about

Kidoinfo is Rhode Island’s guide to family fun, creative ideas, resources and local events. With fresh ideas everyday, we keep you in the know with DIY projects, kid-tested recipes, after-school activities, camps, story times and so much more. From new parents to grandparents, babies to tweens, we have something for everyone.

Kidoinfo.com is a hip guide for parents and kids, started in 2007, designed and run by Anisa. We are based in Providence, Rhode Island, and reaching out to the world. This independent weblog is brimming with information, creative ideas, things to do, places to go and links to family resources. Visit regularly – to see what’s new in books, music, food, schools and more. Search the calendar for ongoing and special events and read the A-List to find the best cookie, pizza, playground, etc.

Anisa lives in Providence with her husband and ten-year-old twin boys. She works on finding ways to make parenting easier, still fun and even a little cool. Being a parent means not staying put and being open to new adventures. Anisa created Kidoinfo in early 2007 to be the central source for everything about kids in the Providence area. But Kidoinfo also goes beyond the city borders – wherever our kids will travel. This essential online guide is for parents, caregivers, and families living in the area or just visiting.

Anisa combines being a mom with her experience as an artist, designer, psych researcher and former co-director of the Providence Craft Show to create Kidoinfo.

Since my kids were babies, I’ve gotten a lot of great information from parents at the playground, at the school fence, emails from friends, and at my favorite coffee shop. Other parents help make my job as a parent easier. I wanted to bring all this valuable information into one central location. I like having the insider information and parent recommendations for great classes, fun playgrounds, and cool music. I also want to include info for parents even when they’re not taking care of kids. Providence is a happening city in the ocean state. I love to share everything it has to offer with others – and by building a community for parents, we can make it even better. – Anisa

Kidoinfo makes everything related to kids and parents accessible to everyone in and around Providence, RI, and beyond. Whether you are a local or a visitor, visit www.kidoinfo.com often.

Anisa Raoof
Founder + Editor-in-Chief
Creative Director

Douglas
Tech Guy

Sons: D. and E.
Chief testers of products, music, books, food and local events
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Nancy King: Editor
Nancy King is a recent transplant to Rhode Island, having moved here from San Francisco with her husband and daughter. A native New Yorker, Nancy was eager to be closer to her family and to reconnect with the city that was her home for thirty-plus years. She works as a freelance book editor on projects ranging from health and fitness to pop culture and kids’ titles. Particular favorites have included The Pop Up Book of Celebrity Meltdowns and Cowboy Boots: Art and Soul.

contributors

Katy Killilea: Grocery News + more

Katy Killilea lives in Barrington with her husband, their sons (2001 + 2003), and a dog named Butter. She works as much as she can as a freelance writer. Katy loves running, cooking, sudden trips to new places, loud corduroy pants, and being taken to the Beehive in Bristol.
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Kristen Kardos, MA Ed., and Kathy McGuigan, MSW: New Moms
Kristen Kardos and Kathy McGuigan, co-founders of Rhode Island New Moms Connection (affordable, accessible pregnancy and new mom groups throughout RI), value building community and developing support networks for new moms in addition to mothering their own joyful children. They share their knowledge, resources, and helpful tips for moms just beginning their journey into parenthood or moms that may need a little refresher.
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Michelle Riggen-Ransom: Nature/Nurture
A fan of all things oceanic, Michelle grew up on Cape Cod, where she spent many summers catching pipefish, collecting shells and getting sunburned. After twelve years on the West Coast (Los Angeles and Seattle), she’s returned with her husband to her native New England, where they are happily raising their three-year old son, Cole, and four-month-old daughter, Sadie, to be fourth-generation beach babies (but with more sun block).

