The handmade parent is a series of interviews with parents who have an art/craft business or passion.  The series will explore how the artist/crafter manages their family and their creative passion while promoting their work.

The Handmade Parent – Maeve Donohue – Queen Maeve (fine art) and Nami Studios (commercial art + marketing).

Kidoinfo:  Briefly tell us about yourself, your family, and your art or craft.
Maeve:  I’m a Vietnamese Irish American visual artist and creative services professional living in Rhode Island.  A few years a go I sold my Yoga studio to make more time to dedicate to art, family, and my marketing business. I grew up and went to art school in Rhode Island (R

ISD), then bopped around Europe and the Caribbean for a long while, dabbling in languages, jewelry, puppets, tattoo and piercing, living in a tent on the beach, studying Yoga and painting murals and signs for the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Organization, getting back to my roots in Asia, and then moving back home to Rhode Island, where I ran into and married my childhood sweetheart.  We started a creative services studio (web, print, illustration, photography, marketing), got married in Las Vegas, and had a beautiful girl named Mirabel. My husband and I are also both fine artists and are currently collaborating on a series of paintings for a children’s book based on a story told by our 4 year old daughter. Life is good.

Kidoinfo:  When did you begin your art/craft?
Maeve:  I have been practicing art since I was very young and have explored many different styles and artistic mediums over the years.  A few years ago, I bought a professional model Epson printer that allows me to create fine art (giclee) prints with archival inks on museum quality paper.  I turned some of my illustrations into prints and started selling them on Etsy.

Kidoinfo:  Is your art part of your business or do you hold another job in addition to your artistic work?
Maeve:   My fine art  is a separate business from my commercial art and creative services business.  I get to be creative in both jobs, which I like, but eventually, I would like find more time to dedicate to my fine art.

Kidoinfo:  When do you find time to make your art/craft?
Maeve: My personal art comes after family and work, so it’s often hard to find the time.  Now that my husband and I are collaborating on a specific project, I think it will help to keep me working some fine art more regularly.

Kidoinfo: What prompted you to choose your art medium?
Maeve: When I was at RISD, I started as a printmaking major, but became frustrated because I didn’t have the technical skills to do the type of prints I wanted to do, so I switched my major to illustration in order to become more practiced at drawing and painting.  I then focused on puppet animation as my main concentration.  It was only a few years ago that I started to explore printmaking again.

Kidoinfo:   What inspired you to become an artist?
Maeve: I don’t ever remember a time when I didn’t do art.  We have seven kids in my family and I was always referred to as ‘the artist’. When I was young, I used to look at the art books in my dad’s study.  I was especially drawn to Michelangelo.

Kidoinfo:   Where do you find your inspiration?
Maeve: I am strongly influenced by my asian heritage and perhaps more subtly by my pursuit of a peaceful, spiritual, and simple life.

Kidoinfo:  How do you promote your art?
Maeve: I have a website (queenmaeve.com), I post some images on my facebook page, and I have an etsy shop.  Honestly, I haven’t been able to spend much time promoting my art in the past few years.  I am always surprised when someone purchases my prints on-line.  Etsy is really amazing.  I ship prints all over the world.

Kidoinfo:  How has having a family impacted your work?
Maeve: Now that my daughter is a little older (4 years) it’s a little easier to find time.  Now she will draw on her own piece of paper instead of having to draw on the one I am drawing on.

Kidoinfo:  How do you work around your children?
Maeve: I do just that.  I work around my daughter.  She is usually right there when I am drawing.  She has an art table in our family room, where she can paint, draw, and craft whenever she wants to.  We have a chalkboard wall that she can always draw on, and every room in our little house has an area where we can draw or hang artwork that we are working on.  My husband has his painting studio in the basement and she will often sit with him and paint while he paints.

Kidoinfo:   What sparks your creativity?  How do you keep focused once in “the creative zone?”
Maeve: I am lucky to be married to an artist.  Both my family and my husband’s family are filled with visual and performing artists.  It makes it easier when everyone around you always wants to talk about art. My sister lives in New York City, so we go in often to see the galleries and museums.

Kidoinfo:  How do you find time to accomplish everything?
Maeve: I don’t.

Kidoinfo:  When do you make time for your art?
Maeve: What do you like to do in your “spare” time for just yourself (read, garden, travel, run, etc.)? We have a vegetable garden in our front yard.  Right now I’m really into running, reading books with my daughter, and hiking.

Kidoinfo:  Give us one random fact about yourself or your family – relevant or not.
Maeve: I am currently on the executive board for a non-profit organization, Parent Partners, that provides one-to-one mentoring for parents from lower incomes or recently immigrated. Experienced parents help new parents to define their dreams, set goals and create a road map to success.  The program is currently in Newport and we will be bringing it to the East Bay in the Fall.  The website will be launched this month: parentpartnersri.org.  Please visit the website and let us know if you would like to participate either through donations, ideas, mentoring or refer a family.

Kidoinfo:   How do you support the handmade community?  What are your favorite local handmade venues?
Maeve: I buy toys and dolls on Etsy.  Muse is a great jewelry store in Warren that has wonderful handmade jewelry from local artists.

Kidoinfo:  What was the last handmade item you made?
Maeve: Mirabel and I recently sewed a doll together and we had lots of fun with all sorts of easter crafts to give to family.

Kidoinfo:  Where can we find your art?
Maeve: My etsy store is mirabel.etsy.com you can find a link to my etsy store on my website queenmaeve.com.  There are some examples of my commercial illustration and photography on my website, namistudios.com.

__________________

Linda Cox Demers moved to Barrington from Chicago with her husband and her two boys, ages 13 and 8.   She runs her handbag and accessories business, à la mode, from home and has recently discovered a passion for blogging.  As an independent designer, Linda enjoys promoting local artists and the “buy handmade” movement. Visit Linda’s blog at www.alamodestuffblog.com

Today meet Alice Wilder, another panelist from the upcoming KidoConversation, “Raising Kids in a Digital World”. Please join us on Tuesday, May 25, at Local 121 for a fun night out; bring a friend or come solo. Click here for details.

Kidoinfo: What neighborhood do you live in?
Alice Wilder (AW): I live in New York City right near the beautiful, ever-changing Lincoln Center.

AW: I was born in Hartford, CT. and grew up in Glastonbury, CT., an incredible family-oriented, play-in-the-streets kind of neighborhood – do those still exist?

Kidoinfo: How long have you been in NYC?
AW: I moved to NYC for Graduate School at Teachers College, Columbia University in 1991 and never left – so now I feel like a native New Yorker.

Kidoinfo: What is your current state of mind?
AW: Excited about all of the Possibilities!

Kidoinfo: Who’s in your family?
AW: My mom, my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, incredible friends and their many children that I am fortunate enough to be an “Aunt” to!

Kidoinfo: What trait do you most admire about your family?
AW: Playful:  Play to learn is my life and all the members of my famly exemplify that!

Kidoinfo: What is your favorite thing to do?
AW: Learn:  In all of its different forms – in play, through culture, in work, in relationships…

Kidoinfo: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
AW: My favorite place to hang out is wherever there are people that I like to hang out with:  in Providence, NYC, CT., Brooklyn, Nashville, Seattle, Los Angeles, Mass., New Hampshire, Amsterdam, England, all over the world!

Kidoinfo: Where would you most like to live?
AW: Where I am, in New York City with a house on the Ocean somewhere!

Kidoinfo: What do you like to do in your free time?
AW: Since I do not have kids I have lots of time to do things I love to do – bike riding, going to movies, seeing shows, going to the museum, going for walks, playing on my computer – but mostly I like to go visit my friends and their kids.

