Spawned With Kristen And Liz Of Coolmompicks

Growing up in rural Sweden, Helena Dahlgren always felt like an outsider. But when she discovered female protagonists, like Anne, from Anne of Green Gables, her life changed and she finally felt seen. It's, in part, what inspired her to become a writer. On this episode, she shares her thoughts on how books play an important role in shaping tweens' and teens' perceptions of themselves. And as always, we close our show with Cool Picks of the Week. Find all the links from our show on CoolMomPicks.com, including more from our sponsor Star Stable Entertainment, whose Soul Riders book trilogy (which Helena is the author of, actually) is now complete and on sale at Amazon.com. We're on social! Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, so come say hello to us! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After author Judith Warner's New York Times article about adolescents and the pandemic went viral with parents reacting very strongly one way or another, we invited her on Spawned to talk about it with Liz! Join us for an enlightening conversation about why the majority of kids are more resilient than you might think, recognizing the difference between unhappy and "impaired," what we can say and do to help our kids get best through this, and why honesty is the best policy with kids -- even when it comes to our own feelings and struggles. // Gratitude to our sponsors, Rock from the Sky, the new picture book from Jon Klassen; as well as TilePix, where you can get 60% off your order of 12+ ready-to-hang photo tiles with code COOLMOMS // Thanks so much for listening and subscribing, friends! // Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to our first kids and addiction episode of Spawned. It's long overdue. And; thanks to our guest Jessica Lahey, columnist and author of The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence, you'll come away feeling encouraged, empowered, with detailed guidance on what we can do and say that makes a difference. You won't want to miss this extremely important, honest discussion stemming from Jessica's own life raising kids as a recovering alcoholic. (Plus a few bonus cool picks of the week...we couldn't stop!) // Shownotes: Cool Mom Picks // Please support our amazing sponsors who support us: Use code "cool mom" at Our Green House for 10% off their gorgeous, eco-friendly, make-your-own gift baskets. And be sure to sign up for your free, unlimited 30-day trial of The Great Courses through this link. Take a course with us! They're fun! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spawned listener favorite Jordan Shapiro is back! He totally changed the way we think about kids and tech, and now he's joining us to challenge our ideas about gender roles in parenting, and chat about his new book, Father Figure: How to Be a Feminist Dad. Is such a thing even possible? Well... We learn a whole lot about our own preconceptions here, how we can help change things -- and we get to laugh while doing it. (See why we love him so much?) Plus, some very cool Cool Picks of the Week. //Show notes: Cool Mom Picks podcast page // Chat with us in the Spawned FB Community // Graciously sponsored by the (very cool!) award-winning Panasonic Baby Video Monitor that's safe, secure, and even helps babies sleep. Really. // Thanks for listening and for subscribing! - L + K Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We love this talk with Kate Eberle-Walker, author of The Good Boss, on what's good and bad for women in the workplace right now, how we can better support women, how we can even change the game entirely. (And of course, some fun bad boss stories!) Whether you're a manager or have one yourself, whether you're temporarily out of the workplace, you'll love this helpful discussion, filled with inspiring tips. // Thanks to our sponsors Google Families, providing parents the help to raise healthy digital kids, and EcoFreaks Hand Sanitizers - use code COOLMOM to get a free fun keychain for kids along with the purchase of a family pack. // Shownotes: Cool Mom Picks podcast page. // Don't forget to subscribe, and give us a sweet sweet 5-star rating to help support Spawned. Thanks for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we're joined Rachel Miller, journalist and author of The Art of Showing Up: How to Be There For Yourself and Your People to chat about how we can take better care of ourselves and our friendships, especially during a time when we're all feeling extra depleted. And as always, we'll share our cool picks of the week. Hey, follow us on social! We're on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. We'd love to hear from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As parents, we have an idea of what sorts of things we need to be talking to our kids about, but author Michelle Icard really lays them out and offers helpful guidance in her new book: Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen. She shares how to (and how not to) have these conversations, and offers insight into when to have them, and more. As always, we close our show with our Cool Picks of the Week. Join our We Time Project with our sponsor The Great Courses Plus. It's like all of us taking a course with all of you, then doing a Spawned Live to chat about it. You can sign up and get a free month trial, then join us on Facebook Live to chat. Details on our site. We're on social, follow us! Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We were so honored to sit down with Kate DiCamillo, the wildly popular author of The Tales of Despereaux, Because of Winn-Dixie, and Flora & Ulysses, to talk about kids, reading, writing, imagination, superheroes, the need for diverse protagonists, and so much more. And we especially love her answer to the question: Should we make kids read the book before seeing the movie? Wow, she is a joy! // Shownotes and Cool Picks of the Week:: Cool Mom Picks podcast page // Brought to you by Outschool, the platform offering thousands of engaging, live online classes for kids of all ages...from manga illustration to Hamilton choreography, coding to filmmaking.Some as affordable as $5 each! // Please subscribe and leave us a nice review! And thanks so much for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fair warning: This episode may really make you miss your IRL get togethers with your favorite mom friends, because that is exactly what this conversation with Dr. Janice Johnson Dias feels like. We knew that talking to Janice -- you might know her as "mom of Marley Dias" -- would be helpful, but we had no idea it be SO funny, so honest, so inspiring, and just so nourishing! (Also a little NSFW if you have little ones around.) Enjoy her tips about parenting and caregiving, joy, raising activists, nurturing kids' passions, and always always making time for yourself, // Brought to you by the 2021 3M Young Scientist Lab. Be sure your problem-solving kid enters by 4/27/21! // Shownotes and links: Cool Mom Picks podcast page // Thank you so much for listening, for subscribing...and extra socially-distant air hugs to those of you who take the time to write a nice review on iTunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, in honor of Black History Month, Liz has an incredible chat with Dr. Martin Luther King's goddaughter, activist and actress Donzaleigh Abernathy. Her stories about "Uncle Martin" and her childhood memories of the segregated south are simply riveting -- plus we talk current events, politics, racial justice, and being more engaged as anti-racist parents. She shares her honest views about what's changed in America, what hasn't, and what she finds incredibly encouraging. (Hint: it has to do with parents like us.) We also share a great love for scented candles and Meghan Markel! // Shownotes: Cool Mom Picks podcast page // Thank you so much for listening, sharing, and for your kind reviews. If you haven't yet, please leave us a five-star review, which is an easy way to support Spawned, totally free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's a reason lots of us are organizing, uh...everything right now -- it helps us feel in control, during a time that so much feels beyond our control. So we're thrilled to be joined by professional organizer and President of the National Association for Black Professional Organizers, Naeemah Ford Goldson. She shares some brilliant advice, insight, and tips that we're already putting to good use in our own homes. // Graciously brought to you by Chicco baby feeding essentials, which have the safety, function, style and performance parents love. They're also the sponsors of our new 2021 Guide to the Best Baby Gifts! // Thanks SO much for listening and subscribing, and if you have a sec, please give us a nice five-star review! We're so grateful for all your support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've talked a lot about self-care over the years, but nothing as deeply honest as we do in this week's episode with our friend, author and podcaster Dr. Christine Koh. She's been sharing her own journey of radical self care on her Instagram feed, so we wanted to tap her to share what she's discovered along the way, and how we can reframe our own view of self-care to get us through tough times. You can find our cool picks of the week, along with links from our show over at Cool Mom Picks. Make sure you're following us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there's one thing we're all talking about, and maybe even tearing up about (if you're Liz), it's the arrival of the Covid-19 vaccines. So we invited the most perfect guest, vaccine expert, author, NYU professor, pediatrician, NY Times science columnist of "The Checkup," Dr. Perri Klass. She's offering a fantastic perspective about the vaccine that we hope will either help put you at ease, or give you another reason to continue celebrating. She's so informative and reassuring, that we really hope you'll take a listen. Be sure to share this episode with someone you know who needs to hear it too. // Shownotes: CoolMomPicks.com // Many thanks to our awesome sponsor Life360, the leading family safety membership service, which offers comprehensive, easy-to-use safety features for life at home, online, and on the road, all through one simple app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since we started Cool Mom Picks nearly 15 years ago (!) our hearts have always been with small businesses, especially those run by women and moms. So we're devoting this episode to sharing some of our favorite ways to shop small this holiday -- including lots of tips for shopping local and helping your own community businesses, that you may not have considered. Also, we talk about why we're tipping. A lot. And we share some of our favorite gifts from our 2020 Small Business Holiday Gift Guide should you need some great ideas! // With gratitude to our sponsor, Life360, which is keeping families safe in so many ways. Try it free now for 7 days! // Shownotes: Cool Mom Picks podcast page // Chat with our Spawned community on FB // Thank you for listening, subscribing and your kind, generous, lovely 5-star reviews which helps support our own small, mom-run business! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Thanksgiving here, Kristen + Liz sat down for a really honest conversation about the holiday season during a pandemic: What we're missing, what we're grateful for, who we're judging, who we're trying not to judge, why women and moms bear most of the brunt of this (grrr), how our kids are doing,....and where are finding the silver linings. Even if you're cynical, they're there if you look for them! // Thank you for listening and subscribing. We're thankful for all of YOU. And thanks to our terrific sponsor, the Big Life Journal for kids and teens. Use code COOL10 for 10% off your order in time for holidays // Shownotes: Cool Mom Picks podcast page + Join our Spawned community chat on Facebook // Have a good one friends...be safe and healthy, and please wear a mask.! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We needed a little diversion because these last few weeks have been rough, so on this episode, we're chatting about what we're wearing these days. Are you wearing workout clothes? Or are you getting dressed and putting make-up every day? What are you buying? What will you never buy again? And how is that affecting your sense of body image? If you need a little break from the news, THIS IS IT! Thanks for listening! And huge thanks to our sponsor, The Connected Parent: An Expert Guide to Parenting in a Digital World, now available at Basic Books. Follow us on social: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and be sure to check our podcast page for all the links from the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you've had kids struggling with reading, writing, and other basic skills, you're not alone. (We've been there too!) Language expert and learning scientist Dr. Cindy Blanco is completely enlightening us with the connections between language and literacy, and let's just say...minds blown. We know you'll get some great tips here for helping even reluctant kids become readers, including a whole lot of tips that take the pressure off both of you. (Did you know cereal boxes count as reading? They do!) // This episode graciously brought to you by the new Duolingo ABC app for kids 3-7, FREE from the makers of the #1 educational language app in the world. Download today at the App Store.// Shownotes: Cool Mom Picks podcast page // Come chat with us in the Spawned FB community! // Don't forget to subscribe + leave us a nice review if you enjoy our show! - xo Kristen + Liz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Liz stumbled into a wonderful idea: Plan to do "one good thing today," each day. Just one. AScial media friends and followers responded with the most fantastic variety of ideas for their "one good thing," that we couldn't wait to share them on this week's episode to help inspire your own. We hope it gives you some positivity and lightness during some really tough times. We need it! // Grateful for our cool sponsor Gallileo Anywhere classes for kids. Save $5 off your first class thru 10/31/20 // Shownotes: Cool Mom Pick podcast page // Thanks for listening -- and for your kind reviews! (You know how we love those five-star reviews.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With gender reveal parties on our minds these days, we were so glad to chat with author Lisa Selin Davis about gender stereotypes and what parents need to do to start to changing them, all of which she talks about in her new book, Tomboy: The Surprising History and Future of Girls Who Dare to Be Different. And as always, we close out our show with our cool picks of the week. Follow us on social: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and feel free to say "hi" with an email at spawned@coolmompicks.com. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks for supporting our podcast by subscribing, downloading our episodes, and giving us a 5-star review. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you have an older child or teen who's just gone back to school, you're going to want to pay close attention to this week's episode of Spawned. Because we're talking with best-selling author, psychologist, and new podcaster Dr. Lisa Damour, who's here to elaborate on her her viral NY Times article, "The 2020 Back-to-School List for Teens' Emotional Well-Being." She helps us all learn a little more about 4 things we can do to support our kids right now through a school year that's bound to be like no other. To say the least. // Thanks so much for listening and subscribing, and for your kind 5-star reviews! (Write one: it only takes a few seconds.) // Find shownotes on Cool Mom Picks // Thanks to our sponsor, the Panasonic HomeHawk WINDOW security camera. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices