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Meet a Parent: Cristin Searles Bilodeau

[ 0 ] 1.31.2008 | Anisa Raoof

Cristin And Family-1 Neighborhood: East Side of Providence
Kidoinfo Interviewer: Katy Killilea

Kidoinfo: Where were you born?
CSB: Boston.

Kidoinfo: How long have you been in Rhode Island?
CSB: I’ve been in Rhode Island since eighth grade (scary), except for being an undergrad in upstate NY, and doing grad school in NYC.

Kidoinfo: What is your current state of mind?
 CSB: Slightly spazzy. I’m trying to focus on NOT multitasking; just doing one thing at a time and seeing it through to completion.

Kidoinfo: Who’s in your family?
 CSB: My hilarious husband, Eric, and our cheeky kids, Alice and Leo.

Kidoinfo: What trait do you most admire about your family?
CSB: We laugh and laugh and laugh.

Kidoinfo: What is your favorite thing to do?
CSB: Travel (but ask me the last time I went anywhere exciting!).

Kidoinfo: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
 CSB: A neighborhood bar with draft beer and buffalo wings, watching the Red Sox or Pats with my husband and friends OR the same scene, but with red wine and a handful of tipsy girlfriends.

Kidoinfo: Where would you most like to live?
CSB: Florence. No, Paris. Maybe Berlin. Nova Scotia? OK, I’d settle for Prudence Island if they could ‘off’ the deer ticks.

Kidoinfo: What do you like to do when you are not with your kids?
CSB: Work in my studio, which is lovely with them, but lovelier without!

Kidoinfo: What is the most overrated thing about parenthood?
CSB: Having new, clean, gender-appropriate clothes for them.

Kidoinfo: What is your most treasured possession?
 CSB: This is a tough one . . . there isn’t much ”stuff” I treasure. It would have to be the three rings I wear together—my wedding band and the baby rings I had made with the kids’ birthstones.

Kidoinfo: What superpower would you most like to have?
 CSB: Ability to travel through time!!!

Kidoinfo: Who is your favorite fictional mother or father?
CSB: I’m coming up empty . . . there is no mom in The Botany of Desire! How about an inspirational woman, if not a mom? That would be Beryl Markham from West with the Night.

Kidoinfo: What do you do when you are not with your kids?
CSB: When I’m not with the kids, I teach spinning at the East Side YMCA four times a week, volunteer on the board of the RI Diaper Bank, work part-time as a bookkeeper and part-time as a beekeeper with Eric, make costumes for theater and dance, and (most importantly) do my sculpture work in my studio in Pawtucket. You know–just a couple of extra things because having two kids under five isn’t so hard, right? (See Cristin’s sculpture work online at www.cadetompkins.com.)

Kidoinfo: What are you going to do now that you have answered these questions?
CSB: Second-guess my answers.

In the interest of community building, we will periodically profile a parent from our Kidoinfo community. If you want to share your ideas or request a questionnaire so that you can be considered for a future “Meet a Parent” column, please contact us!

Category: art, meet a parent, moms

About Anisa Raoof: Anisa Raoof is the publisher of Kidoinfo.com. She combines being a mom with her experience as an artist, designer, psych researcher and former co-director of the Providence Craft Show to create the go-to spot for families in Rhode Island and beyond. She loves using social media to connect parents with family-related businesses and services and promoting ways for parents to engage offline with their kids. Anisa believes in the power of working together and loves to find ways to collaborate with others. An online enthusiast, still likes to unplug often by reading books and magazines, drawing, learning to knit, making pop-up books with her two sons and listening to records with her husband. View author profile.