When Haley was born I had a subscription to Parents Magazine...I think I also got Parenting Magazine too. Anyway, I was really interested in reading the different articles and they had parenting tips...yadda, yadda, yadda. Well, that was then. Now, I'm not a fan! After a year or so of getting the subscription I never renewed it. So just recently I got a year free of Parents Magazine, but I have now decided I hate these magazines. Yes, they do have some interesting things in them still. But mostly, after reading the articles I walk away feeling like I'm doing everything wrong as a mother. Or they're really good about scaring me with all these horrible things that can go wrong with my kids. Such as this one article discussing speech delays, and the endless amounts of therapy to correct it. After reading that I was sure Morgan had a speech delay since she really doesn't talk yet. Or the whole "No T.V. before the age of two!". And if they should watch any T.V. before the age of two you have recked their entire life and they will never amount to anything...all because they watched T.V. before the age of two!! Another article about "Worms Warning". Children playing around dogs may ingest this parasite from roundworms in dogs, which could result in blindness in the child!! Ahhh, we have a dog!! Great, so my kids will become blind, get ADHD from watching T.V. before the age of two, and need to see a speech therapist.
Hey, I do my best everyday!! If I do have any concerns I'll bring them up with my pediatrician. I don't need a stupid magazine to scare the crap out of me, or make me feel bad! I hate those magazines!
OK, I'm done venting for the day.
I totally agree with you. When I read those magazines long ago and far away, I at first loved them,but before long found that they duplicated material left and right and tried to find all kinds of things to make you worry. Parents worry enough without magazines adding additional non-concerns.
ReplyDeleteReally, it seems that the media in general is aimed at making us worry about things that are very unlikely to happen. Are the bars high enough on look-out sites so that adults as well as children don't fall into the Grand Canyon? Is the hole in the ozone getting bigger? Is it bad if that hole gets smaller? We know that cars emit lots of greenhouse gases, but the hybrid's batteries leave an even bigger carbon footprint. Seems that everything we do has adverse consequenses. Perhaps we should just turn off all mediat--radio, magazines and TV, and see what happens. Probably not a sixteenth of what we are afraid will.
Kelly, I am so with you on those parenting magazines. I also find that they totally contradict themselves. One month, Parents ran an article about how kids need to be exposed to germs in order to build up their immune systems. The next month had an article about the "Ten Germ-Filled Places" that your kid interacts with. Included in the list were monkey bars and water fountains! Seriously, it recommended that you wipe down monkey bars before letting your kids on them!!
ReplyDeleteEvery time I read one of those magazines, for every one item of actual use and interest, there are ten items that just freak me out, make me feel guilty, or make me think, these writers are completely out of touch!! I get those magazines for free, but I won't be renewing anyway!
I'm so glad I wrote that post! I feel so much better about things...I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels that way.
ReplyDeleteYep, that post was dead-on. I'm always complaining to Chad about those magazines, but I hadn't thought to blog about it.
ReplyDeletePlus, the always make fathers out to be idiots. May be true in my case, but not always!
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