Chelsea Kaplan’s Musings About Life... After Birth

Each month on The Family Groove, I pen a column where I list the coolest lifestyle and home goods I see each month. (As a journalist, each day I get all sorts of info in press releases and even samples that I get to check out, all so I can report back to our readers, giving the yea or nay on everything! I know, it’s rough.) Here’s what I’m loving this month:

Vive’s Chaos to Connection Parenting Program

Kids—and teenagers especially—don’t come with instruction books, but if they did, I have a feeling the books would look a lot like the step-by-step Chaos to Connection parenting package from Vive, a group of mentors and parent coaches who work to ensure family wellness and healing. The parenting package includes a parenting workbook, four instructional parenting videos and real-time support from parent support coordinators—all of which offer practical parenting concepts and real-life strategies to help you, your kids and your family handle real-life situations.

($249.95, www.vivenow.com)

Dyson DC31 Handheld Vacuum

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a loyal Dyson vacuum girl, so when it came time for me to purchase a handheld unit to attack the Craisins, Cheerios and cheese cubes that perpetually litter my kitchen floor (and, admittedly, that of my car as well), I knew I couldn’t get some crappy ol’ Dustbuster. So I checked out Dyson’s latest model, a seriously cool-looking handheld vacuum ideal for quick pickups and spot cleaning. It features a dual power mode that gives longer run time for large jobs and extra suction for stubborn dirt. This thing is no joke, folks. It sucks in a good way, and renders my home and car spotless. If only every gadget in my life were this reliable and efficient…

($219.99, www.dyson.com)

Harumika Runway Showstopper Set

I’m convinced that the seeds for my fashion junkie-hood were sown in the ’80s when someone gave me a set of Fashion Plates, thin plastic plates that you aligned on a board, covered with paper and then rubbed over with colored pencils, creating a decidedly Lynda Carter-esque woman with interchangeable outfits. The (far superior) equivalent for our kids’ generation is undoubtedly Harumika’s Runway Showstopper Set. Budding Donna Karans (or Giorgio Armanis) can make fashion design easy and fun with the included pink dress form, stylus design tool, chic signature fabrics and fashion accessories. With the included Harumika camera, kids can take pictures of their favorite designs and upload them to the Harumika website to share their designs with friends, join a fashion show and feature the styles in their very own online “Look Book.” Any shot my truck-obsessed little boys will indulge me and give it a whirl?

($24.99, www.amazon.com)