For the second time this week, it looks like schools will open late. On Tues. Jan. 7th, the forecasters say…snow and ice are on the way.
We collected a list of resources for school and business closings.

We want to know where do you get your information about closings?  And tell us if you think schools are being delayed or closed at the right times?

As you may have noticed, I rarely posted during the holidays. Although I did bring my laptop on vacation, I spent some of my time offline recharging my own batteries—playing with the kids, walking on the beach, reading and enjoying lots of delicious food with friends and family.

Being away from home (and starting a new year) often gives me a chance to see my life from a new perspective and the opportunity to reflect on what’s important to me and my family.

When I think of home and my everyday routine with my family, I think about the community where we live. There has been a lot of talk recently about supporting our community and slogans that say “Buy Local”—but what does that really mean? In an effort to reduce our carbon footprint and create a more sustainable community, do we buy from the local toy store and not at Target? Shop from local farmers when possible? Makes sense, but the choices do not always seem so obvious. When I think about my community, I also think about all the people and places my family and I connect with everyday beyond our friends and family.

What would we miss if one of them was gone? Some of the things on my list include: nearby parks, neighborhood schools, the YMCA, the Rochambeau library, the #42 bus that runs along Hope Street, Seven Stars coffee, and the many other wonderful shops and restaurants right in my Summit neighborhood. I am also thankful to have RISD and the RISD Museum, Providence Children’s Museum, Brown University, and good hospitals within a few miles from my home as well as amazing theater, music, and dance all year long at many venues around Providence. I love Roger Williams Park Zoo, India Point Park, the Audubon Society, and having access to the state library system. I often buy handmade from local artists and I listen to WRNI every chance I get. I know there is more on my list, but you get the idea. I really love being a part of this community.

To me “buying local” means buying into the community in which we live. Supporting all these services and business with our money, our time, and our praise and referrals in whatever amounts we have to spare is essential to keeping our community alive.

My mission for Kidoinfo from the beginning has been to bring together everything for families—from the well-known institutions to the hidden treasures—providing a place where we can all get to know one another a little better and support one another in the community. When we share, we all benefit. As I bring Kidoinfo into the new year, my focus remains the same.

Stay tuned for some cool new features on Kidoinfo and more opportunities to learn about our neighborhoods, including local businesses (big and small) and meeting the parents who live here. I always like to know what you are thinking about. Please share what you love about your community and what you’re planning in 2009!

Kidoinfo wants safe and creative toys for our children and we support artists and their handmade goods all year long. But as some of you may already know, handmade goods in North America and Europe are under attack. This is a call to action.

You’ve heard about the large toy manufacturers who outsource production to China (and other countries) selling toys with dangerously high lead content, unsafe small parts, improperly secured and easily swallowed small magnets, and toys made from chemicals that made kids sick. Almost every problem toy in 2007 was made in China.

The US Congress rightly recognized that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) lacked the authority and staffing to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the United States, so in August of ‘08, they passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). Among the good things the legislation does, like banning lead and phthalates in toys, it mandates third-party testing and certification for ALL toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.

These changes will be easy for the large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with—those who make thousands of units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and updating their plastics molds to include batch labels. But for small North American and European toymakers—especially those who hand-craft their goods—the costs of mandatory testing (up to $4,000 per toy) will likely drive them out of business. The CPSIA forgot to exclude the class of toys that have earned and kept the public’s trust.

Unless this law is modified, as of February 10, 2009, handmade toys made by small toymakers will no longer be legal in the USA. And we will all suffer if this happens. Thriving small businesses are crucial to the financial health of our nation. Let’s amend the CPSIA so that all businesses large and small are able to comply and survive.

Thanks for this update from Cecilia Leibovitz of CraftsburyKids.com and the Handmade Toy Alliance.

With your help, we can change this law. Here’s How:

1. Sign the petition.

2. Vote to modify the CPSIA on change.org. Your vote will help bring this important issue to President-Elect Obama on Inauguration Day.

3. Please write to your US Congress Person and Senator to request changes in the CPSIA. Use this sample letter or write your own.

4. Join the “save handmade” Facebook group.

5. Join the CPSIA discussion group.

6. Tell your friends—please forward this post.

Although rain is in the forecast I am sure we will have plenty more snow this winter for sledding. Read Katy’s sled review and decide which will be your choice ride.

This winter we have been testing sleds on Suicide Hill in Barrington. These are the sleds we can heartily recommend, and quick descriptions of their features.

Zipfy Mini Luge
Functionality: Lightweight and easy to transport. The Zipfy glides easily, even on the merest incline—providing a thrillingly speedy descent down Suicide Hill, but also an amusing-enough ride on our almost flat lawn. Works on packed snow or fresh powder.
Best for: Solo riders who like to sit upright while sledding. Easy to ride and maneuver, but not easy for a child to ride on with a parent. Everyone from our tough-as-nails three-year-old friend to a two-hundred-something pound gentleman came back up the hill with huge grins.
How it looks: Bright red, with the curves of a Porsche and a distinctly stick-shifty looking handle. (Available in a rainbow of colors—including hot pink!)
Price: $40

For inspiration, you can find outrageous videos online in which people in the Alps race on Zipfys through slalom courses.

(more…)

My family and I arrived back home yesterday after a lovely vacation on Cape Cod in time to ring in the New Year with friends and fondue. I loved the snowfall and our sledding adventures today.

I just wanted to check in to wish all of you a wonderful New Year. My holidays have been full of fun and festivities, mixed with a little rest and relaxation. Hope yours were full of whatever you wished for. I have enjoyed hearing from so many readers over the year—about what you like and hearing everyone’s ideas about everything from parenting to cool places to take our kids. I am looking forward to another fabulous year being part of the Kidoinfo community—sharing more great tips, reviews, creative ideas, local events and more.

Here are a few ideas of things to do with your family during vacation.

• Check the Kidoinfo events calendar for fun things to do.

• Check out passes from the library to visit local venues for free or reduced rates.

• Read the Kidoinfo Top 10 Things To Do During Winter Vacation

• Make New Year’s Eve a Bright Night.

The weekly Kidoinfo Weekend Picks will resume after the holidays. If you are not already a subscriber, sign up now to receive the Kidoinfo newsletter.

Your local library has passes granting you access to many local venues that can be checked out just like a book. Use them to visit museums, aquariums, farms, and more for free or at greatly reduced rates.

I know some parents who turn it into a game called Library Pass Roulette. They pack up their kids for a daytrip (with plenty of snacks, diapers, and a change of clothes) and visit their local library to see what passes are available. If there’s a pass for the Museum of Science (pictured above), that is where they go that day. If you are more of a planner, you can reserve the passes ahead of time just as you reserve books.

Here’s a list of libraries around Rhode Island and the passes they offer. I recommend you confirm discount and pass availability with your local library.

(more…)

By Katy Killilea
On a chilly day, as my whole family was indoors doing stuff alone/together—hunting for snowboard bindings in the basement, organizing Pokemon cards, reading comic books, and unloading the dishwasher—it hit me. This is my kids’ 1970s. And Ray LaMontagne is their James Taylor.

I do not mean that Ray LaMontagne sounds like James Taylor. I mean that he plays the same role in my family that JT did for me in the 70s. It’s what my parents put on the record player when they weren’t putting something on for a particular reason. It was the soundtrack to our ordinary lives—it’s what Barbie and Ken listened to in their camper and what was playing as I chatted on the phone with my boyfriend, Donnie Osmond. And thirty years later, I still love that music as fervently as the pageboy-ed fans with the giant spectacles most often seen in audiences of James Taylor’s PBS specials.

Ray LaMontagne is a singer-songwriter with a rough, eerie, warm voice and three gorgeous albums, including his new release, Gossip in the Grain. I love it as much as the other two. I can’t leave it in a stack on my turntable to demonstrate my love for it. Instead it is in constant rotation in my iTunes, and my kids don’t ever comment on it but I do notice them singing along and doing that shoulder-shrug-to-the-beat that little boys do unconsciously when they’re feeling the music. I like Ray LaMontagne the same way I like Nick Drake and he’s even a little bit Van Morrison-ish. But he is, for sure, something all his own, not just another lovely, raspy voice.

What’s playing on your family soundtrack these days?

Looking for something to do with your kids during vacation? Here is my Top Ten List of things to do - many are Free and Cheap. Check the Kidoinfo calendar and blog for more ideas.

1. Building Books. Visit the the David Macaulay exhibit at the RISD Museum of Art (Free / Cheap)*

2. Go ice skating outdoors at the River Island Ice Skating Rink in Woonsocket. (Free / Cheap)

3. Book a Rhode Trip. Visit a new library with your children. (Free / Cheap)

4. Set up a playdate swap with a friend. (Free / Cheap)

5. All aboard. Take the commuter train to Boston.

6. Check out classic movies from your local library; Red Balloon, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Sound of Music, The Music Man. (Free / Cheap)

7. Play Power. Visit Providence Children’s Museum. (Free / Cheap)*

8. Read the Biggest, Best Snowman than build the biggest, best snowman ever.

9. Building Blocks. Build a castle, city or rocketship using all of your Legos. (Free / Cheap)

10. Bundle up and head out on a winter hike. Explore a wildlife refuge. Try it with snowshoes. (Free / Cheap)

* Get passes from the library.

The birth of a baby is a momentous occasion and impacts a new parent in countless ways. In the weeks and months after baby is born, a new mom may feel lost and disconnected with her former self. For our entire lives thus far, we have defined ourselves as a student, daughter, sister, wife, colleague, professional…and now we take on a new role: mother. Managing this shift applies to new dads as well. While it sometimes feels like accepting this new identity means loosing a bit of oneself, that need not be true.

In order to find balance, it is important to reflect on the changes that have taken place. The following questions may help you to explore your thoughts and feelings about your new life and new role.

• Have my expectations for who I thought I would be as a mother been met? If not, how can I become comfortable with the realities of my new life and “cut myself some slack”?
• Do I have enough time for myself to do some of the things I enjoyed before the baby?
• Do I feel comfortable in my decision to go back to work/not go back to work?
• Do I have a community of new mom friends with whom I can connect and share this journey?

New parenthood brings many changes to our lives and our selves. Take some time to consider the major transition that has taken place and be compassionate with yourself as you navigate the new world of motherhood. And when you find yourself asking, “Will I ever just go out for coffee with a friend again? Will I ever have time to read a book just for the pleasure of reading? Will I ever be able to enjoy my hobbies again?” answer with YES! In time, you will find a balance…as you have in the past. You will wear many hats, and wear them well.

Kristen Kardos, MA Ed., and Kathy McGuigan, MSW, the co-founders of RI New Moms Connection, provide affordable, accessible pregnancy and new mom groups throughout Rhode Island. In “Tips for New Moms” they share their knowledge, resources, and helpful ideas for moms just beginning their journey into motherhood or moms who may need a little refresher.

Editor’s Note: Although “Tips for New Moms” is written with the new mom in mind—to support women in their journey through motherhood—it is certainly not the authors’ intention to exclude dads. Every new parent will find their tips, resources, and insights helpful. I invite all moms and dads to share ideas on how they manage their new role as a parent with Kidoinfo in the comments below.