I only remember reading three books with my parents when I was a child (my dad, specifically – I’m sure Mom was busy preparing us a healthy meal during this time). One of them, The Story About Ping, is now on something called “the banned book list” because the duck gets spanked. To this I say, “What?!!” Taking no chances, I was sure to snag a copy before it became hard to find. Our boys love it and never once have they reported having nightmares about being spanked for being the last one in the house at bedtime (this will make sense if you read the book).
The second and third books were given to me by my mom for the boys (she might not have been reading to me, but she was clearly paying attention!). They are A.A. Milne’s The House at Pooh Corner and Now We Are Six. I was excited to see The House at Pooh Corner is the first play of Virginia Rep’s Children’s Theatre new season, opening October 14. Be sure to take your little ones to check it out.
Now We Are Six is a book I have given to godchildren and friends’ kids for their sixth birthday, and guess who gets a copy now? Okay, maybe I can’t give a book to a magazine, but this is my very long-winded way of saying…RFM is six!
It was October of 2009 when the first issue of Richmond Family Magazine hit the streets, all thirty-six pages and 24,000 copies of it. I can’t remember if I’ve told you the story of our humble beginnings before, so skip to the end if you’ve heard it. In a nutshell, folks thought I was crazy. “You’re starting a magazine?! You mean an online magazine, right? Not an actual printed magazine?” Yeah, yeah, print is dead and all that. Well here we are, six years and seventy-two issues later. Living. Thriving, even! Now at a sold-out sixty-eight pages and 43,000 issues picked up very quickly each month, RFM has become the go-to resource for families who want relevant content about parenting today, the people who live and work in our awesome city, family-friendly events, recipes, crafts, contests, travel ideas, pet info, health and wellness advice, and so much more. And in this digital age, we have grown to include a fun and active online community of over 15,000 fans and followers who keep in touch with us all month long via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
It’s been the most fun ride, starting and growing a business with the best team in the world, meeting so many fantastic members of the RVA community, and connecting families to resources that enrich their lives. We couldn’t do it without you, our faithful readers, and without our advertisers (so get out there and support the businesses and events you see in RFM!). We look forward to continuing to inspire, inform, and entertain you – starting right now, so curl up and dive into this issue!
