As a Cookie editor, the pressure to come bringing the coolest gift to a baby shower or kid's birthday party can be paralyzing. Do I drop a load of cash on some cute outfit that the child will wear for a second? Or on a toy more beautifully crafted than most of what I have in my own home? Fortunately, Target's in-house company makes amazing wooden toys that even my adult friends covet (and don't bankrupt me). Unfortunately, the selection online is limited, but go to the store and look for the Play Wonder brand. My favorites are the bowling set ($19.99) and any of the kitchenware and play food combos (all about $14.99). I've bought plastic versions of the bowling game, but Play Wonder's superior version has a heft and color palette that speaks not only to its quality but the brand's sensitivity to persnickety adults. My grownup friends also love the cookie baking kit, less for its look (which is still great) and more for its ability to occupy the kids just long enough to get dinner on the table.

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Gigi Schwartz  | Whippany, NJ

My kids love peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. Unfortunately, their nursery school doesn't allow peanuts or other nuts school because of food allergies. Trader Joe's Sunflower Seed Butter is the best alternative. It looks like peanut butter and tastes even better, plus it's low in fat and high in fiber. It makes both my kids and me very happy!

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My son Dash (3 1/2 years old) has become something of a picky eater of late, but he's also possessive about what's "his." So when he won't eat something I know he really likes, I just threaten to eat it myself. He takes it back and eats it immediately. I have a feeling I have mere weeks or days before he catches on and calls my bluff, but for the time being it's working nicely...

Here's what happens: He'll be refusing to eat something that's a favorite of his-say, grilled cheese-and I'll recognize this as simply an attempt to exert some authority over his situation, rather than a recently developed dislike. I'll say, "Dash, that grilled cheese [or whatever] looks really good-if you don't eat it really soon, I may have to eat it myself...." He tends to get a wary look at this point, and usually I have to follow up by actually grabbing for it-at which point he grabs it himself and takes a bite, looking triumphant and victorious over Daddy.

I usually feel bad, momentarily, about manipulating him in this way, but then I remember that he's been manipulating me since birth and will continue to do so...oh, forever. So I'm really just getting a bit of my own back.

I have not yet tried the classic "You gonna eat that?" line, but perhaps that's the next step.

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Like every girl, I am obsessed with shoes. After a recent closet clean out, I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I own more than 60 pairs of shoes in my NYC apartment (not counting the less popular pairs that I keep at my parents' home in California). How do I fit these in my walk-in closet-less bedroom? First, I took a digital picture of each pair and created a shoes file so I can scroll through the thumbnails to remember what I have. I keep shoes that are out of the current season (like boots in the summer or sandals/flip flops in the winter) packed away in stacked shoe boxes inside my tiny closet until the appropriate season. I also have a shoe organizer hanging on my door that holds a surprising number of my shoes that I like to wear year-round. With a little organization, I can guarantee that I'll be well-heeled all the time!

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Newspaper serves dual purpose in my house...before recycling the Sunday New York Times, my son and I create swords, hats, oversize oragami, and tents from the paper, rather than just playing with just the usual board games or toys. It's a great outlet for our imaginations!

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Joelle Dowe | Austin, TX

A week from today we are taking a nine- hour roadtrip to El Paso, Texas. My four-year-old is obsessed with "potty words" (PooPoo, Pottyhead, PeePee Mommie, etc.), so our game that really helps curb the potty words is that we say ALL the grossest (age appropriate potty words) and have a huge laugh! They get three miles to get them ALL out of their system and not get in trouble. So they say the grossest things a two-year-old and a four-year-old can say. Our cats constantly have hairballs so they say "hairball catbox stinky" or "throwup yuckie." Usually after all that potty talk we can go on to change the subject onto "I Spy" or some other more "mainstream" roadtrip game.

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When I was little I was obsessed with fairies. Probably because my mother taught me how to make fairy rings, which are a special places for fairies to dance and feast. Making a fairy ring is an easy and fun thing to do with a child: the idea is simply to put flower petals in a circle outside, preferably near moss, which my mom always said was "fairy grass." Then you add a snack to lure the fairies into your ring (breadcrumbs are perfect fairy food), and you leave the ring alone overnight. Important: you can't check to see if the fairies have come until the next morning. If they have come (and of course, they always do) the petals will be strewn in a haphazard fashion from all the dancing they got up to and the breadcrumbs will be gone.

Most important of all to any child, the fairies will leave a token of thanks: it's usually something as tiny as a single candy placed in the center of the ring under a petal or leaf. Frankly it doesn't matter what the fairies leave: anything looks wondrous when you've been anticipating it all night.

I made many fairy rings as a kid. Now that I have my own little girl I have an excuse to make them again. Granted ours are hardly ever nearly as elaborate as the fancy one pictured here (since I don't usually photograph them for Cookie!), but you can get as basic or as carried away as you want. For this one, we collected acorn caps for breadcrumb bowls and added tiny ceramic bonsai houses (for fairies to sleep in after all that partying). My daughter also placed a marble in the middle to make things extra-magical. Morning of course brought a fairy gift: a single strawberry Mentos in tin foil.