At her day (and night and weekend) job, Michelle wrangles content and smiths words as co-founder of batchblue.com, a Rhode Island-based software company. Apparently a love of nature and a passion for technology are not mutually exclusive, as she is equally smitten with both.
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Maura Keating: Parent Tester
Maura scopes out and reviews various products and services for the Kidoinfo community. She lives with her husband and thirteen-month-old son in Providence.
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Elyse Major: Craft, local adventure and more.
Lives in northern Rhode Island with her husband and 2 sons (almost 6 and almost 8 years old). A “mostly” stay-at-home mom, Elyse works as a communications consultant for Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island. Hobbies include doing crafts with her boys; eating popcorn with her husband; writing; creating home dècor; and most recently blogging (visit Elyse’s blog at http://tinkeredtreasures.blogspot.com/).
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Erin Barrette Goodman: It’s a Date, Motherhood

Erin is a multi-media artist, interfaith minister, yoga teacher and passionate builder of community. She is the founder of the Rhode Island Birth Network and the creator and host of Behind the Blog. As a mother of two, she also packs lunches, drives the carpool, and bows to the power of PBS Kids. She blogs regularly at at eringoodman.com
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Martha Iachetta: General Parenting
Martha has worked in substance abuse prevention, education, and intervention since 1998. She has a master’s degree in counseling psychology, is a licensed therapist, and is certified in student assistance. Her most recent work is in secondary education (Warwick and Smithfield public schools) and higher education (Boston College and Wellesley College). She is available for private consultations and presentations for parents, teachers, health educators, counselors, and community-based substance abuse prevention coalitions.
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Jill Davidson: Education
Jill lives in Providence with her husband Kevin Eberman and sons Elias (age 8), Leo (age 5), and Henry (age 2). She is the president of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization, serves on the Providence Public Schools’ Nathan Bishop Middle School Steering Committee, and works on education issues nationally as the Publications Director of the Coalition of Essential Schools. Some days, there’s not too much time left for more, but when there is, Jill loves to multitask with combinations of cooking, shopping locally, gardening, exercising, reading, hanging out with friends and family, and exploring Rhode Island.
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Jeanine Silversmith: Nature
Jeanine Silversmith is a self-described tree-hugging science-and-math geek whose love of nature, coupled with her absolute certainty that people, especially children, are happier, healthier, and wiser when they regularly spend time in nature, led her to establish Rhode Island Families in Nature. She loves to run, garden, bake, hike, and go camping, especially when accompanied by her husband, Ian, her 4-year-old daughter, Sierra, and her 1-year-old son, Devin. They live in Wakefield, RI.

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Jaci Arnone: General Parenting
Having grown up in Southeastern Massachusetts, Jaci chose the Ocean State to raise her family after stints on the West Coast, Southern Florida, and a few cities in between. Although she works part-time as a prospect researcher in the nonprofit world, most of her time is spent trying to keep up with her four active kids, ages 10, 5, and 3-year-old twins. With the slivers of spare time she finds, Jaci enjoys writing, taking peaceful runs (ideally, not pushing the triple jogger), and combing local thrift stores for treasures.
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Melissa Brusso: Home Plate: Reflections of a Sportsparent
Melissa lives in Pawtucket, R.I., with SportsDad, daughter Stretch, 10, and the Little Man, 7. She spends her time fund-raising for the nonprofit Pawtucket Day Child Development Center, schlepping her children to one or another sports practice or game, freelance commercial writing, cooking and baking, and trying valiantly to keep up with domestic tasks. She can be reached at MBwritenow@gmail.com.

Melissa also blogs here: www.danslamerde.wordpress.com
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Anna Sawin: Photography and food
Anna lives near the Rhode Island border on the coast of Connecticut, where she writes about her passions: kids, photography and food. In addition to her professional life as a writer and editor, she blogs about life with two young boys at www.hankandwillie.com.
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Dr. Cristina Mitchell (Hillside Family and Community Medicine): Wellness
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Providence Children’s Museum: Play
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RISD Museum of Art: Artful Family
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The Audubon Society: Nature

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Roger Williams Park Zoo: Nature
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Other Contributors:
Friends, relatives, co-workers, acquaintances, friends-of-friends, etc. – all real people and parents who are full of great ideas, valuable skills, many talents and opinions.

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Kidoinfo continues to evolve. We keep adding new columns, fun features, and more resources. Help keep us informed. Contact us with your suggestions, events, class listings and more.