Here’s What To Know If You’re Vaccinated — But Your Kids Aren’t Yet — According to Experts
School is almost out and many families are planning summer plans and potential vacations after a year spent primarily inside. As more and more people try to reclaim a sense of “normalcy” in a post-vaccine world, many parents might be wondering if it’s safe for unvaccinated children to play together, hop on planes, and hug family and friends.
May 31, 2021
If Your Tweens or Teens Are on Social Media, Go Do This Right Now
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. There’s no shortage of coverage on generational wars. The anti-millennial discourse has shifted to rhetoric about Boomers and Karens and jokes about Tide Pods. But as an elder millennial myself, I feel somehow centered in all of it. Defending myself from the older generation (millennials are not teenagers!
May 30, 2021
5 Dinners Your Toddlers Will Actually Eat, from Michelle Piccolo of Feeding Our Toddlers
If you’ve got little eaters around your table, be it toddlers or bigger kiddos, I can tell you from experience that Michelle Piccolo is someone you want to follow. Soon after her son Jack began eating solids, Michelle focused her cooking efforts on creating wholesome foods for her little eater that were easy, flavorful, and fun. And it wasn’t long after that she started her food blog, Feeding Our Toddlers, to share her dinner ideas with other parents.
May 29, 2021
Pottery Barn Kids is Having a Huge Sale — and We Shopped the Best Picks for You
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. With all the Memorial Day sales happening this weekend, there’s no shortage of great deals, but if we had to pick one to shop, it’d be Pottery Barn’s Warehouse Sale, spanning all their brands, including Pottery Barn Kids.
May 28, 2021
This Designer Created Her Book-Loving Son’s Dream Bedroom — Plus, Her Tips on Designing a Space Your Kids Won’t Age Out Of
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids.
May 28, 2021
The Top 8 IKEA Food Items for Families
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. It’s easy to miss the IKEA Marketplace after a long day of labyrinth-navigating and warehouse-picking.
May 27, 2021
The Top 10 Road Trips for Families in America in 2021
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Six years ago, the first road trip my husband and I took as new parents was a journey from the San Francisco Bay Area to Southern Oregon, for a funeral. Our 1-year-old had always been generally happy riding in the car, but she chose this opportunity to snooze and scream, alternately, every 15 minutes.
May 26, 2021
Is the Family Car a Disaster? Try These Tips Before Your Next Road Trip.
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. About five years ago, I was interviewing a woman for a magazine story when we veered off-topic to her family’s new-to-them Westfalia. She mentioned how life-changing the shift to the camper van had been.
May 26, 2021
Ask Maxwell: When Is the Best Time to Travel with Kids on a Road Trip?
Is it better to travel during the day (have to entertain kids, stop for bathrooms), or travel during the night so kids sleep? But then at least one parent has some serious adjustment to their sleep once they arrive.CathyDear Cathy,Yes! It’s road trip time finally after over a year of being stuck at home, so thanks for the question. I hope I can be helpful here, but I do want to say that any good answer could be very different for different families.
May 26, 2021
The 12 Weirdest and Most Wonderful Roadside Attractions Across America
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Nothing compared to the freedom of going on family road trips as a child. Rolling down the windows in the backseat, wind blowing through my hair, I literally watched the world go by. The open road opened doors to an otherworldly life where rules were bent and adventure triumphed over routine.
May 25, 2021
8 Very Simple 5-Ingredient Family Meals to Cook in a Rental House
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Yay, vacation! It’s been too long for many of us and we are so ready to hit the road and experience life in a new place.
May 25, 2021
A Week of Family-Friendly Low-Carb Meals
If you’re following a low-carb diet, for whatever reason, it can be a little tricky to follow your own diet while still feeding your family well. You don’t want to be too restrictive with what you serve your kids, but you also don’t want to have to make two separate meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.The goal of this Power Hour is to alleviate some of this stress and strain.
May 24, 2021
Ask Maxwell: The Time Capsule – Another Idea to Keep Children’s Art
Hey, Maxwell, I heard that when you were a teacher you kept a box of your students’ artwork for twenty years. Is that true? What happened to it? LukeDear Anon,It is true! Back in January of 2000, I was in my second to last year of teaching elementary school. As my class and I crossed the millennium mark and all the fears of Y2K subsided, I had the idea of asking my class to write down where they would be in 20 years, 2020, when I would call them up to come back to school for a reunion.