Even if you don't have a garden you can still make a fairy ring: I've made them on decks in deep winter (snow fairies also like to dance and feast); I've made them out of pine cones and stones...Not only do fairy rings play to kids' imaginations, but they also show that even the smallest present can be a treasure.

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Angela Tung | Frankfurt, GERMANY

I love the convenience of microwave popcorn, but I'm not a fan of all the chemicals and preservatives in store-bought brands. So, I've come up with an easy way to make perfect popcorn without the additives (or the greasy pot): Mix desired amount of popcorn kernels with canola or olive oil (it also works without any oil).  Pour the popcorn mixture into a brown paper lunch bag.  Fold over top of bag so popcorn won't escape.  Pop in microwave on high for 3 to 4 minutes, and remove when the popping slows down.  Open the bag carefully and season with salt or your other favorite topping.  Pour into serving bowl or eat directly out of the bag, and enjoy!

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Our bedtime routine with our older son Henry goes as follows: my husband, Chris, reads him a story or two and I make one up while tickling his back. My story always involves a character called the Baby Dragon, who is usually separated from his mom, and a boy named Henry, who becomes the dragon's guardian and savior and eventually reunites the Baby Dragon with his mother. The recurrence of "a boy named Henry," or the idea that his namesake could appear in the third-person, somehow never gets old. And whether the characters have to take a magic carpet ride or a dozen balloons to find the Mommy Dragon, I infuse the stories with enough details from Henry's real life that he recognizes them. I think I think the key is to give equal weight to the magical and the quotidian so that kids see their lives as something special.

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I love Wendy Mullins' retro-preppy designs for her Built By Wendy line, but the pieces aren't exactly easy on the wallet. So when she released Simplicity sewing patterns a couple years ago, I couldn't wait to try one out. After serious deliberation, I brought this coat pattern home with me.

But then I opened it up. Hmm. It had a lining. And quite a lot of pieces to cut out. Also, I wasn't quite sure how to make a buttonhole. (While I like to fancy myself a bit of a craft maven, I hadn't sewn from a real pattern since I was about 10 years old--and I was beginning to remember why.) The pattern sat untouched for months. Until I broke up with my boyfriend.

As it turns out, there's nothing like a breakup to refuel your creative ambitions. Suddenly all my free time was completely my own, and I was craving a new project. Taking a stab at the coat seemed just ambitious (okay, frustrating) enough to drown out the overanalyzing in my head.

I ripped out a few of the seams multiple times before getting them right, but after much duress, I'm pleased to say I ended up with something resembling an actual garment. The equestrian-print lining is my favorite part.

Maybe you know some of these books, but I'm guessing not as I don't hear much about them anymore. They're were my favorites growing up, so I thought I'd share the list in hopes that they become your kids' favorites, too.

The Tomten: This haunting adaptation of a Scandinavian poem about the Tomten - a little elfin creature who lives in a hayloft and is never seen by humans - will captivate children who are into that creepy/dreamy literature phase. (I think this can be read to a child 4 and over - I probably had it read to me at around age 6.)

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes: This 1939 book about a country bunny who dreams of delivering Easter eggs but winds up with dozens of baby bunnies instead is a lovely feminist parable (she shows the doubting Jack Rabbits in the end). (The reading level is ages 4 to 8, but I think moms can read this to kids 2 and over.)

The Garden of Abdul Gasazi: Not everything is what it seems in this tale of a young boy and a dog who wander into a magician's garden. (This one is a bit haunting and more sophisticated. I think my parents read it to me when I was 5, and I probably reread it myself at 7 or 8.)

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase: Why does no one read this anymore? The best of the orphan books, in my opinion, this chapter book is about kids, an evil uncle, and wolves! (Kids can read this at age 9 or 10. I think I read it when I was 11.)

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I remember getting my very first manicure. I ruined it within five minutes. (I was a kindergartner getting my nails polished for a charity fashion show and I decided to ruffle my fingers through the salon's shag carpet before they were dry.) Decades later I'm still incredibly impatient when it comes to manicures, so I was thrilled when my oh-so wise mother gave me a bottle of OPI Drip Dry. You just squeeze a drop on each nail within a minute of applying your last coat and the polish will be set in a minute and completely dry within five. So now I don't have to worry about smudging my nails with keys, coffee mugs...or shag carpet.

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Marialisa Calta | Albany, VT

There's lots of music for kids, but finally there's a CD specifically for parents...about parenting. Lewis Franco, a singer/songwriter from Vermont, has composed tunes that range from the hilarious to the poignant and speak directly to the parenting experience. Sample lyrics: "My kid once woke me/ just to tell me his age" (from "Rude Awakening") and "Brush your teeth/Brush your teeth Honey/Don't spit on your sister" (from "Honey Days"). When I put this CD on it brings me right back to those sweet "honey days" of parenthood.

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