toiletoctopus's Full Review: Family Circle Magazine
I'm really trying to work on being more cultured, as I now have two sons, and a wife that I absolutely adore. Usually I like reading magazines devoted to fishing and hunting, but I'm making an effort to read more publications that are of a family nature. Lately I've enjoyed Washingtonian, because it has a lot of articles based on subjects interesting to families, such as recreational and arts type of events. The last couple of months, Family Circle has sent me a couple of free magazines. It's almost as if with a child's birth, that certain companies know to send you free stuff, so you'll consider buying it. While the baby formula and diaper coupons have been useful, I can't say the same about this magazine. Perhaps they sent it to the wrong house, as no one in my family really likes it.
Sure, I'd love to read about deer hunting tactics, but learning about how to carve the perfect pumpkin is a bit boring. While I appreciated some of the designs that the professional carvers were able to produce, there's no way I can get anywhere near these, even with the magazine's helpful hints section. Do I really want to learn how to cook a lentil soup, that's going to take over an hour of preparation time? Family Circle seems stuck in another generation, where parents actually had time to have a nightly dinner together, or there was no working on weekends. What worked for Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver, isn't applicable today. It's a different era, and most of their suggestions are time intense for cooking.
This isn't to say Family Circle doesn't have delicious recipes. I was able to make a casserole that they suggested, and it was fantastic. It was one of the few days I had time to make it, and I have to say it was one of the best recipes I've had in a long time. However, it would make sense for this publication to have some quicker ones, for families on the go. Sadly, their articles are produced for quick reading, and you can find a fair amount of these "blurbs" throughout the magazine. Some of these are focused on fitness, while others are about how to find the right doctor, and how to lower your debt. These could be useful, but there's not a lot of information in them.
You'll get a feature article on two, with these short pieces, and I've found them to be boring. A lot of these are health focused, and while that's a subject I find usually to be interesting, the articles written are dry and repeat the same information over and over again. One of the recent articles was about walking your way to being thin. You could cover a lot of different subjects with this, but it just seemed to be a repetitive almost preachy article about the benefits of daily walking. This article could have been much better, if aspects such as shoes, clothing, and trail selection were covered.
I have never seen so many advertisements in a magazine. Family Circle should be called Corporate Circle. Each issue is 130-150 pages long, and I kid you not, when I say that over 50% is advertising material. If you want to learn the name of every prescription, be sure to peruse this magazine. There are ads for clothing, baby outfits, granola foods, and over the counter pain killers. While these products are marketed for families generally, could I at least get some diversity of advertising? These ads falsely allow this publication to look like a thick, long reading type of magazine. You can easily finish each issue in 30-45 minutes, giving it a low value of return for your investment.
One part of the magazine that I do like, is the Kids Health Section. This actually has information useful for parents, and there is a Q&A feature here. A lot of questions answered are helpful, especially to parents of teenagers, who are notoriously difficult compared to small children. I was shocked by one of these discussing OTC fever reducers/cough medicines, as there are some negative risks associated with these. I had no idea, and was able to seriously look at re-thinking my giving of these medicines out to my older son. There are some tips about how to deal with flu's and viruses here, so I do appreciate this publication's one part.
That's not enough to get me to buy it though. The subscription card indicates you can buy this magazine at a rate of $15.98 for thirty issues. That sounds like a fantastic deal, and its a lot cheaper than most magazines out there. Sadly, you are basically paying for a lot of advertisements, without any benefits except the health section and some time consuming recipes. You could get that information off of the internet, or perhaps in your Sunday newspaper. Why spend that extra amount of money, for something that's not that useful? I have to say that Family Circle is one of my least favorite publications, and it fails to deliver information that my brood would find helpful.
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