Our Alexa organization series: The best Alexa calendar skills
Next up in our Alexa Organization Series, we’re sharing some of our favorite Alexa calendar skills to help you keep your family organized. Whether you want to add events to a joint calendar, keep up with a shared to-do list, or just make sure you do not miss the next...
Our Alexa organization series: The best Alexa fitness skills
We're getting organized in the new year, and I've found that using my Amazon Echo -- which is strategically placed in our kitchen, the hub of our house -- can be a huge help, including fitness. Yes, we're not kidding. In this post, some of our favorite Alexa fitness...
Our Alexa organization series: The best Alexa finance skills
Next up in our Alexa Organization Series, we're sharing some of our favorite Alexa finance skills to help you keep your family budget it check. Whether you want to track your investments or keep up with your spending, even pay you bills, here are 4 finance skills for...
Curb Your Screen Addiction series: Narrating your phone use aloud
Next up in our Curb Your Screen Addiction series, we're featuring our easiest tip yet. This one comes from Kristen and Liz's interview with The Art of Screen Time author and NPR commentator Anya Kamenetz, who offers some excellent, non-alarmist advice on how to handle...
Our Alexa organization series: The best Alexa meal planning skills
With the new year starting up, if you're like me, you've got organization on your mind. I've found that using my Amazon Echo -- which is strategically placed in our kitchen, the hub of our house -- can be a huge help. So, we're sharing some of favorite organization...
The Otterbox x Pop Sockets phone case is just made for our adorably clumsy kids
One thing I know about my daughter: She looooves her Pop Socket grip on the back of her phone -- and she also tends to drop said phone. A lot. We insisted on an Otterbox phone case for protection long ago, but I may be willing to let her switch it up, thanks to the...
How to use the Siri Shortcuts app to make your life a whole lot easier
I'm always discovering new tricks on my iPhone, but figuring out the Siri Shortcuts app has been a total game changer. This feature lets you set up voice commands to automate the tasks you perform over and over again, like navigating to your kid's school or paying the...
Thinking Parent: A family that games together stays together
As a mom of four kids, I get all sorts of questions asked of me by friends and strangers alike. You can probably guess what they are. "How do you do it?" "Do you ever sleep?" and then a question about whether my kids get along, which is typically a welcome change from...
Curb Your Screen Addiction series: Turning off your notifications
Next up in our series on how to curb your screen addiction, we're tackling the issue of notifications. Back when I first got a smartphone, those little red numbers next to my apps filled me with excitement. Someone had messaged me! Or liked my photo! Today, I feel...
5 apps I started using that changed my life this year
Yes, we're all still getting a lot of mileage out of "there's an app for that" because...well, it's true. Especially on iOS, though Android is doing a little better keeping up these days. Over the past year, there are a few apps that I've started using that have...
The Apple product warranty you may not know about…but should
Turns out the Apple One-Year Warranty is way more flexible than you might realize. Or as the store associate told me on a recent visit, "you got Beats headphones that are not working or coming apart in any way? Just bring it in and we'll give you a new one." At a time...
Curb Your Screen Addiction series: Using the grayscale setting on your smartphone
As we continue our New Year's series on how to curb your screen addiction, I'm excited to share our next tip since it's been one that's been so helpful in managing my own tech habits. Plus, it's a change you can make in literally 5 minutes or fewer, without getting up...
Tips & Tricks to Make Life (Way!) Easier
Our Alexa organization series: The best Alexa finance skills
Next up in our Alexa Organization Series, we're sharing some of our favorite Alexa finance skills to help you keep your family budget it check. Whether you want to track your investments or keep up with your spending, even pay you bills, here are 4 finance skills for...
Curb Your Screen Addiction series: Narrating your phone use aloud
Next up in our Curb Your Screen Addiction series, we're featuring our easiest tip yet. This one comes from Kristen and Liz's interview with The Art of Screen Time author and NPR commentator Anya Kamenetz, who offers some excellent, non-alarmist advice on how to handle...