Kidoinfo: What is the most overrated thing about parenthood?
AW: The idea of ‘Balance’

Kidoinfo: What is your most treasured possession?
AW: My health.

Kidoinfo: What superpower would you most like to have?
AW: If I could fly I would be so happy!  I love the feeling of freedom and speed!

Kidoinfo: Who is your favorite fictional mother or father?
AW: Well, this answer may only make sense to me, because he isn’t a fictional father, he is a real father. But my answer is, Tom Hanks – or what I imagine Tom Hanks to be as a father.  The movie ‘Big’ changed my life and Tom Hanks’ character is what I modeled my career after.  So my answer is either what I think Tom Hanks is as a dad or what I think the writer of Big is as a dad OR what Tom Hanks’ character in ‘Big’ was like as a father!

Kidoinfo: What are you going to do now that you have answered these questions?
AW: Get on a conference call about another talk I have to give next week:  140 Character Conference.

Read more in this series here.

Today meet Jen Robbins, another panelist and parent from the upcoming KidoConversation, “Raising Kids in a Digital World”. Please join us on Tuesday, May 25, at Local 121 for a fun night out; bring a friend or come solo. Click here for details.

Kidoinfo: What neighborhood do you live in?
Jen Robbins (JR): I live in Seekonk, just a mile over the MA border. I used to drive through Seekonk and think, “who would ever live in a town called SeeKONK!?  Apparently, it’s me.”

Kidoinfo: How long have you been in Rhode Island?
JR: My husband and I moved to Providence a few days before the overhyped Y2K New Years’ Eve. Nothing bad happened. We’ve been in Seekonk since 2003. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in the Greater Providence area for more than a decade. Before that I spent a decade in Boston with a year in Nashville sandwiched in-between.

Kidoinfo: What is your current state of mind?
JR: Challenged.

Kidoinfo: Who’s in your family?
JR: My husband, Jeff Robbins, and my 6 year old son, Arlo.

Kidoinfo: What trait do you most admire about your family?
JR: Creativity and humor, hands-down.

Kidoinfo: What is your favorite thing to do?
JR: I like making things… all sorts of things, whether out of paper, thread, playdoh, or pixels.

Kidoinfo: What is your favorite place to hang out?
JR: I’m not sure I get to “hang out” anymore. But one of my favorite places in town for dinner with my family is the Red Fez.  I love the food, the scene, and the music. We go early when it’s still light out, sit upstairs and keep feeding the pinball machine for Arlo until his mac & cheese arrives. There aren’t many places where I can feel like my old self yet meet all the needs of eating out with a small child. Thanks Fez!

Kidoinfo: Where would you most like to live?
JR: I’ve been feeling very connected with New England lately, but California always whispers.

Kidoinfo: What do you like to do when you are not with your kids?
JR: I’m a big music fan, so my favorite recreational activity is to see loud bands play at small clubs. Usually, that means a trek to Boston. Through my “Cooking with Rockstars” project, I’ve become friendly with many musicians in the indie music scene.

Kidoinfo: What is your most treasured possession?
JR: Well, if we rule out my son as a “possession,”, some things in the running would be my rock with a perfect star shape through the middle that I found when I was 10, my signed Todd Rundgren album cover, my photo albums, and my computer.

Kidoinfo: What superpower would you most like to have?
JR: The ability to manipulate time, including both traveling back and creating more of it.

Kidoinfo: What are you going to do now that you have answered these questions?
JR: Work!

Read more in our Meet a Parent series.

Today meet Trevor O’Driscoll, another panelist and parent who will participate in the upcoming KidoConversation, “Raising Kids in a Digital World,” on Tuesday, May 25, at Local 121.

Kidoinfo: What neighborhood do you live in?
Trevor O’Driscoll (TO): East Side. Some say it’s Mount Hope or Summit or something.

Kidoinfo: Where were you born?
TO: Philadelphia.

Kidoinfo: How long have you been in Rhode Island?
TO: On and off for college, grad school, and grownup life…11 years.

