December 27, 2024 Dear Reader, Along with our Board of Directors, I send you and your family warm greetings and best wishes for health and happiness. During the holidays, I've been very grateful to be able to enjoy time together with my children and grandchildren. I'm also dismayed about how much pain and violence there is in the U.S. and around the world. How do national and international conflicts impact our day-to-day lives? And can we have an impact on any of this? In May, our message for...
29 days ago • 4 min read
June 13, 2024 Dear Reader, When you think about the most recent transition you’ve been through, what feelings do you remember experiencing? When I’m anticipating a transition, or in the midst of it, I’ve often felt a disorienting mix of emotions: excitement, apprehension, confidence and insecurity. June is a time of transition for many children and teens, and their parents, too. My husband and I are spending this month in New Orleans (yes it’s hot!) with our son, daughter-in-law and...
8 months ago • 3 min read
May 22, 2024 Dear Reader, Soon after we shared the news about our new article on stay-at-home mothers for Wikipedia, we heard from leaders of other non-profit organizations in the U.S. and internationally, as well as from doctors, professors, counselors, journalists, and at-home mothers! See our new Stay-at-Home Mother article on Wikipedia! Lisa Reagan, Editor of Kindred Media, interviewed us - FAHN Board member Willow Duttge Tepper, who led our Wikipedia project, and me. We were honored to...
8 months ago • 2 min read
May 10, 2024 Dear Reader, What was the original meaning and the motivation for marking a special day for mothers? Historian Heather Cox Richardson explains: "Mothers’ Day—with the apostrophe not in the singular spot, but in the plural—actually started in the 1870s, when the sheer enormity of the death caused by the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War convinced American women that women must take control of politics from the men who had permitted such carnage. Mothers’ Day was not designed...
9 months ago • 1 min read
May 7, 2024 Dear Reader, We did it! Our new article is posted: See the new Stay-at-Home Mother page on Wikipedia! This was a major effort—many hours of planning and writing and editing—done in celebration of our 40th Anniversary. In celebration of our Wikipedia article, we're hosting an informal chat on Friday, May 10 at noon (Eastern)—please join us! Zoom link - Friday May 10 at noon (Eastern) Some of our Board members will join us, including Willow Duttge Tepper, who led the Wikipedia...
9 months ago • 1 min read
May 2, 2024 Dear Reader, When we saw that Wikipedia's Stay-at-Home Mother page redirected to "Housewife" we decided to take action. Though homemaking skills should never be denigrated, at-home mothers must not be misidentified as housewives. Representation matters. As our 40th Anniversary project, we are setting the record straight! Willow Duttge Tepper, Member of our Board of Directors, led the volunteer team of writers and editors. We drew on FAHN's 40 years of knowledge and experience to...
9 months ago • 1 min read
April 2024 Dear Reader, As our organization celebrates our 40th Anniversary, I find myself reflecting on the ways in which my understanding of our mission has deepened over the decades. And with news of so much violence and tragedy around the world, I have to remind myself of the significance of our efforts. For this, I return to the words of renowned pediatricians Drs. T.Berry Brazelton and Stanley I. Greenspan, from their book The Irreducible Needs of Children: What Every Child Must Have to...
9 months ago • 2 min read