Four complaints about "Parents" magazine

My parents got my wife and I a subscription to "Parents" magazine, because it was cheap and might help us raise the little guy. The more I read it (and I'll read anything), the more it annoys me.

Here's the list so far...

1) It should just be called "Moms." I realize that the vast majority of children, if they have a stay-at-home parent, have a stay-at-home mom, but "Parents" doesn't even try to offer a guy's perspective. There's not even a single "A Dad's View" column.

They recently had an article about a stay-at-home dad, but it was strictly from the mother's perspective as she complained that her husband didn't keep the house clean and seemed to have an easier time dealing with the children than she had.

2) Target market From $100 teddy bears to $20 sippy cups, I'm pretty sure the only parents that can afford some of the stuff they advertise are the rich, the coastal or people that shorted Lehman Brothers stocks.

3) Fear Uncertainty and Doubt It seems like seventy two percent of "Parents" is devoted to convincing you that your child will die an untimely death, is suffering from a rare illness, or that you're a horrible parent.

There's even a monthly feature highlighting some rare tragedy that befell someone's child from getting choked by a polar bear to random penis explosions in toddlers. It can happen to your child too! Read "Parents" to find out how to stop it.

4) Non-expert Expert Writers Too often, the articles in "Parents" are written by people whose children have experienced a serious medical condition or had some life trauma, but the author offers advice as if personal experience is enough to make them an expert.

Who am I?

In case you're wondering (I know I am sometimes), I'm a early 30s stay-at-home dad with a two year old son, and a baby girl on the way.

Besides teaching my son to high five and loving my wife, I like to build things out of wood, metal and electronical bits. 

If I can, I'm going to try to blog about whatever I find interesting from any of those topics, or anything in general really.

So there.