Kidoinfo: What is your current state of mind?
TO: Huh?

Kidoinfo: Who’s in your family?
TO: My wife, Vanessa, and my 18-month-old daughter, Oona.

Kidoinfo: What trait do you most admire about your family?
TO: They’re funny and like to read.

Kidoinfo: What is your favorite thing to do?
TO: Fix something in the house and then calculate how much money I just saved.

Kidoinfo: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
TO: Favorite or frequent? I spend a lot of time at Home Depot. But when things are nice and relaxed, and I’m just chatting with my students, my classroom is pretty good.

Kidoinfo: Where would you most like to live?
TO: This place is pretty good. But better weather would be nice. San Francisco?

Kidoinfo: What do you like to do when you are not with your kids?
TO: Play and watch baseball, ride my bike, make some furniture, eat Vanessa’s cooking. Internet.

Kidoinfo: What is the most overrated thing about parenthood?
TO: Sippy cups. They all leak.

Kidoinfo: What is your most treasured possession?
TO: A Detroit Tigers team photo with my great uncle and Ty Cobb.

Kidoinfo: What superpower would you most like to have?
TO: Who doesn’t want to fly?

Kidoinfo: Who is your favorite fictional mother or father?
TO: Atticus Finch. Or maybe Cliff Huxtable.

Kidoinfo: What are you going to do now that you have answered these questions?
TO: Sleep.

Read more in our Meet a Parent series.

I look forward to seeing/meeting many of you at the upcoming KidoConversation, “Raising Kids in a Digital World” on Tuesday, May 25, at Local 121. KidoConversations provide us the opportunity to come together around a certain topic — meet in real life, talk about it and think about how it impacts our lives as parents. Bring your questions, and playdate or business cards. We’ll provide some food, name tags, and the chance to hang without your kids. Not signed up yet? Click here.

In anticipation of the upcoming “Raising Kids in a Digital World” event, I invite you to get know some of our panelists better through Meet the Parent interviews. Today, meet Kate Macinanti.

Kidoinfo: What neighborhood do you live in?
Kate Macinanti (KM): It’s called Kingston Woods. It’s a fairly new neighborhood in South Kingstown, down near URI.

Kidoinfo: Where were you born?
KM: I was born @ Kent County Hospital in Warwick @ Midnight on the dot during a blizzard.

Kidoinfo: How long have you been in Rhode Island?
KM: With the exception of 4 years when I was @ college in Massachusetts, I have lived in RI my whole life.

Kidoinfo: What is your current state of mind?
KM: Foggy…my allergies are out of control this season.

Kidoinfo: Who’s in your family?
KM: My immediate family consists of myself, my husband Brian, our 15 year old daughter Orianna, our 7 year old daughter Jessica and our 5 year old son Joseph. However, we have a myriad of “friends who are Family” known as our Extended Framily that we always include.

Kidoinfo: What trait do you most admire about your family?
KM: We are all determined individuals who, when we know what we want, we do what we need in order to get it (within reason of course).

Kidoinfo: What is your favorite thing to do?
KM: All five of us are martial art students at our local dojo. My favorite thing to do, is train, as a family…on the mat…all at the same time.

Kidoinfo: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
KM: Gabrieles Martial Arts dojo in the South County Commons. We are there 2-4 hours a day, 6 days a week. It is the “home” of our Extended Framily.

Kidoinfo: Where would you most like to live?
KM: My “dream” is to have two residences. One will be  in Killington, VT and the other will be determined by where my kids reside. My husband and I will then share our time together between the two…depending on the weather of course.

Kidoinfo: What do you like to do when you are not with your kids?
KM: If I have a good book on hand, I love to read when the kids are not around. If I’m between books, I spend a lot of time online networking and researching whatever pops in my head.

Kidoinfo: What is the most overrated thing about parenthood?
KM: Honestly, I can’t think of anything “overrated”…but I can think of oodles of things that are “underrated”.

