GROVE CITY — Although Kristen Gregg enjoyed working in a bustling New York City magazine office for a week, she would turn down any offer to make it her permanent lifestyle.

"Being exposed to all that, Itruly appreciate living in Grove City,"Gregg said. "I love living here, and I love raising my kids here."

Ironically, raising her kids is how she ended up in New York. She was one of 12 parents chosen in a nationwide parent search to serve as guest editors of the August issue of Nick Jr. Family Magazine, published by the same company that operates the Nickelodeon cable network.

"What they wanted was a collaborative and collective opinion from across the U.S.,"Gregg said."

The dozen guest editors formed a representation of every region in the country, coming from Missouri, Oregon, California and elsewhere.

During their stay in New York, from March 11 to 15, the group was treated to lectures and workshops with childhood development and time management experts and participated in a taped roundtable discussion on parenting. The roundtable was led by Hannah Storm of CBS' "The Early Show."

Producers of that show may choose to air the discussion during one of its segments.

Group members wrote sections for the magazine, including columns on how to plan a birthday party and book and movie reviews. They also viewed and critiqued an upcoming children's show and participated in breakout discussions with the magazine's editors to discuss issues important to today's parents.

In addition to being a guest editor, Gregg, who operates Gregg Studio with her husband Bob, was asked to be a guest photographer. Her photos, taken during the stay in New York, will chronicle the experience of the 12-parent focus group in the magazine's August issue.

"The best opportunity for me was to have my photographs published, as well," Gregg said.

She enjoyed her time with the other parents, who were chosen from all walks of life and ranged from 24- to 44- years-old. Gregg operates her in-home photography studio while raising her family.

The other parents included a physician, a stay-at-home father who had written a book and a mom, a former news anchor, paralyzed from the waist down.

"It was very enlightening to hear the opinions and insights of the 12 parents. It definitely showed regional differences,"Gregg said.

As an example, Gregg said the discussion showed children in the South are, in general, taught to be more mannerly in their speech than children raised in the North. The group found that phrases with courtesy titles such as ma'amand sirare more common in the South.

Gregg first heard about the opportunity to be a guest editor through an e-mail message sent last September to subscribers. She replied with answers to the few questions the e-mail contained.

In November, Gregg received a second message saying she was in the top 100. She replied with answers to more questions, but when she had heard nothing more by the turn of the year, she thought the opportunity had past.

Early in January, Gregg received a telephone call saying she had made the top 12.

"I was excited. I was anticipating taking part in it,"she said. "I've always wanted to be a writer. It's kind of taken a back seat to family life because in my mind, that's first."

Gregg's family, which includes five children ages 5 to 16, was also excited, even though they would remain in Grove City.

"They were very supportive. It was a lot of work preparing them for me to be gone,"Gregg said.

Though she is back in Grove City, Gregg's work is not complete. While in New York, she was chosen for a one-on-one time management makeover with Jan Yager, author of "Creative Time Management for the New Millennium."

As part of the makeover, Gregg was required to record her day's events in five-minute intervals.

At the end, she was given five goals to work toward in order to make more "me time" in her day. She will be required to submit a progress report in April.

According to a press release issued by the magazine, the input given by the 12-parent board will be used to include the most relevant content for parent readers.

Participants were chosen based on their expressiveness, involvement with their children and community and their passion for parenting.

Nick Jr. Family Magazine has a circulation of 1.5 million and a total audience of 5.4 million.