Cool picks for back-to-school gear

>>> and editor in chief of cool mom picks. good to see you.

>> good morning. glad to be back.

>> you're right on time.

>> oh yeah.

>> of course the backpack thing, lunch bag, all this stuff we need to know .

>> it's time.

>> you found an unexpected backpack situation.

>> we look for things off the beaten path, we look for things that are going to last and we definitely like to support smaller companies. we found a couple great options. one from a company called so young mother. they make beautiful toddler backpacks and big kid backpacks. the kind you won't outgrow so fast, with all due respect to elmo. they are $75, kind of expensive but do come with the lunch bag.

>> the next group is a charitable.

>> this is a company designed specifically to help impoverished kids go to school. every backpack you buy, they are great on its own, 50% goes to haiti, a kid that couldn't go to school.

>> nice. these are rugged.

>> they are we will made. i'm a mom, too, don't want to have to buy new every six months.

>> lunch box . kind of a tussle, metal, soft?

>> we have both. milk dot, a nice little small company. at milk dot.com, you can find solid colors but came out with cute patterns, structured, insulated on the inside. if you want to spend a little less. a company called lunchboxes.com, they have all kinds of the classic tin lunch boxes we had as kids.

>> do they come with thermoses.

>> they don't come with thermoses but they will fit a thermos.

>> the first week you break the thermos.

>> i know. hopefully you don't.

>> right.

>> this company cocoa lime, they make really cute styles. if you're looking for something off the beaten path, maybe not licensed characters. the nice thing we have discount codes for almost all of these, so they will be a little cheaper.

>> sandwich bags.

>> they do a really good job with reusable sandwich bags, $7.99. they wash. that will save awe lot of money with plastic bags in the long run and good for the earth.

>> customizable kicks.

>> this is the cutest thing, wings, lightning bolts, weave them through the eyelets, adorable on converse.

>> design your own.

>> starting at $44. kids through adults. these are, in fact, some of the most simple of the ones you make.

>> toms gone glittery.

>> you buy one, they donate to a kid in need. i have kids drooling over these.

>> perennial favorite, allergy labels can be a life saver if you have kids with allergies but new sets of tween labels when the kids have outgrown cutesier ones.

>> autograph.

>> personalized chore chart that looks just like your kid. can you save money by getting it printable so you can have quite a few of them.

>> the phones.

>> really great. like phones with training wheels for the perennial question, is my kid ready for a cell phone . they have incredible safety functions for