Welcome to Modern Parenthood

Modern Parenthood, the Monitor's new community for parents, grandparents, friends – anyone, really – who believes in raising compassionate and engaged global citizens.

Hi. My name is Stephanie. Stephanie Hanes in my professional life, Stephanie Hanes Wilson to the folks in the little Massachusetts town where I live, “Mamamamama” to my munchkin of a baby girl who inspired this project in the first place.
 
That first bit of information you could have gotten from the little tag we put above stories. We call them “bylines.” You know, “By Stephanie Hanes, Correspondent.”
 
You wouldn’t have heard it from me, though. We journalists are a shy bunch, believe it or not, and we tend to try to keep ourselves out of our stories and let other people talk instead.

RELATED: Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect

But a few of us at the CS Monitor decided recently that we wanted to try something different. We were talking about some of the stories we had worked on in the past months about kids and families – pieces like Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect and Toddler to Teens: Relearning how to Play.  And then, of course, we started talking about our own lives – how one editor’s daughter insisted on leaving the house wearing "that," how another noticed that his kids didn’t run around outside, how one reporter wanted to make a frilly pink bonfire of all the baby girl gear gifted by a grandmother.
 
We started talking about you, as well. Yup, you. All of you readers – and there were just tons of you – who shared your own stories, argued with us, asked questions, and wanted more. More stories that explored parenting and family culture and growing up, but with the Monitor’s signature approach of reporting with compassion and diligence; reporting that was global in both spirit and practice.
 
We realized we wanted to keep the conversation going. And so we decided to start this blog as a community for parents, grandparents, friends – anyone, really – who believes in raising compassionate and engaged global citizens. Because we think that families and children are important. We think that stories about kids are not “fluffy,” but crucial for policy decisions, international relations, the global environment, and building the sort of world we’d love to leave behind for the next generations.
 
We have some thoughts about parenting, too. We think it’s hard and humbling, frustrating and hilarious, world-changing and invigorating, beautiful and exhausting, delightful and boring, fascinating and, above all, joyful. But more importantly, we want to hear what you think. And we hope you’ll share your responses to the news, life and commentary that we will be posting on this site.
 
This will be a bit different than the other Monitor blogs. Parenting is unique in its blend of personal and political, local and global, small and big. So while we still are going to offer fair, thorough and balanced reporting here, we’ll be also sharing a bit more about ourselves.
 
Bear with us on this last part. Pretty please. Like I said, we’re kind of shy, so we might have to work on it. I’ll tell you more about me soonest, since I am going to be the Monitor's main parent blogger here, and it’s only fair for you to know about the person behind all of these words.
 
In the meantime, welcome. We’re really glad you’re here. And we can’t wait to get to know you better.