The November 2014 issue marks another milestone for Orlando Family Magazine: our 4^th anniversary! For our small, talented team, this publication is like our baby. So, I couldn’t help but wonder if we’re truly hitting the mark. All in good fun, I looked up a developmental checklist to see if our growth is on track.  According to the CDC and other sources on developmental stages, a 4-year-old:

• Enjoys doing new things: Check. We love sharing fresh ideas with you through our unique, locally-driven articles.
• Plays “mom” and “dad”: Check-ish. Well, we play with mom and dad (hey reader ─ that’s you by the way).
• Is more creative with make-believe play: Check. We aim to educate and entertain with creative information. As for make-believe? Good storytelling and imagination go hand-in-hand.
• Would rather play with other children than by self: Quadruple check. We enjoy and value the collaborative input from advertisers, community partners, readers, staff, etc.
• Cooperates with other children: Check (I assume). Our goal is to serve and enrich families, so hopefully we’ve never offended our readers.
• Talks about likes/interests: Check. Our columns spell it out… family fun, health & wellness, local events, technology, and so on.
• Knows basic rules of grammar: CHECK! Wait, is all caps grammatically correct for emphasis? Hopefully this development is a given for OFM (thank goodness for spellcheck and a lengthy editing process).
• Sings a song or says a poem from memory:  Sort of… singing is all about pitch and we think we’re decent at tackling story pitches. [Ok, so I’m stretching on this one. No one has the perfect 4-year-old!]
• Tells stories: CHECK. Duh…
• Can say first and last name: Check. Orlando Family Magazine… rolls right off the tongue.
• Starts to understand time: Check. Press deadlines? What press deadlines?
• Draws a person with 2 to 4 body parts: Check. Have you seen the design skills of Thomas Sessions, our Creative Director? LOL!
• Hops and stands on one foot up to 2 seconds: Unknown. Not sure of the agility of our OFM team members, but I’m willing to test their ability. Not for my entertainment, of course, but for the sole purpose of milestone research. Oh! I can picture the pending silliness at our next team meeting.

Clearly, we’re officially 4 years old! Each month, we share our side of the story with you. But we invite you to talk back (as 4-year-olds often do) by playing with us on Facebook, Twitter, and our Relatively Speaking Blog. November traditionally correlates with a feeling of thankfulness and we’re truly thankful that, with your support, we’re on track.