Kidoinfo: What is your most treasured possession?
KM: Nothing tangible. All my treasured possessions are personality traits, gifts and abilities.

Kidoinfo: What superpower would you most like to have?
KM: The power to Teleport to any destination.

Kidoinfo: Who is your favorite fictional mother or father?
KM: There are simply too many to mention for so many different reasons. I will say that I prefer the characters who are not portrayed as “dim-witted”…that’s pretty annoying.

Kidoinfo: What are you going to do now that you have answered these questions?
KM: Log on to work to check some emails before I head off to the dojo with my husband and son to get a great Muay Thai workout under our belts.

Read more in our Meet a Parent series.

Today meet local dad, Alex Taylor, another panelist from the upcoming Kidoinfo event, Parents Using Social Media. Please join us on February 9 at Bravo Brasserie. Click here for details.

Kidoinfo: What neighborhood do you live in?
Alex Taylor (AT): I live on the East Side, PVD, near Brown Stadium.

Kidoinfo: Where were you born?
AT: I was born on Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland but was only there for about 2 years. I usually say I’m from the Eastern Half of the United States.

Kidoinfo: How long have you been in Rhode Island?
AT: Valerie and I moved down here from Boston in August of 2001.

Kidoinfo: What is your current state of mind?
AT: Thirsty.

Kidoinfo: Who’s in your family?
AT: My wife Valerie and I have two boys who are 6.89 and 3.33 years old.

Kidoinfo: What trait do you most admire about your family?
AT: I think we’re pretty curious and flexible, at least most of the time.

Kidoinfo: What is your favorite thing to do?
AT: I really can’t ever answer favorite questions. I like a lot of different activities and try to be well rounded. I like learning new things and I appreciate the times that I get to pass that along by teaching others.

Kidoinfo: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
AT: See above, but I will say that one thing I really like about Providence is the high probability that you will run into a friend while out and about. We like to walk places (or ride) rather than drive whenever practical because we are likely to have some unplanned encounters along the way. Frequent destinations include: Kreatelier, Lippett Park, Ran Zan, The Red Fez, Sessions Street Park, Seven Stars, Three Sisters, Wayland Square.

Kidoinfo: Where would you most like to live?
AT: I love a lot of things about Providence, but Winter isn’t one of them. I really enjoyed living in both San Francisco and Australia.

Kidoinfo: What do you like to do when you are not with your kids?
AT: I like physical stuff like snowboarding (winter isn’t all bad) and scrambling around outside, though I’m looking forward to including both guys in this more when they are a bit older. I also do plenty of screen time stuff like video games and goofing around on the Internet. It’s nice to get some time alone with Valerie too.

Kidoinfo: What is the most overrated thing about parenthood?
AT: Infants.

But not yours, yours is totally awesome!

Kidoinfo: What is your most treasured possession?
AT: Mobility. I like things, but being able to move through the world is priceless.

Kidoinfo: What superpower would you most like to have?
AT: Flight, though invulnerability is a close second.

Kidoinfo: Who is your favorite fictional mother or father?
AT: Fictional parents, especially dads, that survive the opening scenes almost always suck in some significant way. But I like Marlin and Crush from Finding Nemo. Marlin is braver than he thinks he can be and learns to let his son be the same way. Crush doesn’t get a lot of screen time, but he’s got some good advice.

Kidoinfo: What are you going to do now that you have answered these questions?
AT: Get back to work.

Kidoinfo Presents: Parents Using Social Media on February 9, 2010. Please join us for an evening of conversation, food and cocktails.

Sponsored by:
• Cutler & Company
• Leslie Kellogg: Residential Properties
• Renaissance Gymnastics Academy
• Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH)
• Rag & Bone Bindery
• Ocean State Montessori
• Soul at Work
• St. Peter School
• The Bridge Montessori
• Amy Ro photography
• Hennessey PR Consulting
• Breathing Time Yoga: Yoga w/ childcare
• RI Families in Nature
• exhale. return to center

Today meet another panelist and parent from the upcoming Kidoinfo event, Parents Using Social Media. Please join us on February 9 at Bravo Brasserie. Click here for details.

