Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Mothering Magazine Review and Giveaway

Welcome December!  To ring in this month, I have some awesome reviews and giveaways for you, my darling friends.

My first review is something that is near and dear to my heart; a 1 year subscription to Mothering Magazine.  Shortly after Emma was born, my sister-in-law gave me a subscription to this magazine and in the last 7 years I have had a continuous subscription, save 1 year when we couldn't afford it.

Mothering is a different kind of parenting magazine.  It focuses more on natural parenting and less on the mainstream.  In their statement of purpose they state:

"Mothering celebrates the experience of parenthood as worthy of one's best efforts and fosters awareness of the immense importance and value of parenthood and family life in the development of the full human potential. As a readers' magazine, we recognize parents as the experts and wish to provide truly helpful information upon which parents can base informed choices.
Mothering is like no other publication. We are an original. Born in 1976 out of the need for the natural family community to learn about raising healthy children, Mothering was the birthplace of the natural family lifestyle.
Read in more than 65 countries, Mothering is the only independently owned, family living magazine in the world. We address contemporary health, personal, environmental, medical, and lifestyle issues in an upbeat, intelligent, compassionate, and courageous way.
Each issue contains philosophical inspiration and practical advice about family living. Topics are as diverse as circumcision, vaccinations, organic foods, childhood illnesses, home birth, ear infections, parenting teens, web site information, midwifery, and homeopathy.
Mothering is a family. We have an independent editorial spirit unmatched in the industry and a readership that is unmatched in responsiveness. Readers who read Mothering share many of the same values. Nowhere else will you find such proactive, passionate, and highly educated readers. In the pages of Mothering you will find an environment of credibility, trust, and authority. "

I absolutely adore this magazine.  Finding myself not choosing conventional ways of giving birth and parenting, I felt a bit lost when reading Parent's magazine.  Not that it isn't a good mag, it just didn't cater to what I was curious about.

So, Mothering was a breath of fresh air for me.  There have been numerous articles that I have earmarked and shared with other Moms.  Articles about vaccinations, breastfeeding, home birth, baby wearing, circumcision...the list goes on and on.  What I love though is that, while they are fabulous articles that get me thinking, they are very factual and have many studies and resources to back them up.

When you follow the link to Mothering (because, come on, I know you will) you will see that it is so much more than a magazine.  There are discussion forums also that you can join.  I have loved being part of the different due date forums when pregnant with Seth and Amelia (no time when I had Libby!), and popping in now and then for advice and to join a chat.

There is so much to learn there and I want to share it with one of you!  I am giving away a subscription to Mothering Magazine to one of you.  Mothering is not paying me to do this, in fact they have no idea that I am doing this.  I just love the mag and know that you will too.

So, to enter to win this all you have to do is leave me a comment.  I want to know how you incorporate gentle parenting into your everyday life and why.
To get additional entries you can...
1. tweet this
2. blog about it
3. post on facebook about it
4. follow this blog
5. subscribe to this blog.

Leave a comment for each additional entries.  If you leave one comment with all of your entries, you will only get one entry.

I will choose a winner on Tuesday, December 7 at 9pm MST.

19 comments:

  1. I am trying to become more gentle, we cloth diaper, baby wear, and that it is it so far.

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  2. I love that magazine too, a subscription would be a perfect Christmas treat for myself.

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  3. Love it! I always thought I would follow convention in parenting and surprised myself when I became drawn to aspects of natural parenting while pregnant. I took hypnobirthing classes (not that I got to use them!) and we used slings, delay vax, cosleep way more than not. I abolished cleaning chemicals in the house and trend to more organic than anything else. It's a world I'm still finding my way in and love that I can marry the best of all worlds into my world.

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  4. I would LOVE to win this. I always buy mine at the bookstore. I need a subscription! So thankful for Mothering.

    Steph

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  5. I try to encourage my children without adding too much pressure.
    donna444444@yahoo.com

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  6. I <3 Mothering! I love popping into the forums now and then to get ideas for playful parenting or creative gentle discipline with a willful, sometimes really feisty nearly-3-yo.

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  7. I'm a follower...but the good kind!

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  8. We cloth diaper (and LOVE it) and cloth wipes with a homemade wipe solution. When he was smaller I was a baby wearer. I use organic cleaners, make my own detergent and use cloth wipes for cleaning instead of paper towels.

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  9. I am follower too. Would love to win this!!

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  10. I tweeted about the giveaway. mamalovelock is my twitter ID

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  11. I cloth diaper, baby wear, and breastfeed!

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  12. I follow this blog. Love Mothering, btw!!

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  13. I've found that breastfeeding, baby-wearing and cosleeping are the easiest, most natural feeling things in the world. I'm looking forward to trying more gentle and natural products as my son ages.

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  14. I love the Mothering forums! I am a breastfeeding, cosleeping, no vaxing, baby wearing, homeschooling, all around attachment parenting momma. I respect my children as individuals and I'm teaching them to respect us as their parents.

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  15. I tweeted! http://twitter.com/jkbaxter612

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  16. I would love this magazine! I am slowly getting there with natural & gentle parenting...I wish I had known more when I had my first 3 children...but now...I am still breastfeeding my 20 month old (never in a million years did I think I would ever nurse this long but loving it)
    some babywearing...need a mei tai or ergo for back carrying now and just not in the budget, or a ring sling for easy in and out. I am more and more cooking with organic and/or whole foods. Not too much in the way of processed anymore. Natural cleaning products and slowly getting into natural health and beauty...I was hesitant about vaccinations with my 4th child (before that I thought it is what you had to do) but went ahead anyway...but definately if I had it to do again I believe I would not vax or at least delay, also think I would do a home birth I were to have more children.

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  17. great mag great blog @julie_slp

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Thanks for leaving your thoughts with me.