As of this writing, we have been lucky and haven’t had any blizzards or massive rains like the West Coast or Western Europe. My college-age daughter was one of those travelers who flew into the craziness of the European airports in mid-December for winter college break and to travel with her big brother. What a mess!
But here in New York, we passed through the shortest days of the year with an amazing lunar eclipse and relative ease, although cold. But that’s winter, and we’re used to it and accustomed to being bundled up and cozy. Now it’s a new year and with many weeks of our winter still in front of us, we will be watching the days grow longer as the weeks pass, and hoping that it’s a sign of positive things to come in our economy as well.
With that in mind, this January issue presents an article by our award-winning contributing writer Candi Sparks about the pressures put on families when Dad has lost his job and Mom is the sole working partner. Who does the shopping, cooking, and cleaning and takes care of the children? It’s so typical for men to look to women to fulfill those roles. An out-of-work Dad is depressed anyway, and not usually expansive or open to taking on new duties. He’s coping with his own innermost feelings of inadequacy, and she’s left holding the bag — and everything else.
Finances are on everyone’s mind and budgets are being slashed and watched in every home and every business, and the stress for families when incomes are reduced so drastically is enormous. Everyone pays, including the children who have to be nurtured in an atmosphere often tense with problems that never were there before.
And now, speaking of business, I want to take this opportunity to thank not only you, our thousands of readers throughout the boroughs of our four magazines in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx/Riverdale, and Staten Island (our newest member of the family!), for your continued support and for your letters and good wishes throughout the years, but also our hundreds of advertisers, who are also struggling through these pressured economic times. Their trust in us and their loyalty to our brand has enabled us to continue to continue. We are very grateful for these marvelous relationships and for the response you, our readers, give to them, making this marketing choice a successful one.
We hope for a brighter year for everyone and a more prosperous one.
Happy New Year to all! We promise to continue to work hard to produce the very best parent guides for your communities with the most interesting and relevant editorial. We wish you a great month and thanks for reading! Happy New Year!