May 19, 2021
What I’m Gifting My Pregnant Friends from Parachute’s Gorgeous New Baby Line
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. You know those friends that are more like family? And then they get pregnant and have families of their own? There’s nothing like it. Those are the people you really want to cherish and spoil.
May 19, 2021
The Best Books for Growing Emotional Intelligence
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. In a year of multi-tiered catastrophes, parents, teachers, and caregivers have been uniquely challenged in guiding children through our radical situation. We need resources to answer children’s questions and give them frameworks through which to understand their own and others’ experiences.
May 19, 2021
The 12 Coolest Outdoor Toys to Give Them the Best Summer Ever
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. The first blush of warm weather always feels like a rebirth to me, but with hope for the pandemic’s abatement on the horizon (huzzah!), I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited for summer.
May 19, 2021
Our Best Family Dinner Decision Does So Much More than Feed Our Kids
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. One of the things we love most about living in a larger city is the accessibility of cuisines from around the world. In addition to having delightful meals to try, we think international food is an opportunity to expand our boys’ palates and help them become better global citizens.
May 19, 2021
10 Tasty Car Snacks to Pack for Long Trips
If you’re planning a long car ride, aside from mapping out where you’re going, the second most important thing to organize is your snack situation. A growling stomach is a dangerous thing to have when you’re in such tight quarters. Rather than settling for unhealthy roadside stops, keep a few wholesome snacks on hand to reach for whenever you need them.
May 18, 2021
The Top Family Road Trip Tips from Real Parents
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. My best memories of being on the road with my parents are the pit stops at gas stations. My mom would hand me a five-dollar bill ($10 if we were flush!) and let me go wild in the convenience store. Then I’d snack happily all the way to our destination, oblivious to the sea of crumbs and wrappers littering our backseat.
May 14, 2021
Ask Maxwell: Should I Wallpaper My Daughter’s Room?
My daughter wants to make over her room. She wants to hang wallpaper. Should I do it? MeghanDear Meghan,I admire your daughter for her adventurous spirit, and I also understand your hesitancy. Wallpaper can seem like a big commitment and with children changing their minds all the time it doesn’t always make a lot of sense. Here’s what I would say: go for it by transforming ONE wall and don’t do traditional wallpaper!
May 12, 2021
The Easy Meal I Pack for Sports Nights with the Family
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. I can’t say I had a strong idea of what kind of parent I was going to be. Even as someone who loves a plan and a schedule, I went into this thing sort of like, “Well, I gotta wait to see what I’m working with!
May 12, 2021
9 Tools That Keep Kids Busy and Completely Satisfied in The Kitchen While You Cook
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. When my 4-year-old son asked if he could “ help” make breakfast recently, I immediately had a flashback to that memorable scene in “Big Daddy” where five-year-old Julian goes to pour himself some cereal and promptly drops the barely-open gallon of milk all over the kitchen.
May 12, 2021
The Most Fun Bath Toys for Kids (Beyond the Rubber Duckie)
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. When we first started bathing our son in the regular tub instead of the bitsy infant one, he was so excited that he was allllllll over the place — pulling himself up here, bonking his head there. Add water to the mix and it was nothing short of terrifying.
May 12, 2021
This Incredibly Functional Home is Full of Great Design Solutions — Including a IKEA Hack for the Mudroom
Name: Stacie and Joseph Abdallah, their sons Nehemiah (7), Noah (5), Nolan (3)Location: Atlanta, GeorgiaThis piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. DIY is all about problem solving, and for former school counselor, Stacie Abdallah, it comes naturally.
May 12, 2021
The Essential Mealtime Skill I Learned as a New Parent During the Pandemic
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. When I was growing up, every week started out with Monday Leftover Night. My parents called it “King’s Table Night,” named after a long-defunct buffet in their native Seattle.
