My husband and I recently had a date night that was not our traditional night out away from the kids. Typically, we opt for dinner out and the occasional movie, but this time we opted for a workshop, crafted by contributing writer Erin Goodman—a lovely evening of refreshment for more than a dozen couples at the The Hampton Inn in South County.

We tasted nine beers from Berkshire Brewing Company, all of which are unfiltered, un-pasteurized, and contain no chemical additives or preservatives. Although I usually favor light beers, I was surprised how much I enjoyed sampling all the brews with the exception of the Coffeehouse Porter—I like to keep my beer and coffee separate—although my husband enjoyed the combo. All of the beer is crafted at a regional brewery located in South Deerfield, Massachusetts.

We sampled the unbelievably delicious raw chocolates created by a Rhode Island husband and wife team, Stephen Lloyd Law and Gina Law, of The Mystical Chocolatiers. Stephen also shared his passion for food and making chocolates, including the origins of his ingredients and his use of raw foods—foods that are uncooked, unprocessed, and organic.

The tastings were followed by partner yoga led by Erin and her husband, John. The evening ended with Dan Cummings, Erin’s cousin, playing his hand-crafted Native American flutes. Erin is already planning the next event – possibly wine, cheese, and yoga.

Details:
• Evening of Refreshment Workshop was February 28, 2009 from 7-9:30 p.m.
at the Hampton Inn, South County Crossings
$25 / couple

• Contact Erin Goodman to find out about future workshops.
• Find a list of where to buy Berkshire Brewing Company beers locally in Rhode Island.
• Buy chocolates direct from the The Mystical Chocolatiers.

Photos provided courtesy of Erin Goodman

Great Cookbooks for Families
Reviewed by Katy Killilea

Nutrition advice books are a drag. I already know about Ezekiel bread, that juice is full of sugar, and that everyone needs to eat colorful fruits and vegetables. The same advice is churned over and over, repackaged, and disseminated to readers who are bored to tears. Recently, however, a few bright, chunky books have me rethinking this dour stance.

One of these noteworthy books dares to ask, “What would happen to a baby fox if it ate Sour Patch Kids instead of mice?”  The book is Simple Food for Busy Families. There’s a fair amount of standard nutrition info, a handful of zingers (I’ll never fully cleanse the image of a nasty fox strung out on Sour Patch Kids from my mind), and incredibly useful charts-cum-recipes for mixing and matching ingredients to make things like fruit cobblers, quiches, and stews.

Eat Well Live Well with Growing Children has less advice and many more recipes. Each recipe is introduced with flattering words about its nutrient content and how easy it is to make. And the recipes are truly simple, thoughtful, and realistic—you’d use them even with a child hanging on each of your legs. The book covers everything from basic speedy breakfasts (smoothies), to kooky, delicious after-school snacks (red lentil and sweet potato dip), treats with benefits (granola bars made with a mixture of whole grains and fruits), and kids-all-smiling dinners (fish & chips).

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Claire Duckmanton, originally from the UK and a former East Side resident, lives in Seekonk, Massachusetts, with her husband and four children. Below she shares her experience as a Fresh Air Fund host family and her role as the local chairperson for the Fresh Air Fund.

My family started hosting children from inner-city, low- income New York neighborhoods five years ago. (Read the article Claire wrote about her hosting experience for Kidoinfo here.)  It has been a memorable experience for both my family and the kids we have welcomed into our homes via the Fresh Air Fund.

Five years on, I am the local chairperson for Fresh Air, an organization that has been providing free vacations to inner-city kids from low-income neighborhoods in New York City for over one hundred years. I see my role as ambassador, publicist, and recruiter of families who are ready, willing, and able to make a difference in a child’s life. I now am busy looking for families that are interested in hosting children this summer. All you have to do is open your home (and heart) for one or two weeks. The friendships that can develop between hosts and their Fresh Air visitor often last a lifetime. There are no financial requirements (and you don’t need a big back yard). First-time visitors are six to twelve years old, and re-invited youngsters may participate in the program through age eighteen.

If you would like to learn more, please contact:
Claire Duckmanton
508-761-8242 or 401-301-4090
cduckmanton@comcast.net

Details:
Fresh Air Fund
2009 trip dates for local area: One or two weeks in July or August
Deadline for applications: Early June
Application process: Interested families call Claire to discuss program details, and then there is an interview in the family’s home. Families completean application, including four references, and undergo a background check. There are no fees. Children on first-time visits are six to twelve years old. Host families can pick the age and gender of the child they’d like to host.