Kidoinfo: What neighborhood do you live in?
EBG: We’re down “in the woods” in South County.

Kidoinfo: Where were you born?
EBG: Warwick, RI

Kidoinfo: How long have you been in Rhode Island?
EBG: With the exception of a couple of years when I was very young and one semester when I was in college, I’ve always lived in Rhode Island.

Kidoinfo: What is your current state of mind?
EBG: Groggy. (Darn head cold.)

Kidoinfo: Who’s in your family?
EBG: My husband of (almost) 10 years, John; our two kids, Lily (5) and Quinn (3); a small flock of laying hens; and various other critters.

Kidoinfo: What trait do you most admire about your family?
EBG: Persistence. We are far from perfect but we frequently take time to reflect on what we are doing and why and look for ways to tweak things and hopefully make it all run a little smoother.

Kidoinfo: What is your favorite thing to do?
EBG: Lately I’ve really been enjoying roller-skating with my kids.

Kidoinfo: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
EBG: The Coastal Growers Market in North Kingstown.

Kidoinfo: Where would you most like to live?
EBG: Within walking distance of a library and a coffee shop, in a house with a front porch on Main Street and 10 acres of farm land out back.

Kidoinfo: What do you like to do when you are not with your kid(s)?
EBG: I dance and tour with a Border Morris team called Ladies of the Rolling Pin. My kids often come to our performances, but mostly it is something I do for myself because I enjoy it so much.

Kidoinfo: What is the most overrated thing about parenthood?
EBG: Bedtime.

Kidoinfo: What is your most treasured possession?
EBG: My camera (a Cannon Rebel D-SLR).

Kidoinfo: What superpower would you most like to have?
EBG: I think I could really get into time-travel.

Kidoinfo: Who is your favorite fictional mother or father?
EBG: Caillou’s parents. I hope someday to have as much patience and energy as they do.

Kidoinfo: What are you going to do now that you have answered these questions?
EBG: Finish cleaning up the kitchen and go to bed.

Kidoinfo Presents: Parents Using Social Media on February 9, 2010. Please join us for an evening of conversation, food and cocktails.

Sponsored by:
• Cutler & Company
• Leslie Kellogg: Residential Properties
• Renaissance Gymnastics Academy
• Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH)
• Rag & Bone Bindery
• Ocean State Montessori
• Soul at Work
• St. Peter School
• The Bridge Montessori
• Amy Ro photography
• Hennessey PR Consulting
• Breathing Time Yoga: Yoga w/ childcare
• RI Families in Nature
• exhale. return to center

Today meet Michelle Riggen-Ransom, another panelist and parent from the upcoming Kidoinfo event, Parents Using Social Media. Please join us on February 9 at Bravo Brasserie for a fun night out; bring a friend or come solo. Click here for details.

Kidoinfo: What neighborhood do you live in?
Michelle Riggen-Ransom (MRR): Barrington. Also affectionately known as Borington and Scarington.

Kidoinfo: Where were you born?
MRR: Albany, New York.

Kidoinfo: How long have you been in Rhode Island?
MRR: Just over four years.

Kidoinfo: What is your current state of mind?
MRR: Pretty focused, actually. Just getting back in the swing of things from the holidays and feeling optimistic about work, started working out again (like everyone else!). That always helps me manage everything that’s going on in my personal and work life better.

Kidoinfo: Who’s in your family?
MRR: My husband Sean, my 6-year-old, Cole, and my almost 3-year-old, Sadie Robin.

Kidoinfo: What trait do you most admire about your family?
MRR: We tend to have a lot of adventures. The kids are both always up for most anything, and we love taking them to new places, trying new foods, just exploring.

