| What's She Reading We Snoop the "parenting magazine" Don't you just love the moms'-er, parenting--magazines? Well the mistake's understandable. To this jaundiced dad they're getting more like the women's books all the times. Take October Parents. Take the cover lines. "Discipline Makeover"? Now just where did that lingo come from? And how about all the pretty made-up moms inside that look like models from Elle? In the "Single Mom's Weekend Survival Guide" (a worthy enough topic) the gal on page 122 has a mustard-yellow roller of paint ("Tackle a project at home") that exactly matches her spotless mustard-yellow jersey. Hey, mom, how about a work shirt? As always, we hunted for mentions of dads. In "Sex and Marriage" we found the usual sorry bunch of jerks and louts. There's the insensitive lug who stumbles home from work and plants himself in front of the tv. There's the weirdo who balks at his wife wearing sexy lingerie. (Now that's a problem men can relate to...) Finally--meet the dolt who hangs out with his wife's embittered ex and dishes about the wife. He actually writes to ask if this is okay. Dads make two other notable appearances. The first is an article about parents (read "men") who get too worked up about "youth sports" and lose their temper. The second is one of those cute single-page essays from a stay-at-home dad who discovers-oh my goodness-his baby is a challenge to change and supply and feed. "Essentially," writes the father, "I was feeding the little nipper all the time!" Except when he was launching his writing career. And they wonder why fathers need a place like dadmag.com. But let's be fair. We don't have an ax to grind. We just want the world to be a better place. So a nod of approval to October Parenting-the other print Goliath. True, you wouldn't grab it at the newsstand, men. On the cover there's that adorable baby being kissed by-you guessed it-mom. We've got the familiar Halloween story (as does Parents and Child). And, as if the moon somehow dictated the monthly cycle, a feature on Discipline just like Parents. But there are some pleasant surprises inside. The discipline story is an excellent analysis on why Time-outs don't work the way we think. It's important reading. Another feature on the thrills of being a parent gives precisely equal space to moms and dads. And the story on "Becoming Fathers" is the diary of two gay dads and the challenges of adoption. It's a moving insightful story we'd have been proud to run. On the "Editors Note" page the editor, Janet Chan, even has herself and her two kids pictured with their father, Tyler. We assume Tyler's the pop, though there's no mention of him in the text. Oh well. It's a start.
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