With change comes opportunity - in life and publishing

New Hampshire is in better shape than other parts of the country where coronavirus has infected large segments of the population because collectively, we have taken it seriously by social distancing and staying at home as much as we can.

But it has not been easy to protect ourselves and each other from the virus.

Parents have become teachers; some workers have become unemployed, and health care pro viders have become superhuman. We miss our families, celebrations have been canceled, and we mourn the loss of the freedom of movement we took for granted. We have suffered and sacrificed so that we can slow down the spread of the virus as to not overwhelm our medical facilities. Stress, anxiety and depression are common. We just want to know when this will end so we can get back to what we were doing before all this started.

And we will, but no doubt our lives and society have permanently been altered now that we know that we have the ability to make big changes. There are people who will choose to continue to work from home, some may now homeschool their kids, and we have all had a crash course in videoconferencing technology so we can stay in touch. We will never see things the same way again.

At ParentingNH, things changed immediately af ter schools were transitioned to remote learning. We wanted to get the most up-to-date information to you and the best way we could do that was through our social media channels and our web site. We started, and are continuing, to post content to our site several times a day.

The May issue of ParentingNH was produced with our team working from home, as was most of our April issue. We’ve been able to share COVID-19-related stories from across the state thanks to a partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative. We even did a photo shoot this month without getting closer than six feet to the cover subject. As conditions modified, we in novated.

We have learned through this experience that we are ready for another, more significant trans formation that we know is going to benefit not only our readers, but also our advertisers who have supported our mission for the past 27 years.

The first and only statewide monthly magazine for parents of children and teens is becoming a digital-only publication starting with the June 2020 issue.

Whether you are at work or at home you will be able to read issues of ParentingNH on your phone, tablet or desktop. We are also developing more, and unique, content for our website. We think it’s a win-win: Every month you will still be reading our national-award winning magazine, but between issues we will keep you in-the-know with the latest news and information through our web site and social media. We are also going to be able to reach exponentially more readers in the state, and beyond, than we could as a print magazine.

As a journalist since 1999, I’m excited about the opportunities and possibilities that will come from making this shift, namely the ability to keep you better informed, especially in times like these when you need us most.

You’ll never miss a monthly issue when you sign up to have PNH’s digital magazine delivered to your in-box each month. If you register now, you will be in the running to win some great prizes from our advertisers. See Page 6 for details.

President John F. Kennedy once said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

Welcome to our future.