Kidoinfo: What is your favorite thing to do?
MRR: Lately it’s to be home by our wood stove, writing, watching Dexter with my husband, or teaching my son to play Scrabble. In the summer it’s all about the beach, babies.

Kidoinfo: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
MRR: I’m at the Coffee Depot in Warren a lot. It’s so cozy there in the winter and I love all the characters who hang out there. Being newly obsessed with trying to eat more local food, we also love the Winters Farmers’ Market in Pawtucket.

Kidoinfo: Where would you most like to live?
MRR: Ideally we would be bi-coastal and live in Seattle (where my husband and I met, married, and lived for a long time) for half the year and on the East Coast the other half. We almost moved to Dublin instead of Providence, and that would have been cool as well.

Kidoinfo: What do you like to do when you are not with your kid(s)?
MRR: I love going out for cocktails with friends. Also, as any of these friends will tell you, sing karaoke. I’ve yet to find a good place in Providence, though!

Kidoinfo: What is the most overrated thing about parenthood?
MRR: Minivans.

Kidoinfo: What is your most treasured possession?
MRR: The camera my husband bought me and the pictures I take of my kids.

Kidoinfo: What superpower would you most like to have?
MRR: The ability to breathe underwater, but only if my son could too so that we could go explore the ocean together.

Kidoinfo: Who is your favorite fictional mother or father?
MRR: My very first favorite was probably Ma and Pa Ingalls. Those folks knew how to get stuff done, yet they still had fun and loved each other very much. Although, they were based on real people…

Kidoinfo: What are you going to do now that you have answered these questions?
MRR: I have a blog post that’s overdue, but I’m tired so will probably put it off until tomorrow. Good night!

Kidoinfo Presents: Parents Using Social Media on February 9, 2010. Please join us for an evening of conversation, food and cocktails.

Sponsored by:
• Cutler & Company
• Leslie Kellogg: Residential Properties
• Renaissance Gymnastics Academy
• Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH)
• Rag & Bone Bindery
• Ocean State Montessori
• Soul at Work
• St. Peter School
• The Bridge Montessori
• Amy Ro photography
• Hennessey PR Consulting
• Breathing Time Yoga: Yoga w/ childcare
• RI Families in Nature
• exhale. return to center

In anticipation of the upcoming “How Parents Use Social Media” event, I invite you to get know our panelists better through Meet the Parent interviews. To launch the new series, KidoConversations, I chose four parents affiliated with Kidoinfo; Katy, Michelle and Erin are contributing writers for the website, and Alex serves on the Kidoinfo advisory board. Although I knew Katy and Alex briefly before starting Kidoinfo, I have had the pleasure of getting to know them much better because of it. I met Michelle Riggen-Ransom over our love of technology, sushi, kids, and our entrepreneurial spirit months after launching our own businesses. Erin joined early on as a contributing writer but it took well over a year before we finally met in person.

I started Kidoinfo using social media more than two years ago to create a space for parents to gather. During that time I have reconnected with parents I met in passing at the playground or got to know because of Kidoinfo — some personally, some professionally and some I still only know virtually. The ability to engage and share with people over the Internet, at the park, and at a local coffee shop keeps me grounded and invested in my community of friends, fellow parents, and family-related businesses and services.

I hope to see/meet many of you Tuesday, February 9, at Bravo Brasserie. Bring your questions, and playdate or business cards. We’ll provide some food, name tags, and the chance to hang without your kids. Not signed up yet? Click here.

Today, meet Katy Killilea, Kidoinfo’s first contributing writer.

Kidoinfo: What neighborhood do you live in?
KLK: Hamden Meadows in Barrington, over the bridge by the white church.

Kidoinfo: Where were you born?
KLK: New Jersey!

Kidoinfo: How long have you been in Rhode Island?
KLK: Eleven years—four in Barrington, the rest on the East Side.

