Some changes (and welcome, Sarah!)

Sarah Powers If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been quieter than usual lately. What started as a much-needed summer break turned into a sputtering September, and I’ll admit I haven’t felt my usual blogging mojo lately.

The truth is that The Happiest Mom is only a small part of what I do. Besides, y’know, attending to the needs of five kids and the house, I juggle assignments for Babble, HGTV and other outlets, manage the blog for Experience Grand Rapids and am working on a brand-new, very exciting project that I’ll be sharing with you later this week.

It’s a lot, and lately I haven’t been doing such a good job keeping up with it all.

Plus, I’ve been wanting to bring in more outside voices to The Happiest Mom for quite some time. My kids are getting older: Clara is 3 1/2, and I feel like I’m losing touch with some of the challenges I faced (that many of you are still facing now) as a mom with small babies and toddlers.

I’ve never felt like The Happiest Mom should be all about me. But with all that I’ve got on my plate, how was I going to manage a schedule for contributing writers?

Well, here’s how! Everyone please give a big welcome to Sarah Powers, The Happiest Mom’s new Managing Editor. Sarah will be helping with the day-to-day management of the blog, working with guest writers and helping to keep me organized so I can focus on writing and communicating with all of you.

Sarah will also be joining our team of writers, so you can look forward to getting to know her via her posts here. She’s already getting things in tip-top shape behind the scenes and I know you’re going to notice big (and all good) changes soon. You can read more about Sarah on our newly-edited About page.

I also wanted to let you all know that I’ve revived my old blog at www.meaganfrancis.com to write about things that don’t specifically have to do with happier motherhood – for example, a family adventure abroad that’s in the works. I also posted there about my decision to re-claim my name and make The Happiest Mom less about me and more about all of you.

(My new blog won’t update that often, so if you want to stay up to date on my posts there, you may want to subscribe via email.)

I’m so excited to welcome Sarah and to usher in all these changes that I know are going to be excellent for The Happiest Mom as a blog and for all of us as a community. Please feel free to reach out with questions, but for now, it’s business as usual. Look for Sarah’s first post tomorrow, and for a fun announcement from me later this week! And most of all, thanks for coming along for the ride.