Robin Wolaner, author and founder of Parenting, beat Time Inc. to the draw with an idea for a special-interest magazine for parents. - Photo by Frankie Frankeny

Each month, Parenting delivers advice, strategies, and tips from other moms and experts who are parents, too. The magazine also offers age-specific child development guidance, plus health and safety info, and as a bonus, provides a free subscription to Sesame Street magazine for kids.

It's no accident that Parenting's motto-"What really matters to moms" -makes no mention of dads. Although the magazine's title is inclusive of both genders, the magazine's content is not. You won't find any articles with titles like, "Advice for Stay-at-Home Dads," or "Nine Secrets Every Father Should Know." But given the fact that the readership is 97 percent women, this is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, a majority of the articles deal with topics in which the parent's gender is irrelevant. A recent article titled, "The Biggest Bedtime No-No," for example, applies equally to either partner.

In 2003, Parenting unveiled the culmination of ten months of research and feedback from hundreds of mothers across the country exploring what they want most in a magazine. The survey resulted in the most extreme makeover in the history of the magazine.

"We really hit a nerve," Parenting Group's then president, David Kieselstein, said at the time. "Moms told us they turn to Parenting's practical information and guidance, but they also want more emotional support, more realistic help from other moms, and more credit for the complex job that they're doing. And they want to be supported as women, not just as mothers."

In response, the magazine added a wide range of new elements, including:

Written March 12, 2006 exclusively for MagsDirect.com. All right reserved.

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