May 12, 2021
This Dreamy Kids’ Bedroom Is Packed with Stylish Organizing Solutions
If you hop over to designer Sarah Sherman Samuel’s Instagram page on any given day, there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself scrolling, scrolling, and scrolling … while saving every other image along the way. Packed with inspo from both clients’ spaces and her own, her feed highlights her signature aesthetic: all things clean, contemporary, and California cool (even though she now lives in her native Michigan).
May 11, 2021
Ask Maxwell: How to Let Go of Kids’ Art Without Feeling Guilty?
I am confronting an empty nest and finally have time to go through all those stashes of art. I’m ready to let go, but HOW? A Viking burial pyre of burning art? We seem to have gone through a heavy phase of paint-your-own pottery, with some hideous results … (but as soon as I think of smashing them, it’s like “Ooh! Then we could make a mosaic with the pieces!” and there’s a whole new thing to not be able to throw away).
May 5, 2021
5 Tips for Sparking Creativity for Work while Raising Little Kids from a Mom and Entrepreneur
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. When you’re in the thick of raising little humans, it can seem somewhat incomprehensible to carve out time for a creative project of your own. Especially if childcare isn’t in the cards at the moment.
May 5, 2021
The Best Drugstore Sunscreens for Kids, According to a Parent — Plus, Tips from a Pediatric Dermatologist
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. When our daughter was just a baby, we ordered the bougiest, highest-SPF sunscreen we could find. I popped it in the diaper bag and we were good to go — until I stopped carrying the diaper bag. After that, I couldn’t for the life of me remember to grab sunscreen when we left the house.
May 5, 2021
The Perfect Easy Brunch Menu for Mother’s Day
It’s almost Mother’s Day and the world is still in transition. Some are beginning to see things slowly open up around them, while others remain hunkered down in quarantine. Yet the tradition of celebrating our mothers remains. It’s always been a sunny sort of holiday, and we think it’s more important than ever to lean into brightness.There’s no “usual” this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t honor the mothers in our lives.
May 5, 2021
This Simple Playdough Recipe Lets You Make and Bake Playdough Sculptures
My 2-year-old son loves arts and crafts; the more tactile, the better. So it should come as no surprise that playdough is his favorite. His interest with the modeling material and fervor for making unique sculptures is a treat to watch. The only con is keeping a steady supply of playdough on hand, which can be a costly endeavor.The less expensive brands dry out too quickly even when sealed, while the more popular (expensive) brands are often hidden in other toys or smashed into the carpet.
May 5, 2021
How to Thrive in a Multigenerational Home, According to 5 Asian American Families
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Until I was a teenager, I was raised in a multigenerational home, with my parents, brother, and paternal grandparents, and, on occasion, an aunt or uncle or cousin who used our home as a waypoint on their immigration journey.
May 5, 2021
How Brunch Keeps My Busy Family Present — with Tips for Creating Your Own Brunch Tradition at Home
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. The air hung hazy and filled the kitchen with the smells of caramelized onions and potatoes frying on the stove. We caught the whiff of caraway seed in the sausage links under foil keeping warm. My dad loved making brunch on Sunday.
May 5, 2021
The Adorable Mother’s Day Cake That’s Even Better Than a Hand-Drawn Card
I enjoy baking with my 4-year-old, but as most parents know it’s not exactly a relaxing endeavor. Kids need a lot of supervision, and things can get unbelievably chaotic. It’s the real definition of stress baking. Then, I discovered food markers, which have become such a great way to work on baking projects with my 4-year-old.
May 4, 2021
The Unexpected Baby Gift That Became My Favorite Thing in My Kitchen
When my first child was born, my husband’s coworker gave us a wooden step stool as a baby gift. It was a beautiful: solid wood, about 12 inches tall, white with lavender treads and our daughter’s name carved in it in a sweet font. That’s nice, I thought, but why would anyone ever gift an apartment-dweller such a large gift?Well, obviously she was an experienced mom!
May 3, 2021
The Best (Free!) Way to Store Your Kids’ Art
It’s difficult to imagine, in advance, the sheer enormousness of actual, physical things that kids come with: the clothes, the shoes, the sports equipment; the books, the games, and the toys. And then there’s the paper. No one prepares you for how long and never-ending the paper trail is. It starts before they’re even born, with doctors’ records, books, and all those special baby shower cards. And the deluge never stops.
May 3, 2021