Parenting magazine inadvertently makes a point

(HollyLewis) wrote in message ...
I'm considering subscribing to *some* parenting magazine, but haven't
made a choice. Which do you like and/or dislike, and why?

Parenting and Parents are almost indistinguishable from each other, but I do
find that Parenting is slightly more AP-friendly. (The health advice column is
written by Dr. Sears, for example, as previously mentioned.)

I once received a package soliciting my subscription to Parents, as well as
advertising a book they published that was something like "1001 Tips from Real
Parents". One of the featured "tips" was a story from a mother whose baby had
digestive problems and started refusing the bottle when she switched him from
breastfeeding to formula. (Surprise, surprise.) The oh-so-wonderful advice?
She added chocolate powder to his formula and everyone was happy ever after.
Yeah, I want to buy a book that promotes not only formula, but chocolate milk,
for 7-month-olds. Not. After that, I determined that I will never subscribe
to that magazine.

Anyway, there is also Child, which most people here find too Vogue-like. Yeah,
the "fashion" spreads are ridiculous. (Who buys $200 sweaters for babies? I
suppose someone must, or they wouldn't make 'em.) And the kids' parties they
feature are similarly outrageous. But actually, I don't find the articles much
different from Parenting's, otherwise. The stuff on health and safety,
discipline issues, toy-and-game suggestions, etc., is all the same.

That's pretty much it for mainstream offerings. There's Mothering, of course,
for the alternative viewpoint, and I think it's worth reading even if you don't
plan to feed your family nothing but organic produce raised on your own land.
;-) Oh, and there's also Baby Years, if it's still around -- it wasn't bad,
sort of a middle road between Parenting and Mothering, but you could tell it
was a new magazine without all the kinks worked out yet. Skimpy articles.

Oh, and there's Family Fun, which I'm told is a pretty good resource for SAH
parents; their focus is on craft projects and the like you can do with kids,
usually very inexpensively. I haven't actually read it, though I have made use
of the birthday cake designs on their website!

Holly
Mom to Camden, 2.5 yrs

I tried to post this the other day without success-- my favorite
parenting magazine is Brain, Child. It is more "about" parenting than
a how-to.

We get Mothering, which I find has viewpoints you don't find in the
mainstream media, though I don't agree with everything there (or
anywhere, for that matter!). And I do like the Martha Stewart Baby and
Kids magazines for craft projects and the like.


Kristi

Which do you like and/or dislike, and why?

I dislike Parents intensely. I also dislike American Baby, Parenting, and just
about any other mainstream parenting magazine you can name. Why? Because they
pander to formula feeders, for one thing. Also, because I find them boring.
Mostly they just repeat the same kind of stories over and over again, and the
writing all sounds the same.

I like Mothering and the Compleat Mother. I feel less weird when I read them,
because they are all even weirder than me! :-)

Leslie

Leslie wrote:

Mostly they just repeat the same kind of stories over and over again, and the
writing all sounds the same.

Exactly. Yesterday I was looking through a magazine my pediatrician
gave me, thinking of this thread. At first I was intrigued, because
the magazine -- Baby Years -- has a section on breastfeeding, and I
didn't see any ads for artificial breastmilk. But then I realized I
was enjoying the ads more than the articles.

--
Sara, accompanied by the baby barnacle

(Leslie) wrote in message ...
Which do you like and/or dislike, and why?

I dislike Parents intensely. I also dislike American Baby, Parenting, and just
about any other mainstream parenting magazine you can name. Why? Because they
pander to formula feeders, for one thing. Also, because I find them boring.
Mostly they just repeat the same kind of stories over and over again, and the
writing all sounds the same.

This last is it for me. I subscribed to Parents when my first was
born, and enjoyed it for about a year. Then, I started seing the same
questions asked and answered, the same topics featured, the same
(safely, even militantly mainstream, middle-of-the-road) perspectives
pedalled. Now, 7 years later, I am still attracted to the headlines
when I see these mags in doctors offices. I always pick one up while
waiting and invariably find the *same* tired old stories!! I really
think these magazines must survive on a ton of 1-year subscriptions.


I like Mothering and the Compleat Mother. I feel less weird when I read them,
because they are all even weirder than me! :-)

I'm not even weird, as far as mothering is concerned, but I do like to
have my consciousness raised or to read something new or something
ordinary presented in a new or entertaining way if I'm going to spend
my very valuable and rare free time reading. Life is too short for
advice-type parents magazines. Try www.brainchildmag.com or
hipmama.com.I used to really like salon.com's "Mothers Who Think"
section, but that was replaced a couple of years ago with a more
general "Life" section, which now only sometimes touches on issues
that would be of interest specifically to mothers.

Something else about the sameness of them all . . .

A couple of times I have written letters to the editor of Parents, and they
called to verify that I had written the letters because they wanted to print
them. But they edit the letters so heavily that the contain only the original
idea, not the original words at all. Read those letters and you will see that
they all have the same "voice" as though they were written by the same person.
Editing for length and grammar I can understand, but I don't get why they want
it all to sound so boring.

Leslie