FIRST WORD
Moms: The Real Superheroes
T Britni Petersen
Managing Editor
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Email us at
editor@thefamilymagazine.com his May, it’s all about moms. Moms are war-
riors and real-life superheroes who provide
an endless amount of love, nurturing and
support through every age and stage of our lives.

While moms deserve to be commemorated every
day, we wanted to show some extra appreciation this
month in celebration of Mother’s Day.

In this issue, we are featuring our 2019 Moms of
the Year! After a stream of nominations, six local
moms were chosen to be honored. Read their sto-
ries and find out what their friends and family had to
say about each of these deserving mothers on pg. 12.

You’ll also discover some wonderful motherly advice
along the way.

And, in celebration of moms, we have a great list of
local Mother’s Day events on pg. 49 to help you treat
Mom, or yourself, to a nice day of love and appreciation.

Along with Mother’s Day fun, it’s also our
party issue!
We all know that planning a child’s birthday party
can be much more stressful than enjoyable. You can
check out as many “easy children’s birthday party
ideas” on Pinterest as possible, but it still takes some
effort, time and often a decent chunk of change to
plan your child’s birthday party.

We’ve rounded up some essential birthday plan-
ning tips, advice and local resources to make your
child’s next birthday a success without all the stress.

Michelle Ardillo shares some current birthday party
trends on pg. 26, and our annual “Party Guide” on
pg. 23 includes a bunch of local spots to throw a party.

We also asked local moms to share their tips and
tricks on birthday parties as well as their general
thoughts on the topic on pg 20. From ways to save
money to more thought-provoking advice like let-
ting go of party planning pressure and expectations,
these moms share it all.

Aside from a whole lot of mom love and party read-
iness, we have other great stories inside like SAT/ACT
preparation, self-care techniques and much more.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you superhero moms
out there — you’re not only appreciated on this
special day, but every single day. ■
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