Moms Who Rock Around Our Towns: Hastings' Claudia Heitler

Each week, we're going to share with you a local mom that we think is awesome. We'll ask her some questions and hear about how she manages life with kids in our area. We hope you'll enjoy getting to know some of our neighbors.

Claudia Heitler is the founder and owner of Everywhere—News for Kids and a Hastings resident who lives with her husband Josh and their two children, Arlo (8) and Lois (5).

1. How do you balance being a mom and working?
Claudia feels the way many others in her position do as she is "just finally starting to understand the concept of balance." She added that when she worked as producer at the Today show, all she did was work. When she left her job to be a stay-at-home mom, she focused on that.

For her, starting HTE is pulling two things together that she has been "passionate about at different points in life."

For Claudia, she's found a way to make it work by "finding balance by allowing herself to post two news stories a week. From experience, news can be all consuming. And as tempting as it is to keep posting, two a week ensures time for everything else as well, especially the kids." This balance is very important to her because HTE is something she is "technically doing in my spare time."

2. We think your website is a great idea and would love to hear more about it.
Claudia had been visiting classes at to discuss current events. She shares that she "loves doing that."

She has been surprised by the response to the site from outside of the area. People have "visited HTE from all over the world!"

Her posts include a mix of "interesting but substantive things going on in the world ... mixed in with access to some of these newsmakers for kids to submit their questions to." One other feature is that sometimes "kids get to write stories themselves."

3. When you find time for yourself, what do you enjoy doing locally?
Claudia likes sticking around home and spending time with her family. She enjoys walks Hillside Woods, yoga with Karen Safire and the gym.
Claudia is also active with her son's cub scouting group in Hastings and is a a Den Leader and Assistant Cubmaster. She says they are "a wonderful group of people."

4. What are some of your top things to do around Westchester with your family?
Claudia and her son have been taking these "great Wilderness Survival and Awareness classes with the Mountain Scout Survival School. Super fun and just a little north of Westchester in Putnam."

The Heitler family can be found at many of the community events in the area, "between plays, and dog parades, Lyndhurst, the Hudson River Museum, Friday Night Live in Hastings, Take Me To The River, Aquefest, plays, hikes, and exhibits, there's always something fun to take in." For her, the best part is that these amazing events "involve friends or local people."

5. What is your favorite thing about living in this area?
For Claudia, the answer is simple, "neighbors." She didn't know what to expect when she moved here. Like many people looking at homes, "we were mostly focused on buying a house we could afford. But what has really made it a pleasure to live here is how lovely our neighbors are and how much of a difference that makes to our overall experience."
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