Julie Marsh

Last week I went skiing with a friend while our kids were at school, because that's what you do in Colorado. But when she checked in with her kids, she discovered that neither one of them had a key to the house, and had to scramble to ma…

As you can see just from browsing our site, Minecraft and STEM toys rank high on our list of the coolest stuff for kids that's both fun and educational. So when we heard about Piper , which brings together coding, engineering, and Minecr…

S o you know I turn to you guys every time I have a question where I am out of my league. My 3-year-old is getting an iPad mini from his great-grandmother. I can't win this war, so I'm embracing it. But I need help with a case! He is 3, …

I have a sneaking suspicion that my children are smarter than me. One clue is that they really enjoy coding, which is definitely not my forté. Fortunately, there are tons of great resources out there to help them learn more about how to …

We've heard that developers are beta testing the latest versions of iOS and OS X, with a WiFi bug fix and blah blah blah blah. Let's be honest, we know that what most people really care about right now: emoji. More specifically, racially…

I admit it, I'm an app junkie, and so are my kids. But the in-app purchase prompts on some of our favorite games drive us all crazy.Because even when you've disabled in-app purchases on the devices your kids use (you have, right?), the a…

I usually stay away from licensed characters when decorating my kids' rooms, but I might have to make an exception for this awesome pixel duvet cover from Society6, featuring a lineup of cool pixelated superheroes . We've raved before ab…

I've pulled my share of all-nighters, relying on caffeine to keep me alert, or at least upright. But now there's a new high tech way to stay awake, thanks to the Spark watch . Spark looks like a sleek, modern watch, but it's what's insid…

If you're looking for a way to entertain your kids so that you and your Valentine can have a little alone time today, we've got just the thing. The adorable new Windy's Valentine Delight is a charming interactive story from Loud Crow, ma…

Confession: I'm not exactly sure where our thermometer is. On the rare occasions that my kids run a fever, I use the same method my mother did: forearm to the forehead. But the new Wishbone thermometer has to be the smartest way to take …

While I'm pretty cautious about my kids' use of social media, I love encouraging them to take pictures and hone their photography skills, whether we're on some exotic family vacation or just hanging out around the house. Of course kids n…

If you've got a valentine or special person who deserves a card but isn't spending the day with you this year, Paperless Post is always one of our go-to destination for the best ecards online. They've got thank you notes, invitations, an…

We rely so much on our tech gadgets that it's no surprise innovative charging solutions are such a hot commodity. We're always looking for a smarter, sleeker way to power up our phones and tablets while keeping our homes organized, and w…

If you're looking for a special Valentine's photo gift that goes beyond a photo in a frame, the Heart Photo Poster at Minted could be so special for the right person. 30 of your favorite photos are arranged in a heart shape and beautiful…

For me, the greatest Valentine's gifts are the ones that show how much you really get the person you love. And if you love a geek, we've got four awesomely nerdy mugs that could send exactly the right message on Valentine's Day. Package …

Around here, we're all starting to wonder whether TV will continue to be relevant to our kids who are growing up in the age of online media. In fact, next to playing Minecraft, my tweens' favorite way to spend their screen time is watchi…

The weather is so crazy lately that I wouldn't be surprised if the actual forecast was cloudy with a chance of meatballs, or some other spherical meat product. We all need a sense of humor with weather like this, and while we have a grea…

Ever wonder how to unsend an email, say... you hit send on an email, and then realize you had a typo, sent it a little too soon or included the wrong information? Or worse, wrote something and accidentally sent it to the last person you'…

I have tried a lot of fitness trackers over the past few years. If it can track my steps and my sleep, it’s probably spent some time on my wrist. So I know from experience that while different gadgets may look the same on paper, it’s har…

I've seen a lot of leather iPhone cases, and while I love the look of them, I've been leery about sticking my beautiful iPhone on one. What if it's not sticky enough and my phone crashes to the ground? What if it's so sticky that it gets…

We parents hear all the time about the importance of reading for kids. Fortunately there's a huge range of topics in outstanding kids' books to engage kids, from wizardry to classroom adventures to spy novels to fairy tales re-told. But …

It's hard to believe that in many places around the country, we're halfway through the school year. But if your kids are like mine, that also means they've been drilling their math facts for months, and they could probably use a change o…

Remember when we had to buy magazines like Tiger Beat to get the scoop on our teen crushes? These days, tweens can get up-to-the-minute details on their favorite Instagram and Vine stars, right on their smartphones. ( Niall, Harry, Liam,…

Fitness resolutions are the most popular of all New Year's resolutions, but they can be pretty hard to keep. That's why we keep making them year after year, unfortunately. But this cool and comfortable wireless headset, designed especial…