Every year Rhode Island School of Design’s Office of Multicultural Affairs plans a week of programming that focus on women.

This year, Women’s Focus Week will include a film screen and panel discussion highlighting the topic of motherhood and the challenges women face in balancing work and family responsibilities. Given that many laws, organizational policies, and social customs in the United States still rely on a traditional family model of a stay at home mother and working father, working women—and especially single parents—face many hardships. In this series, RISD hopes to give voice to female artists and designers who face many tough decisions, including if and when to start a family while building a career, how to divide time between childrearing and studio practice, and the societal stigmatization of working mothers and women’s art.

I recently saw this film and although I relate to it in part because I used to make my living as an artist I believe this film and panel discussion will be of interest to any mother struggling to balance work and family responsibilities.

Film Screening: Who Does She Think She Is?
Wednesday, March 24, 6:30 pm
RISD Auditorium, 17 Canal St. Providence, RI
Featured Guest: Angela Williams
Free, Open to the Public

“From the producing team, that won an Academy Award for Born Into Brothels, Who Does She Think She Is? examines some of the most pressing issues of our time: parenting and creativity, partnering and independence, economics and art. The film follows five women artists as they navigate the challenges of making work outside the elite art world.” After the film, Angela Willams (a performing artist featured in the film) will discuss her experiences and answer questions.

Panel Discussion: From Her Perspective: Narratives of Work and Family
Thursday, March 25, 7-8:30, Reception to follow
Chace Center, Metcalf Auditorium, 20 North Main St. Providence, RI
Free, Open to the Public

Guest panelists Mairead Byrne, Gail Cohee, Lucinda Hitchcock, Wendy Edwards, Deana Lawson, and Keita Turner will discuss how gender and parenthood affect career and family life, especially for women in art and design. The panel will be co-moderated by Jennifer Prewitt-Freilino, professor of psychology and Ariel Bordeaux, artist and mother.

Wanda & Daughters
Photo by Deana Lawson, MFA ‘04

Wendy Edwards, Brown Dept. of Visual Art

Mairead Byrne (with her daughters), RISD English Deptartment

Providence Public Library’s (Central Library, 150 Empire Street, Providence) visiting author series continues with Rhode Island author Christine Carr, who will present Mother Daze: Tales from the Imperfect Playground on Sunday, March 21 from 2:00 – 3:30 pm (Barnard Room, 3rd Floor).

Mother Daze is a truthful account of modern motherhood, a virtual high five offered to the women of the world, written by a girl who thought she had life well under control until kids came along…

This heartfelt story, told through entertaining anecdotes from Carr’s own adventures as a 37-year-old mother of three young children, coupled with her 15 years as an elementary physical education teacher, will provide smiles and sunshine for women who honestly question “What happened to my life?”

About the Book and Author
Christine Carr began her teaching career as a physical education teacher in East Greenwich, RI, and as a coach. Eventually she left coaching in order to pursue her Master’s in the Administration of Physical Ed. and Health Ed. Her entire thesis research project was based on the over-scheduling of today’s youth and how it related to future burn-out rates among athletes. Married for 12 years to Andrew Carr, they have three children Nolan (9), Jane (6) and Finley (4) and live in South Kingstown.

Rhode Island Is Ready is a new campaign advocating for the creation of a fair statewide funding formula for Rhode Island public schools. Rhode Island is currently the only state that doesn’t have such a formula, which would allocate state funding to school districts in an equitable manner, based on each student’s needs and the ability of each district to raise local funds.

Information about Rhode Island Is Ready is available on Facebook. You do not need a Facebook account to access the Rhode Island Is Ready information page. If you are on Facebook, become a fan of Rhode Island Is Ready to get updates about upcoming meetings and other information. If you are not on Facebook and want to be on Rhode Island Is Ready’s email list, feel free to send your email to organizer Karina Wood at karinawood@cox.net.

Learn about the Rhode Island Is Ready’s statement of principles (download PDF), which describe the funding system that the campaign wants. If you want to make your voice heard, please sign, and return this statement. Mailing address included on PDF.

Read more in the Providence Journal: Editorial: Formula for better schools

by Katy Killilea

Red velvet cupcakes and Nutella are featured, so please count me in. The Duck & Bunny just opened on Wickenden Street in the space most recently occupied by The Blue Elephant. The Duck and Bunny calls itself not a cafe, not a restaurant, but a snuggery. Meaning a cozy place to relax with something yummy. Cupcakes (in both mini and regular sizes) are prominently displayed, but they’ve got more than cute sweets: savory crepes and salads, pots of tea, and a long list of wines keep you thinking of occasions to go back. (Here are a few: report card day, book group, not-too-pricey date night, gray sky, just feel like eating cupcakes.)

Wife and husband owners Jessica and Daniel Becker moved to Rhode Island from New York just a few months ago. Jessica had always wanted her own tea shop; Dan, his own bar. Those longings to create space for people to enjoy themselves in good company led to this clever venture. Students, adults, and families all fit right in. Infants will placidly drool and stare at the sparkly lights from their floor-space babybuckets. Schoolchildren can have a cupcake or even high tea—any day of the week, and at any time of day. What a coup for the child who wants high tea for her birthday breakfast!

With delightful duck/bunny art on the walls (a bunny Van Gogh, a duck Girl with a Pearl Earring), and crepes with names that make you need to eat them (the Chubby Ella is filled with bananas and Nutella, and The Rachel and Monica is a time capsule back to the 1990s with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese), The Duck and Bunny is a joyful addition to the neighborhood. People of all ages will love getting snug there.

Details
The Duck and Bunny
312 Wickenden Street, Providence 02903
401-270-3300
Open Tuesday through Sunday, 10AM-late

Mothers Acting Up (MAU) is changing the face of activism one mama at a time! MAU mobilizes mothers to act on behalf of the world’s children by providing education, inspiration, tools, and actions meant to activate the leader in every mother. MAU’s approach to activism is positive and accessible, supporting mothers in making informed personal choices, uniting collective action, and influencing decision makers. By utilizing each mother’s love, drive, and sensibility, we can ensure all children are cared for.

As a way of providing mothers with accessible entry points into the world of activism, MAU offers daily actions with weekly themes. This week starting March 15 is dedicated to learning about the power of the reusable bag and the ways we can implement it to create change. In conjunction with this, MAU will highlight the story of Rhode Island’s own Poksak, reusable bag that not only supports environmental sustainability, but educates orphans as well!

Our children’s lives are linked, and only by acting to nurture and protect all children, can we nurture and protect our own. It starts with one small step—one story, one act, one post, one tweet.

Join MAU today and sign up to receive daily actions and inspiration!

Poksak is a Rhode Island-based social venture that sells pouchable, reusable tote bags in an effort to fund college scholarships for foster children and raise environmental awareness. This week running Monday, March 15 through Sunday March 21, 2010 Poksak has teamed up with Mothers Acting Up (MAU) and Kidoinfo to bring concerned mothers the Power of the Reusable Bag Action Week.

Wanting to find a way to help underprivileged youth gain access to better education, Karen de Bruin a French Professor at the University of Rhode Island and family members Andre and Estelle de Bruin co-founded the social venture, Poksak. By making an environmental friendly, versatile, reusable tote bag the company gives back to the community—helping the environment while supporting the Orphan Foundation of America and local business. The company hopes to enlarge its community through selling its products in small to large academic settings, as well as, co-branding with large companies or organizations that love the poksak and fully support the cause of sending orphans to college.

Poksak’s greatest fans have been schools, mothers, and children. By selling poksaks, schools can contribute to higher education. For each bag sold at $3.99, Poksak donates 25 cents to a scholarship fund that allots scholarships of up to $6000 to qualified orphans. The first scholarship is being awarded in June 2010. Fun for kids, they can stuff the bags back into the cute pouches and then trade them with their friends. Mothers can use them for every day errands; easily store in a briefcase, pocket and purse, and are thus less likely to be forgotten when an extra bag is needed.

Poksaks dream is to come full-circle, meaning that it would eventually like to become an international company, have all of its products made from recycled materials and it would like to not only help orphans go to college, but to hire orphans for jobs and internships.

Buy poksaks locally in Rhode Island at the following locations purchase online at www.poksak.com

• South County Montessori School in Wickford
• Goddard School in South Kingstown
• Bliss Cafe in Newport
• The Secret Garden in Jamestown
• The Narragansett Bike Shop in Narragansett
• Newport Athletic Club
• Jamestown Designs, Jamestown
• Le Petit Gourmet, Newport
• Little Friends Farm, Middletown
• LoveBugs, Providence
• KinderArt, Newport

Good things happening in Providence and beyond. Edesia, a non-profit producer of life-saving Ready-to-Use Foods (RUFs), is the recipient of a $2 million multi-year grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Under the grant, Edesia will produce more than 300 metric tons of Nutributter® in 2010 designed to enhance the growth and motor development of children aged 6 to 24 months and used as a complement to traditional food. The packets will ensure the proper growth and cognitive development of more than 100,000 children by preventing the devastating effects of malnutrition. The grant was awarded through USAID’s Office of Food for Peace through the International Food Relief Partnership (IFRP) program.

Ready-to-Use Foods (RUFs) are important in developing countries because they do not need to be refrigerated or mixed with water. Children can open it and eat it directly. In addition to producing Nutributter® Edesia makes other RUF’s including Plumpy’nut® made with peanuts, sugar, milk powder, oils, vitamins and minerals and has all the essential fats, proteins and nutrients that a child need to overcome malnutrition and develop.

“Malnutrition affects 178 million children and results in more than five million child deaths each year. With Nutributter® and other RUFs, we now have a solution that addresses this silent crisis and allows us to take action during the most critical time in children’s lives,” said Navyn Salem, Executive Director of Edesia.

ABOUT EDESIA

Edesia is a new non-profit based in Providence, RI, and a sister organization to Industrial Revelation in Tanzania. Edesia is dedicated to U.S. production of Plumpy’nut® and other Ready-to-Use Foods (RUFs) designed to prevent and treat malnutrition in the developing world. Edesia will collaborate on nutrition research as well as support local producers of RUF in countries most affected by malnutrition.To learn more about Edesia go to www.edesiallc.org.

From the Audubon Society of Rhode Island

Did you know your maple syrup comes from a tree?  To be specific, it comes from a Sugar Maple tree.  Now is the time of year to check out how the sap from a tree is transformed into that sweet syrup you put on your pancakes.

When the nights are below freezing and the days are mild, usually by late February or early March, the sap begins to flow through the trees and it’s time to “sugar.”

The process involves “tapping” a tree, or drilling a small hole into the tree. If sugaring is being done the old-fashioned way with buckets, a metal spile is then tapped into the hole and the buckets are hung from it. The more modern method connects tubing to plastic spouts, which carries sap to a single, larger storage tank. If done correctly, tapping will not damage a healthy tree, which can provide up to ten gallons of sap per tap hole, every season, for over a century.

It takes about ten gallons of sap to produce one quart of maple syrup, but this is a fraction of a tree’s sap production. Maple syrup and maple sugar are made by concentrating (boiling down) the sweet sap – which has a natural sugar content.

It may surprise you to learn that maple sugaring was originally a Native American custom, later adopted by the colonists. How the Native Americans discovered maple sugar is not exactly known, but an Iroquois legend has it that someone tasted an icicle hanging from a broken maple branch, and the rest is history, as they say.

For the Native Americans that did sugaring, it was a festive event. As soon as the sap began to flow, families would gather at a “sugar bush,” or maple grove. A diagonal slash would be cut in the bark of the lower part of a tree trunk. A tube, usually a hollowed-out sumac stem, was inserted in the lower end of the cut. Sap flowing from the tree was collected in small wooden containers. The sap was then transferred into a much larger wooden or bark container, and white-hot rocks heated in an open fire were dropped in to boil off the water. The process was repeated, eventually producing a granulated sugar. Besides sugar maples, the native peoples sometimes tapped red maples, black or yellow birches, silver maples, wild cherries, or even box elders. Modern sugarhouses may also tap into other species such a Norway and red maples, each with their own distinct flavor.

Experience this sweet tradition for yourself…

On March 13, 2010, step back in time at the Audubon Parker Woodland Wildlife Refuge and experience the tradition of maple sugaring. Learn more about the history of this sweet syrup and how to sugar in your own backyard. Participants taste first hand this delectable treat as they sample pancakes, muffins and doughnuts – all with fresh maple syrup. Register early, as space is limited.  For more information and to register, call (401) 949-5454 x0.  This program is appropriate for children ages 6 and up.

Situated on a 28-acre wildlife refuge in Bristol, Rhode Island, Audubon’s Environmental Education Center is open year-round and provides walking trails, nature programs, and exhibits for the whole family to discover.  For more information and a complete calendar of events, visit www.asri.org or call (401) 245-7500.

Photo provided by Audubon’s Environmental Education Center

This is the first in a series of posts about helping children with  learning differences/special needs. Deborah Gutman has learned through her own experience raising a child with ADHD and shares helpful tips on how to choose a school for your ADHD/LD child and how to find the appropriate resources and books for your family. Today she describes putting together a team of people to help you and your child, including early identification and finding the right services and treatment.

It’s possible you’ve always had the feeling your child is a bit of a “square peg” trying to fit in a “round hole” but you just couldn’t put your finger on why your child doesn’t fit in. It’s also possible that you never noticed an issue, but every time you put your child in a structured educational setting or with same-aged peers, you receive feedback that there is something wrong. Helping your child with learning differences is often a moving target and requires lots of patience. I am the mother of a child with ADHD, generalized anxiety and sensory integration dysfunction. These labels came after many professional consultations, lots of struggles, and trial and error. We are familiar with every synonym for “energetic.” We are still on the very bumpy road to finding the right fit for our child; however, if you are at the beginning of the process, it is important to get the right team in place. If you can name the problem or issue, you can better problem-solve a solution and arrange for the appropriate educational setting, services and/or accommodations to help your child succeed with his/her self-esteem intact.

There are a variety of specialists who offer both evaluation and treatment services. The type of professional you choose may depend on several factors including the age of your child and you (and your child’s) needs at the time of the consultation. There are many practices that incorporate many different types of specialists in one setting and are able to address both diagnosis and treatment within a single practice. Health insurance will cover many of these costs, but not necessarily all of them. Review your policy and speak with your insurer to better understand your coverage. Your school district may also cover the costs of educational testing. This will vary from one school district to another and you should contact your local school district. Here is a brief primer on the types of specialists you might encounter or consult on the road to diagnosing your child’s learning differences.

Clinical psychologist: A professional specializing in diagnosing and treating mental illness, emotional disturbance, and behavior problems. Psychologists may have a master’s degree (MA) or doctorate (PhD) in psychology. They may also have other qualifications, including Board certification and additional training in a specific type of therapy. Many conditions, including anxiety disorders and ADHD may benefit from therapy. Psychologists can only use talk therapy as treatment; you must see a psychiatrist or other medical doctor to be treated with medication.

Neuropsychologist: Neuropsychologists have additional training in the administration, scoring, and interpretation of tests that measure different aspects of brain functioning. Neuropsychological testing involves the standardized administration of tests of certain cognitive processes with respect to short- and long-term memory, abstract reasoning, attention concentration, executive function, and motor skills. Different tasks rely on different parts of the brain for their accomplishment. This type of testing often provides additional evidence that helps to establish a diagnosis and identify areas to target with treatment or educational interventions. (more…)

We cannot overestimate how the media, our friends, television shows, and family members impact our thoughts and expectations of childbirth. We see women on television screaming in agony during labor or hooked up to IVs while lying in hospital beds, and we are reminded of pregnancy and childbirth stories shared by our friends, our sisters, or our mothers. And while labor may not be easy (it is called “labor” after all), it need not be feared.

It is unfortunate that mothers-to-be don’t hear beautiful birth stories of women who trust their bodies and let go of fear . . . who found a place of peace during pregnancy and birth. These stories – and these women – do exist.  It is time to turn off the cable shows, put aside Belly Laughs and What to Expect and listen to women who are willing to share their positive birthing experiences. Where to begin?

During my third pregnancy, I found Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth.  The first half of this book is dedicated to the sharing of birth stories that embody gentle, natural childbirth.  It is comforting to hear so many women speak positively of their deliveries; it restores hope in the strength of women and trust in our bodies. It completely changed my feelings towards labor, and the result was that I embraced my third pregnancy without fear. I felt empowered and trusted my body to do what it was meant to do: birth babies.  There are movies, such as Orgasmic Birth, which show women having blissful birthing experiences. These are real women birthing without medications! While I feel I came across great books and films a bit late in my birthing years, I am happy to have discovered so many positive messages that I received graciously.

Below are a few books I highly recommend for pregnant women:
•    Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
•    The Complete Book of Pregnancy & Childbirth by Sheila Kitzinger
•    Hypnobirthing by Marie Morgan

Here are three films that may interest those seeking a natural childbirth:
•    Orgasmic Birth
•    The Business of Being Born
•    What Babies Want

DONA has a larger selection of recommended books that are required readings for all birthing doulas.  And for women who want to increase the likelihood of having a peaceful, positive birthing experience, I recommend you consider your “birthing team” very seriously. Are you at ease with your ob/gyn or midwife? Do you feel they listen to you and respect your wishes?  Are they available to answer your questions? Have you considered a birth doula? A birth doula is a wonderful person to have on your team as she brings experience, knowledge, and peacefulness to the delivery process. She will stay with you from the beginning of active labor until your child is born — most doctors are there only for the actual birth.

It is also fair to ask people to refrain from sharing upsetting or frightening childbirth stories with you — at least while you’re pregnant. Ask friends and family members to be considerate of how sensitive you are as you prepare for the birth of your own baby. You need not be fed more fear–we all know birth doesn’t always go according to plan–instead, you need to be nurtured, supported, and reassured that you too can have a positive pregnancy and birth experience.

For more information on gentle birthing options, please visit the Rhode Island Birth Network.

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 parenthood 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.