Thanks to all the fabulous people who have become part of the Kidoinfo community—it is the collective talents and voices of our readers, contributors and supporters that make Kidoinfo a relevant guide for parents. My mission to connect parents online with useful information, businesses and services and local events has brought parents together offline and back into the community exploring, learning and having fun with their kids.

When I hear parents say they planned a “Kido” day or weekend, I know Kidoinfo has become more than just a website. My intention has always been less about parents spending time on websites and more about our connections and activities in real life with kids, friends and the community.

Kidoinfo has a few ways to celebrate with you:

• Gracie’s Restaurant is hosting a Kidoinfo party on Tuesday April 21, 2009 from 6 – 8pm for our writers, advisory board, advertisers, and community supporters. Although I would I love to open the party to everyone, space is limited. Therefore I am giving away ten pairs of tickets to attend the party. Enter to win by Noon ET on Thursday, April 9. Winners will be randomly selected from all entries and notified by email on April 9.

• On Tuesday, April 21, 2009, Gracie’s is offering a 10% savings on food items if you mention Kidoinfo. Make it a date night or special evening out with friends; stay for dinner, or have dessert in the lounge or at the bar. Take some time to treat yourself.

• If you can’t attend the party, enter to win a $50 gift certificate to Gracie’s Restaurant. Winner will be randomly selected from all entries. Deadline to enter is Noon ET on April 21, 2009. Winner will be notified by email by April 22, 2009.

• I plan to have more local events in the future, please join our mailing list to find out about upcoming events.

By Mary Smith

Every year since 1937, the Caldecott Medal has been awarded to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. Administered by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, the award was first presented in 1937 to English illustrator Randolph J. Caldecott for his numerous books of illustrated stories. Caldecott’s illustration of John Gilpin on a runaway horse, taken from the story The Diverting Story of John Gilpin, is depicted on the award. The Association for Library Service to Children aims to celebrate and honor the achievements of American children’s book illustrators through this award.

The 2009 Caldecott was awarded to The House in the Night, which was illustrated by Beth Krommes and written by Susan Marie Swanson. Swanson writes beautiful bedtime lyrics in the style of a traditional nursery-rhyme verse. Here’s a sample: “In that light rests a bed/On that bed waits a book/In that book flies a bird . . .” In cadence, it resembles verses from the 1955 Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book: “This is the key of the kingdom/In that kingdom is a city/In that city is a town/In that town there is a street . . .” The language will rock children to sleep, while the content inspires a sweet adventure in dreamland. Alongside the beautiful words, Krommes’s illustrations are reminiscent of etchings and suggest an older world, an imagined world, a dream space. The illustrations are subtle, radiant, and imaginative: objects seem to stare out at the viewer reminding us how a nighttime dream reflects the images of daylight. The House in the Night deserves the Caldecott Medal; it’s a lovely addition to any bedtime story collection.

Details:

The House in the Night
By Susan Marie Swanson and Beth Krommes
$17.00 Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com

Mary Smith is a freelance writer who lives on the West Side of Providence. She spends her time working at a café, writing short stories, and rollerskating for the Providence Roller Derby.

By Katy Killilea

We drove by it a million times on the way to the beach this summer. Now, at last, we have tried it.  And we loved it: the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown. On a chilly Saturday morning, my family (two parents, two kids, ages 5 and 7) headed over to this gorgeous spot on Third Beach Road.

Let me tell you what the kids did: they joined a class (six kids in all) during which they touched a rat, portrayed a mosquito and a beetle in a living food chain, and went on a hike through one of the loveliest patches of squidgy mud in Rhode Island. Both kids had breathless, laughing fun.

Let me tell you what my husband and I did while the kids were in class: we hiked alone on some of the sanctuary’s seven miles of trails and discussed our mortality for two hours. Our choices were scaling Hanging Rock (pictured) or going to Home Depot to buy screws.  Obviously, we made the right choice and I barely remember why we thought we wanted screws. (Electrical outlets can go a few more weeks without their covers.)

Meandering and rat-touching were just what my family needed, and the Norman Bird Sanctuary delivered. I know we’ll go back soon.

The details:

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Our friends Jason and Ilira of Rag and Bone Bindery recently hosted a lego party. What a cool twist to our usual family pot-luck dinners. The goal: Use every lego to build something or many things. Guests contributed appetizers, drinks and dessert. Our hosts provided the main course and legos, lots of legos. There were eight adults and seven kids. The party was supposed to end at eight o’clock but we all left closer to eleven—kids and adults had a blast building. Although we came close to using every lego we did leave lots of itty bitty ones.

Thanks for a lovely evening and a fabulous party idea. I invite the Kidoinfo community to start hosting their own lego parties.

