Mothering Magazine - or How to sleep with your breastfeeding, non-circumcised, non-vaccinated, cloth diapered kindergartner
Written: Jan 05 '03 (Updated Jan 15 '03)
Product Rating:
Pros: I read it for the articles...
Cons: Often one-sided, price/bi-monthly, more than a bit "crunchy".
The Bottom Line: The alternative to the mainstream parenting magazines that will appeal to those who practice alternative - natural - or attachment parenting or want to read about it.
I was a "good" first time parent and subscribed to just about all the parenting magazines on the market (Parents, Parenting, Child, plus the "Baby" magazines). And, then, my older sister who is a mother of four recommended Mothering Magazine to me. We often disagree about a lot of things, but I usually value her advice and find her recommendations worthy of more than a second glance.
What sets Mothering apart from the other parenting magazines is its Target Audience. Judging from the ads and content found in mainstream parenting magazines, I feel its a safe bet to say that their target audience would generally be someone who is most or all of the following: *First time or 'inexperienced' parents *Parenting by "the books" *Formula Feeding *Disposable Diapering *Crib Sleeping *Pro Circumcision *Pro Vaccination
Compared to the mainstream magazines, Mothering's target audience would be mothers/families who practice or are interested in issues surrounding: *Attachment, Natural, or alternative parenting *Breast-feeding *Cloth Diapering *Co-Sleeping *Anti-Circumcision *Anti-Vaccination *Natural Childbirth
I, myself, don't fit neatly into either category of mainstream or alternative parenting. Rather, I'd like to think of it sort of like ordering off a Chinese food menu and picking 3 from column A and 3 from column B according to our preferences.
Mothering Magazine is not found at my local grocer, but I have seen it at Barnes & Noble, Zany Brainy, and at a natural foods store. I always know an issue of Mothering because of its signature cover photography, which if they didn't have all the headlines blocking them, the photos would be a print worthy of framing. The cover price per single issue is $5.95 or an annual subscription will cost you $20 for six issues of around 100 pages each. This is significantly higher than other parenting magazines and for a shorter, less frequent periodical.
Is it worth it?
My Take on Mothering - "The Natural Family Living Magazine"
Though I do poke fun at the publication with the titling of my review How to Sleep with your breastfeeding, non-circumcised, non-vaccinated, cloth diapered kindergartner. This is a magazine that I think parents should check out for the same reason you might claim to read Playboy. No, you won't find a Mothering to be a magazine full of naked pictures of mothers. (Though, more than a few times its sported nudes of pregnant women on the cover.) I'm talking about the articles. Mothering has a lot of very interesting, well thought-out, and informative articles to offer. It’s a magazine with quite a bit of substance behind it.
Monthly Features Art of Mothering, Health, A Child's World, Pregnancy Birth & Midwifery, Breastfeeding, Ways of Learning, Family Living.
Recent articles and issues have focused on a few of the following topics: Autism and its links to vaccinations, Breastfeeding, co-sleeping. and Yoga (both prenatal yoga and yoga for kids) - to just name a few examples. Yes, please pass the crunchy munchy honey cakes, now.
I particularly appreciated a recent article about raising sons and found that it was right on the money for me. I also turned to Mothering quite a bit for breastfeeding information over the last year. Probably most thought provoking and timely was an article that I read earlier this fall on this topic. This particular article was written with a defense of breastfeeding past the age of 3 years old which just so happened to coincide with when my 18-month-old son and I began the weaning process.
Though the title of the magazine is Mothering, and much of the magazine is geared toward expectant mothers or mothers of young children, the magazine is not just for mothers. Many of the articles are also about fathering and parenting in general. You might outgrow a subscription to one of the more "baby" related mainstream magazines even before your child is out of diapers. Not so with Mothering -it continues to address pertinent parenting issues which apply to more than just birth to two.
Departments A Quiet Place, Your Letters, Bulletins, Cool Stuff, and Backstage.
Its in these "departments" that you will find what I consider to be a lot (10 pages worth, including ads) of reader submitted content, written letters sharing experiences or responses to previous articles and issues published. The letters published are both 'pats on the back' and 'rants'. They start out with what they refer to as Love Letters and then are divided by topic so you can easily skip to responses from a certain articles. This years fall issue dedicated to autism has generated quite a response in the current issue with reader submitted letters and I look forward to sharing those with a friend. But it is a recent letter that stuck out in my head and actually influenced me to write this review. This letter was a response to the article in defense of extended breastfeeding where the reader tells of nursing her son till the age of five.
As for advertisements, just like the other parenting magazines, there are ads. Here you will find ads for cloth diapers and accessories as well as "natural" disposable diapers called Tushies, babyslings such as Over the Shoulder Baby Holder and Maya, organic foods and natural health products. The quantity of ads to content is slightly less in Mothering but not significantly so. I don't see how this is really much different than the other mainstream magazines with articles endorsing the products of their advertisers. Its just different advertisers and articles slanted in the other direction.
Despite the fact that I find this magazine's articles quite interesting, I can't give out a 5-star glowing review. I feel that Mothering has many of the same downfalls of the mainstream parenting pubs that it tries so very hard to be different from. I get really fed up when I'm paying $20 a year for six issues, to find a magazine with an ad on every page. I don't remember if Mothering was like this when I first subscribed but I don't think it was. It would seem that over the past year the quantity of ads has gone up, and that is disappointing. I also don't see it as much different then mainstream magazines with advertiser endorsed so-called advice articles, i.e. OTSBH and Tushies who must be paying them big bucks.
The articles that I praise so much, I also have to dig into a bit here. I think that at times the articles are narrow-minded and only present single sides of issues, albeit interesting issues. Just an example, the magazine focuses quite a bit on natural childbirth, which I have the utmost respect for. However, natural childbirth is not always a realistic or safe option for everyone. Some of the articles about natural pregnancy and birthing actually made me feel "badly" or inadequate. There was even one of the issues that I tossed out partially unread because I didn't care for the preachy tone it took against epidurals. Looking back, maybe I should have submitted a letter to the editor, instead.
Despite my aforementioned dislikes, I'll continue to read Mothering and subscribe to it where I will let my subscriptions to several of the mainstream parenting magazines drop. This is because the articles are more thought provoking and make me reflect on my own unique way of parenting, as it should be. Overall, I appreciate Mothering Magazine for what it has to offer, a different perspective, and you might too.
If you are looking for a parenting magazine that is really off the beaten path, You might also want to check out my review of Hip Mama magazine here: http://www.epinions.com/content_79210319492
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6 issues - Mothering celebrates the experience of parenthood as worthy of one's best efforts and fosters awareness of the immense importance and value...More at SpeedyMags.com
6 issues - Mothering celebrates the experience of parenthood as worthy of one's best efforts and fosters awareness of the immense importance and value...More at SuperMagDeals.com
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