you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liz is joined by Cool Mom Eats editor Stacie Billis -- and a special, surprise child guest -- to take on all your questions about that big parenting milestone (cue scary music)... sending your kids off to sleepaway camp! How do you know when they're ready? How do pick the right camp? What are the secret BTDT camp tricks for packing? How do you get your kids to actually write you letters? What about picky eaters or kids with food allergies? All will be answered! Plus, we've got some fantastic cool picks of the week. Questions, comments, episode ideas or lovely words of support: spawned@coolmompicks.com or find us on social media @coolmompicks with the hashtag #spawnedshow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian, actor (Inside Amy Schumer, 30 Rock), author of Man V Child, and dad Doug Moe joins us to answer parents' most common questions about babies and toddlers. Do babies belong in bars? What do you do when you hate your kids' friends? Find out the answers - and laugh a lot - on this week's episode of Spawned with Kristen + Liz.  Questions? spawned@coolmompicks.com, @coolmompicks on Twitter and Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you're like us, you've got emails piled up in your inbox, photos eating up memory on your phone, and don't even get us started with all the documents cluttering up your computer. But that's all about to change thanks to professional organization expert and Director of Global Community and Training at Evernote, Joshua Zerkel. He's got pretty amazing tips and tricks that can really help you get a handle on all your digital clutter and help you actually find the stuff you're looking for when you need it. Plus, we've got a few pretty fun Cool Picks of the Week, too. You can find all the links mentioned on our show over on our Cool Mom Picks podcast page. Plus, let us know what you thought of the show on Twitter #SpawnedShow, Facebook, and email: spawned@coolmompicks.com. We love hearing from you.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you want to get your kids excited about science, or need help answering those impossible questions they ask about the world around them, join us! We've got a super fun interview with the hosts of Wow in the World, the brand new NPR science + discovery podcast for kids starring Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas. They describe the crazy questions their own children have asked them, offer tips and resources for curious kids, and join in on one of the funniest Cool Picks of the Week segments ever. |||  If you have questions, comments, or kind words of love and affection find us at spawned@coolmompicks.com or on social media @CoolMomPicks with the hashtag #SpawnedShow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, Liz is joined by Lauren Smith Brody, the fabulous author of The Fifth Trimester: The Working Mom's Guide to Style, Sanity, and Big Success After Baby. Join us for a fun, revealing, extremely honest chat about getting over mommy guilt (argh!), how to look and and feel human again, how to carve out me-time, and why single moms are our role models. | Comments/Questions? Find us on social @coolmompicks using hashtag #spawnedshow or drop us an email at spawned@coolmompicks.com | And fear not...Kristen will be returning next week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we're sharing the Mother's Day PR pitches in our inboxes that are so hilariously bad we couldn't help but laugh about them. And uh....save them. To share with you. Because we love you.  Want to say hi to Kristen + Liz? Share the best or worst gifts you've ever gotten? Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook or IG @CoolMomPicks and use the hashtag #SpawnedShow.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Liz and Kristen sit down with the one and only queen of kids music, Laurie Berkner! Tune in for a fun talk about what to do when your kids outgrow the kid stuff, learn tips for connecting over the music they do like, and behold: our own first teenage concert confessions! Some of which are more embarrassing than others. (Ahem, Kristen.)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Upon popular request, it's an entire Cool Picks of the Week episode, filled with beauty saves and splurges right from our own make-up bags. Did Liz really spend $72 on a mascara? Is that $5 lipstick as good as the $30 one? We'll give you the inside scoop on our favorites that we hope you love just as much as we do. You can find links from our show over on our podcast page. And feel free to send us an email at spawned@coolmompicks.com or tweet us @coolmompicks #spawnedshow.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With so many parents asking us about how to manage social media and kids, we decided to spend a show helping parents navigate this challenging topic. On this episode, we discuss some of the recent studies about kids and social media, and then tap into our own experience as parents and tech experts to share our tips, tricks, and practice advice. And of course, we end our show with our cool picks of the week. You can find all the links from this show (there are lots!) on our podcast page. And feel free to hit us up on social media: @coolmompicks #spawnedshow on Twitter and Facebook. Or email us: spawned@coolmompicks.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who doesn't want more time in their day? On this episode of Spawned with Kristen and Liz, we take a close look at 5 popular time organization techniques from the experts and talk about how they could work (or not) for parents. We bet you'll appreciate these smart ideas that could really help make your life as a busy parent easier. And, as always, we share our cool picks of the week. You can find everything we mentioned on the show over on our Cool Mom Picks podcast page. And feel free to drop us a line and let us know what you think about the show. We're on Twitter (use #spawnedshow), Facebook, and Instagram. Or, email us at spawned@coolmompicks.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the popularity of the new Beauty and the Beast movie, we just had to address the issue of princess culture and whether it's healthy or hurtful. Can you still be a feminist parent with daughters obsessed with princesses? How does this all affect our sons? We tap into books, articles, research, and our own parenting experience as we chat about this controversial topic. You'll find all the links from our show over on our Cool Mom Picks podcast page. And, be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you never miss an episode! Thanks for your emails, tweets, and kind reviews.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices