Parenting Magazine Makes Me Sick... (RANT WARNING)

When I had to buy this belly band for my hernia pain I had to go to Motherhood Maternity to get it. I pride myself on being natural and unconventional. And, not shopping at those places makes me happy. To date, we haven't stepped foot into a Babies'R'Us, and until the belly band purchase I hadn't gone into a maternity store either. This is why.

Those types of stores sell useless shit, and usually it's made in shitty places, paying their slaves shitty wages. They also use shitty marketing techniques to get people to want to buy shit they don't need, and probably shouldn't use (i.e. selling bottles with BPA in them, up until just a few short years ago. What are they going to find out, next, has been poisoning children??).

Anyway, when I bought the belly band I got a "free" demo subscription to Parenting Magazine. Another shitty waste... of paper. If I'd paid with debit or credit cards, I'd have to call and cancel my "free gift" (because after the "free" month they'd automatically start charging my card for a full subscription. assholes. Thank god I had cash on me).

Here's the point of the post, while skimming the magazine I found 2 utterly (no pun intended) disturbing advertisements and articles.

1st offense:
I think by now you all know how I feel about formula and milk substitutes, but just in case, let me remind you. I think they suck. This advertisement leads parents to believe there are only 2 choices when giving their kids milk in toddlerhood. That's simply NOT TRUE!
The World Health Organization suggests breastfeeding for a MINIMUM of 2 years (while The American Academy of Pediatrics does only suggest a minimum of 12 months- that still just the minimum) meaning that you CAN go longer. I did some googling and from what I already knew and am seeing online, is that 4 and 1/2 years old is the world wide average for weaning. Most toddlers don't need to nurse frequently since they're getting nutrients from actual foods, but the healthy dose of miracle juice at bedtime doesn't hurt.
Also, this advertisement doesn't show the other milk options out there, goat's milk is another alternative to formula, infact after discussing feeding options with our childbirth educator, I was introduced to the idea of goat's milk instead of formula, a kind of way to formulate goats milk to feed a baby as opposed to formula. Really, formula should be the very last option. So last, it shouldn't really ever need to be an option, there are so many other choices out there. So for this advertisement to suggest there are only 2 options and for a parenting magazine to run the advertisement thoroughly frustrates me. If parents can't turn to parenting magazines, (and they don't have friends nor family to ask for advice) on what's best for their baby, how are they going to do what's best for their baby?!?!

If you are considering weaning your baby earlier than 1 or 2 years I'd suggest talking to a lactation consultant over your reasons for weaning, they might provide the information, resources, support you need to give your baby the healthiest immune system available to him or her, which might also save you from breast cancer or ovarian cancer one day. I'm not saying peoples' choices to wean early are wrong, I'm just saying they're wrong for me.
an article I read while looking up some of the above statistics was really interesting, click here to read it.


2nd Offense:

This Article's headline just made me sad, "Want all the benefits of camp - like having your kids entertained and out of your hair - without the wallet draining costs?..."
No, I do not want my kids out of my hair! how sad is that? This child I've been growing for the past 9 months is all I think about! I want to meet him or her and spend as much time as possible with him or her. I want to explore the world with him, I want to teacher her to read. I want to paint with him, I want to garden with her. I want to be close all the time, when I think about leaving him or her with someone, so I can teach once a day for an hour; my heart gets sad. I've NEVER been away from him. I've always had her inside me. What kind of awful experience would make a parent want to get their child out of their hair?! I know it's not realistic to think all the times with my child will be great ones. I'm a teacher! I know kids act up and get crazy and are loud. but this is what I signed up for. I knew what I was choosing when I chose to have this baby!
Also, the article makes note of how expensive camp is. Like the money your spending on your child's fun, life experiences, excitment is more important and should be spent on... what? a new purse? a new car? a get-away vacation for mommy and daddy?? It just made me sad.
I love the idea of communal learning and of parents getting together to rotate learning experiences with what each parent has to offer. But, I would only leave my child with someone I knew and trusted to share my believes with and had the same love for their children as I do for mine. I wouldn't do it to save money, or to have a break. I chose to have this child and I'm choosing to raise her correctly (true to my beliefs and my values). Parents who want to get rid of their kids and save money make me sick (physically).

Well, I think that's all for my ranting today.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend and if you want to share your ranting with me I'd love to hear it. comment below :)