Curb Your Screen Addiction series: Turning off your notifications
Next up in our series on how to curb your screen addiction, we're tackling the issue of notifications. Back when I first got a smartphone, those little red numbers next to my apps filled me with excitement. Someone had messaged me! Or liked my photo! Today, I feel...
Curb Your Screen Addiction series: Make a tech-free sacred space in your home
Who else here is planning to curb your screen addiction in 2019? As parents, we often spend so much time worrying about our kids' screen time (and how to preserve my sanity during a 700th viewing of Cars 3), but everything I've heard and read points to me as setting...
Our top 10 most popular Cool Mom Tech posts of 2018. Happy New Year!
From questionable Snapchat stories to gadgets that make our lives easier, we rounded up our top 10 most popular Cool Mom Tech posts of 2018. Happy New Year! Related: Our 10 most popular posts of 2017 10. How to figure out which categories Facebook has assigned to...
14 Netflix fake ball drop shows to trick your kids into an early bedtime this New Year’s Eve
The Netflix fake ball drop has been a total parents' New Year's Eve lifesaver for us. If you haven't heard of this magic yet, you've got to check it out. If your kids are too young (or you're too tired, ha!) to stay up till the new year, just turn one of these family...
Our most popular Spawned podcast episodes of 2018
We’ve covered a ton of topics on our Spawned with Kristen and Liz podcast in 2018. From time saving hacks to how to be a happier parent, we’ve had a blast chatting with each other, and our esteemed guests, about parenting and parenting culture. And we hope you’ve...
Binge watch free television during Roku’s first Stream-a-thon starting December 26
If there's ever a time when we deserve some extra hours parked in front of a screen, it's the week after Christmas when we are all coming down from the excitement of the holidays. And if you are a Roku customer, make sure you check out Roku's first ever Stream-a-thon...
Merry Christmas, cool parents!
Here’s hoping that all your gadgets come fully charged, your cables stay untangled, and you have all the YouTube tutorials you need readily available. Because paper instructions are so 2017. Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday! – Kristen, Liz, and Team...
20 cool last-minute digital subscription gifts for everyone on your list
If you're looking for an amazing last-minute Christmas gift that the people on your list will love, consider a digital subscription gift. It takes up no space in their home, yet provides hours of entertainment and fun. We're thinking way beyond another year of Netflix...
This package thief versus glitter bomb video is the best thing ever.
I saw this YouTuber's glitter bomb video going around Facebook yesterday and somehow avoided clicking on it until today. Well, let's just say I'm glad I did because it was well worth the 10 minutes I spent watching the whole entire thing. YouTuber and former NASA...
14 last-minute tech gifts that will still arrive before Christmas. Thanks, Amazon Prime!
Even if you haven't finished your holiday shopping yet, we've got you covered with these tech gifts you can still order on Amazon Prime and receive before Christmas. Brilliant, right? And, true to form, these last minute Amazon Prime tech gifts are all exceptional, if...
4 clever ways to track Santa this Christmas Eve (or, you know, now!)
Parents, the vague promise that Santa will come sometime while your kids are asleep just isn't working anymore. Our kids are too tech savvy. So, for those who are anxious to track Santa's every move this Christmas Eve, we've found three cool sites that will let you do...
Cleansebot: The Roomba-like germ-killing robot for your hotel bed (Or, your home bed. We won’t judge.)
We've all seen the late-night news exposés with hosts shining black lights in hotel rooms, and let's just say we wish we could forget them. But now we have no reason to worry when we scrunch up next to our partners (and children, let's be honest here) in our hotel...
7 fantastic iPad apps for 6 year olds that our readers swear by
Anyone on the hunt for fantastic iPad apps for 6 year olds? This topic came up recently in our Out Tech Your Kids Facebook Group, and yay, our members shared their tried and true favorites, both educational and just for fun. So whether you're just looking to freshen...