Dawn Hasbrouck loved growing up on Chicago’s South Side so much she wants to give her 2-year-old son Brandon the exact same. He plays on the playgrounds she and her sister played on, he’ll take part in activities at the same neighborhood club where she spent so many happy moments, and she hopes he’ll one day attend her old high school, St. Ignatius College Prep. Most of all, though, he has her parents close by to wrap around his little finger.
Lori Degman
So after working in TV markets from Iowa to Georgia to Boston, Hasbrouck and her husband Ronald jumped at the chance to return home to raise Brandon. She began as co-anchor for Fox Chicago News at noon earlier this year.
“I would just love for him to experience all of the things that I did,” says Hasbrouck, 34.
Her schedule is allowing that to happen-plus help from a very supportive husband, she says. She’s up early, at work by 5 a.m. and home by 1 p.m., about the time Brandon gets up from his nap. The makeup comes off and Hasbrouck says she’s just mom. They have the rest of the day together before both go to bed at 8 p.m.
One thing that might surprise people: “That I’m a twin and I’m married to a twin. We didn’t have twins; we thought for sure we might,” she says with a laugh. Also surprising is that she studied opera for years. She still sings to a very special audience: Brandon. “Every night I sing him at least five songs.”
Biggest challenge to raising a child in Chicago: Finding a perfect pediatrician.
Biggest advantage to raising a child in Chicago: “He gets to grow up in a very welcoming, friendly city that is diverse in every way possible. I just think there’s no better city he could grow up in. I think it’s going to be so valuable to him as it was to me. … Nothing compares to Chicago and to the people.”