Kidoinfo: What is your current state of mind?
KLK: I’m feeling kind of full of myself because it’s December 17 when I’m answering this question and I’ve got the perfect gift for everyone all wrapped up and hidden behind my pants in the closet.

Kidoinfo: Who’s in your family?
KLK: Jack is eight, Briggs is six. I’m married to a schoolteacher named Joe, and we have a puppy named Butter.

Kidoinfo: What trait do you most admire about your family?
KLK: Except for Butter, A+ car singing and living room dancing, and they’re all hilarious. Butter I mostly admire for being cute and soft and for going with the flow.

Kidoinfo: What is your favorite thing to do?
KLK: Anything I can only do when no one is around, like reading the Patagonia catalog while eating a bowl pf raisin bran. Otherwise, I like baking and reading to children the best, or going for a walk with Joe.

Kidoinfo: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
KLK: With kids, I like the teenager room at the Barrington Public Library. Alone, I like to sit at the kitchen counter. With a friend, I’d pick Cafe Lila in Pawtucket. With Joe, I like to hang out in snowy woods. With my whole family, the best place is at the Mount Washington Hotel in New Hampshire because you can have a snowball fight in the pool.

Kidoinfo: Where would you most like to live?
KLK: I think about moving to one of the Portlands sometimes.

Kidoinfo: What do you like to do when you are not with your kid(s)?
KLK: I like running barefoot and listening to friends talk about sex or different plastic surgeries they’re half-considering.

Kidoinfo: What is the most overrated thing about parenthood?
KLK: The gear. All you need is friends, a sling, some avocados, a school, and lots of money or gift cards.

Kidoinfo: What is your most treasured possession?
KLK: I try to not care about possessions, but I’d be really sad to lose my wedding rings. Other than that I love, love, love the electric kettle.

Kidoinfo: What superpower would you most like to have?
KLK: Either something to do with a tidiness wand or being able to care less about tidiness. Probably the wand.

Kidoinfo: Who is your favorite fictional mother or father?
KLK: The mother in Blueberries For Sal. She let her child get mixed up with hungry bears, was oblivious to any danger, everything worked out fine, and she looked pert throughout.

Kidoinfo: What are you going to do now that you have answered these questions?
KLK: I’m taking Butter for a walk.

Kidoinfo Presents: Parents Using Social Media on February 9, 2010. Please join us for an evening of conversation, food and cocktails.

Sponsored by:
• Cutler & Company
• Leslie Kellogg: Residential Properties
• Renaissance Gymnastics Academy
• Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH)
• Rag & Bone Bindery
• Ocean State Montessori
• Soul at Work
• St. Peter School
• The Bridge Montessori
• Amy Ro photography
• Hennessey PR Consulting
• Breathing Time Yoga: Yoga w/ childcare
• RI Families in Nature
• exhale. return to center

Today’s Kidoinfo Interviewer: Katy Killilea
Neighborhood: Summit Avenue area, East Side of Providence

Kidoinfo: How long have you lived in Rhode Island?
RW: Most of my life. I moved to Little Compton when I was three. In the 1990s, I lived in the Pacific Northwest and Manhattan, but my wife and I moved back here when we were expecting our first daughter.

Kidoinfo: What is your current state of mind?
RW: A bit overwhelmed. I’m a freelance writer, and I have to write two juvenile fiction Star Wars novels within six weeks. I know I can do it, but it’s lot of work.

Kidoinfo: Who’s in your family?
RW: My wife, Anne, and daughters Dorothy, 10, and Violet, 8. Also Teddy, a Cairn Terrier, who walks me regularly.

Kidoinfo: What trait do you most admire about your family?
RW: Our own idiosyncratic lunacy.

Kidoinfo: What is your favorite thing to do?
RW: I really enjoy cooking for my family. I make dinner just about every night. They rarely complain, except for my wife, who actually enjoys going to restaurants more than once a year. Go figure.

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