The current state of our economy has thrust many changes onto families in terms of work and finances. Families may need to reassess what type of childcare they need, finding something that fits their needs and budget. Nicole Joel Roswall, a local coordinator for Cultural Care in Rhode Island, shares why an au pair may be a good option for some families.

One consequence of the current economic crisis is that more mothers are working. More new moms are remaining in the workforce, and stay-at-home mothers who chose to put their careers on hold are now finding they need to return to work. With an increase in dual-income households comes an increase in the demand for quality childcare.

In some cases, this rising demand is driving up childcare costs. According to a recent report by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, the average price of full-time center care increased an average of 6.5 percent, almost three times the rate of inflation. Escalating childcare costs are having the greatest effect on the nanny business, with nanny hiring down between 10 to 30 percent.

One childcare program, however, has been able to meet the growing demand for childcare with an affordable option for working parents. Cultural Care Au Pair is a childcare and cultural exchange program headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that places au pairs across the country, including all parts of Rhode Island.

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By Katy Killilea

Years of experience, sympathy for children, first-aid certification . . . what makes a great babysitter? For their first few years, our kids’ only babysitters were their grandparents. But grandparents have a habit of going off to Hawaii when they might be needed. So we have had to branch out, and we’ve had a handful of great babysitters, each with their own star qualities.

1.    THE NEIGHBORHOOD KID: A kid, too young to babysit, can be paid a bit of money to work as a “helper” while you are home. You can supervise in a vague way, and be on hand in case of an emergency. If the kid has natural babysitting talent, your kids won’t bug you and you’ll be able to get some stuff done. If the kid’s a dud, your children will pester you the whole time and you’ll know to move on. But if you’ve found a winner, after a year or so, you’ll have a fully trained babysitter who is loyal to you and is adored by your kids.
COST: $2/hour.
WHERE TO FIND THEM: playing on the sidewalk, preferably with a doll, chalk, or rubber ball. PSP addicts need not apply.

2.    THE WHOLESOME TEEN: Teens who are in orchestras and/or run cross country are ideal babysitters. They are disciplined and responsible, yet young enough to play like kids and really have fun with yours. We have a teenage babysitter who plays all of the board games the adults in our family have deemed too annoying (e.g., Cranium Hullaballoo, Chutes & Ladders, Trouble). Prominently place Edy’s Ice Cream Dibs in your freezer so they’ll want to come back.
COST: $8/hour if you drive them to & fro; $10/hour if they drive themselves.
WHERE TO FIND THEM: Houses of worship, or court a friend’s teen-aged offspring.

3.    THE COLLEGE STUDENT: They are often experienced with kids, and don’t mind staying up late. They typically are able to provide their own transportation. One drawback is that they usually move away after a few years; another is that they like to go out with their friends and are not at your beck and call.
COST $10-$12/hour.
WHERE TO FIND THEM: score one from a friend, or check the lists maintained at colleges and universities.

4.    THE PRO: An adult who sits professionally costs more, but will show up on time, have a distracting stuffed animal in her bag in case of a difficult good-bye, and will do your laundry while your kids are asleep. (I heard tell of one who folded clean clothes and figured out where to put everything away as well!) And she will not Jo Frost you with criticism, charts, and advice. I have never actually had anyone like this in my house.
COST: $15+/hour.
WHERE TO FIND THEM: This is a mythical being, like a unicorn.

Who’s your favorite sitter, and would he or she come over to my house? Please share your tips and ideas by posting comments.

I welcome Jeanine Silversmith, of Rhode Island Families in Nature, as a new contributing writer for Kidoinfo. She will share ideas on how to make nature part of our families’ everyday life.

By Jeanine Silversmith

There’s a free, quick, and easy way to help our children (and ourselves) become happier, healthier, and smarter, and it’s right in our own backyards! Actually, it is our backyards (or nearby park). Seriously, just take your kids outside each day for some unstructured play and interaction with the natural world, and they will reap amazing benefits.

Research shows that time spent in nature is important for healthy development in children and it contributes to the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of both children and adults. I’m a real stickler for sample sizes, p values, standard deviations, and a whole bunch of other geeky terms related to data collection and trust me, there’s some pretty compelling evidence on this topic out there. In his book, Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv directly connects the lack of nature in our children’s lives to the rising rates of obesity, attention disorders, depression, and more. He even coined a new term: nature deficit disorder. And beyond the data, kids enjoy playing—outside is a great place for children to explore and discover.

Okay, if you’re convinced that you want to spend more time outside with your kids, how do you actually do it? Which activities fit the “unstructured play and interaction with the natural world” bill, and how do we engage our children in them? (Sorry, folks. Organized sports, although they have significant merit, are, by definition, structured. So let’s move on…)

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